Trump falsely suggesting: “Blitzer and Trump Go at It over Trump’s ‘Birther’ Claims,” CNN, May 29, 2012, politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/29/firing-off-trump-stands-by-birther-comments/.
“From the point of view”: Gabriel Schoenfeld, A Bad Day on the Romney Campaign: An Insider’s Account (New York: Penguin Group, 2013).
Stevens, Romney’s chief strategist, and policy adviser Lanhee Chen: “What They Said, Before and After the Attack in Libya,” New York Times, September 12, 2012.
Even some Republicans: Daniel Larison, “The Attacks in Benghazi and Cairo,” American Conservative, September 12, 2012.
at 7:22 a.m.: “What They Said, Before and After the Attack in Libya.”
“Guys, we screwed up”: Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, Double Down: Game Change 2012 (New York: Penguin Press, 2013).
a total of fewer than eighty thousand: Philip Bump, “Donald Trump Will Be President Thanks to 80,000 People in Three States,” Washington Post, December 1, 2016.
“Highly conflicted Bob Mueller”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, September 15, 2018, 6:08 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1041086383505465345.
ACT TWO
II. THE INSTITUTIONALIST
In February 2015: Michael S. Schmidt, “F.B.I. Director Speaks Out on Race and Police Bias,” New York Times, February 12, 2015.
“a nation of cowards”: Helene Cooper, “Attorney General Chided for Language on Race,” New York Times, March 7, 2009.
“I believe the job”: “Statement by FBI Director James Comey Regarding Dylann Roof Gun Purchase,” FBI, July 10, 2015, www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-comey-regarding-dylann-roof-gun-purchase.
Roof had said he committed: “The Dylann Roof Trial: The Evidence,” New York Times, December 9, 2016.
the president broke into song: Michiko Kakutani, “Obama’s Eulogy, Which Found Its Place in History,” New York Times, July 3, 2015.
roughly twenty thousand arrests a year: “Federal Table 3,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2016–2017, ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015/home.
In the early 1990s: Clyde Haberman, “An Idaho Family, and Federal Tactics, Under Siege,” New York Times, October 26, 2014.
government investigators placed: “A Review of the FBI’s Handling of Intelligence Information Related to the September 11 Attacks,” U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, November 2004, oig.justice.gov/special/0506/final.pdf [inactive].
In June 2004: “Remarks of Deputy Attorney General James Comey Regarding Jose Padilla,” U.S. Department of Justice, June 1, 2004, www.justice.gov/archive/dag/speeches/2004/dag6104.htm.
the Times ran the story: Michael S. Schmidt, “Background Check Flaw Let Dylann Roof Buy Gun, F.B.I. Says,” New York Times, July 10, 2015.
agents and their supervisors initiated: “Hillary R. Clinton Part 05 of 41,” FBI Records: The Vault, vault.fbi.gov/hillary-r.-clinton/Hillary%20R.%20Clinton%20Part%2005%20of%2041/view.
“You know you are”: James Comey, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership (New York: Flatiron Books, 2018).
“We should skype sometime”: Alana Goodman, “Anthony Weiner Carried On a Months-Long Online Sexual Relationship with a Troubled 15-Year-Old Girl Telling Her She Made Him ‘Hard,’ Asking Her to Dress Up in ‘School-Girl’ Outfits and Pressing Her to Engage in ‘Rape Fantasies,’ ” Daily Mail, September 21, 2016.
In 2015, the FBI had found: Michael S. Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo, “David Petraeus Is Sentenced to Probation in Leak Investigation,” New York Times, April 23, 2015.
Oh, my God: Andrew G. McCabe, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019).
“We sat together on a couch”: Áine Cain, “FBI Director James Comey Reflects on His Time at the College,” Flat Hat, November 17, 2014, flathatnews.com/2014/11/17/fbi-director-james-comey-reflects-on-his-time-at-the-college/.
III. THE POINT OF NO RETURN
In this chapter, when discussing Lawrence E. Walsh’s actions surrounding the 1992 presidential election, I referenced Walsh’s 1997 book, Firewall, and Bob Woodward’s 1999 book, Shadow. For the section on links between Trump and Russia, I referenced the Wikipedia page entitled “Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections,” which I found to be a useful compendium of events, details, dates, and articles.
“There is evidence to support”: “Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-mail System,” FBI, July 5, 2016, www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clinton2019s-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system.
“This is a great man”: “Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference Today,” Office of Nancy Pelosi, July 8, 2016, www.speaker.gov/newsroom/24531.
“highest standards of integrity”: Tim Kaine, interview on Fox News Sunday, October 16, 2016, archive.org/details/FOXNEWSW_20161017_020000_Fox_News_Sunday_With_Chris_Wallace/start/960/end/1020.
“Generations of prosecutors and agents”: Matthew Miller, “James Comey’s Abuse of Power,” Washington Post, July 6, 2016.
“I’m here because we’re mystified”: “FBI Director James Comey to Testify Before House Committee on Clinton E-mail Probe. Aired 10–10:30a ET,” CNN, July 7, 2016, transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1607/07/cnr.03.html.
“We did not find evidence sufficient”: “Continuing Coverage of FBI Director Testimony Before Congress. Aired Noon–12:30p ET,” CNN, July 7, 2016, transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1607/07/lvab.01.html.
“Russia, if you’re listening”: Ashley Parker and David E. Sanger, “Donald Trump Calls On Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails,” New York Times, July 27, 2016.
Less than five hours: Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election,” U.S. Department of Justice, March 2019.
From a plain-looking building: Adrian Chen, “The Agency,” The New York Times Magazine, June 2, 2015.
