Barbara McQuade: Saving America from a Mob-Style Government

Jun 25, 2026 The CCWA YouTube Podcast

Bestselling author and former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade returns to Commonwealth Club World Affairs to share her exposé on the escalating threat of far-right politics—and a clear roadmap for saving our democracy.

McQuade has drawn on her decades of experience as a federal prosecutor to reveal how systems of organized crime and political opportunism exploit the levers of power—using corruption, cruelty, and chaos as tools to dominate institutions and eliminate accountability. She examined the tactics of today’s far-right MAGA system: information warfare, aggressive retribution, conformism enforced by fear, and pervasive dismantling of legal checks and balances necessary to defend the public interest and uphold justice.

She presented her views in her new book The Fix, in which she weaves together courtroom stories, real-time political analysis, and cautionary lessons from history and democratic backsliding abroad. She argues that the threats we face are not future possibilities—they’re already here. But she has more than just a warning; she has a call to action, outlining common-sense reforms and strategies that she says can reclaim the rule of law and recenter democracy with the power of the people.