He first traveled to the Soviet Union: Megan Twohey and Steve Eder, “For Trump, Three Decades of Chasing Deals in Russia,” New York Times, January 16, 2017.
his children toured the Kremlin: Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected,’ ” New York Times, August 28, 2017.
“Whether you like him or don’t”: Noah Bierman and Chris Megerian, “As Candidate, Trump Sought Friendlier Ties with Russia While Eyeing Big Money in Moscow,” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 2018.
At a business conference in Moscow: Twohey and Eder, “For Trump, Three Decades of Chasing Deals in Russia.”
Trump profited enormously: Robert Frank, “Only in Palm Beach: The $95 Million Tear-Down,” New York Times, August 27, 2016.
“In terms of high-end product”: Brennan Weiss, “Trump’s Oldest Son Said a Decade Ago That a Lot of the Family’s Assets Came from Russia,” Business Insider, February 21, 2018.
Russia’s state-run bank provided: Rob Barry, Christopher S. Stewart, and Brett Forrest, “Russian State-Run Bank Financed Deal Involving Trump Hotel Partner,” Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2017.
“This story is completely fabricated”: Eric Trump (@EricTrump), Twitter, May 8, 2017, 6:32 a.m., twitter.com/EricTrump/status/861529156701564929.
When Letterman cracked a joke: Late Show with David Letterman, CBS, October 17, 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR_SoJpWzOA.
“Do you think Putin will be going”: Donald J. Trump (@realDona
ldTrump), Twitter, June 18, 2013, 11:17 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/347191326112112640.
The Russians paid Trump $20 million: Katie Rogers, “How Trump’s ‘Miss Universe’ in Russia Became Ensnared in a Political Inquiry,” New York Times, July 11, 2017.
an oligarch close to Putin: Stephanie Baker, “Billionaire Ally of Putin Socialized with Kushner, Ivanka Trump,” Bloomberg, February 4, 2014.
“I was in Moscow recently”: Philip Bump, “How Well Does Trump Know Putin? A Chronology,” Washington Post, July 7, 2017.
“They’re terrific people”: Hugh Hewitt, “Donald Trump Returns,” The Hugh Hewitt Show, September 21, 2015, www.hughhewitt.com/donald-trump-returns/.
Trump signed a letter of intent: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“We were stablemates”: Christopher Massie, “Trump and Putin Appeared on ‘60 Minutes’ Together…from Different Continents,” BuzzFeed News, November 10, 2015.
Flynn had scheduled a trip: Nicholas Schmidle, “Michael Flynn, General Chaos,” New Yorker, February 18, 2017.
After he was pushed out: Adam Goldman and Michael Schwirtz, “Michael Flynn Was Paid by Russian-Linked Firms, Letter Shows,” New York Times, March 16, 2017.
Cohen sent an email to a spokesman: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
Manafort received a contract: Jeff Horwitz and Chad Day, “AP Findings on Trump Associate’s Work for Russian Oligarch,” Associated Press, March 22, 2017.
the two met in New York: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
Two days earlier: “Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane Investigation,” U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, December 2019, www.justice.gov/storage/120919-examination.pdf.
“I am certain his behavior continues”: Sydney Leathers, “Two Thumbs Down on Weiner Doc,” Washington Babylon, August 11, 2016.
the Daily Mail paid her $30,000: Benjamin Weiser, “Anthony Weiner’s Lawyers Question Motivation of Sexting Victim,” New York Times, September 14, 2017.
more than 300,000 emails: “A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election,” U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, June 2018, www.justice.gov/file/1071991/download.
the Dutch could see precisely: Huib Modderkolk, “Dutch Agencies Provide Crucial Intel About Russia’s Interference in US-Elections,” De Volkskrant, January 25, 2018.
Walsh and his team contended: Lawrence E. Walsh, Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up (New York: W. W. Norton, 1997).
Bush talked to Attorney General William P. Barr: Bob Woodward, Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999).
On October 31: David Corn, “A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump,” Mother Jones, October 31, 2016.
IV. “OH, GOD”
82 percent chance of winning: Josh Katz, “2016 Elections Forecast: Who Will Be President,” New York Times, November 8, 2016.
“It was only a matter of minutes”: “U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Holds a Hearing on the U.S. Attorney Firings,” U.S. Senate, May 15, 2007, gulcfac.typepad.com/georgetown_university_law/files/comey.transcript.pdf.
“standing up for what he believed”: President Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President at Nomination of James Comey as Director of the FBI,” White House Press Office, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/21/remarks-president-nomination-james-comey-director-fbi.
“a phony, a fraud”: “Transcript of Mitt Romney’s Speech on Donald Trump,” New York Times, March 3, 2016.
“What Jim Comey did”: Jerrold Nadler, interview on New Day, CNN, November 14, 2016, archive.org/details/CNNW_20161114_110000_New_Day/start/2040/end/2100.
“Can you imagine”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, December 12, 2016, 8:17 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/808299841147248640.
“If Russia, or some other entity”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, December 15, 2016, 9:24 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/809403760099422208.
For only four of the previous sixty years: Chris Canipe, “Republicans Take Control,” Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2017.
The Russians had meddled: “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections,” Office of the Director of National Intelligence, January 6, 2017, www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf.
six human sources: Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018).
uniquely important in identifying: Julian E. Barnes, Adam Goldman, and David E. Sanger, “C.I.A. Informant Extracted from Russia Had Sent Secrets to U.S. for Decades,” New York Times, September 17, 2019.
“some guy in his home”: “Donald Trump on Russia, Advice from Barack Obama, and How He Will Lead,” Time, December 7, 2016.
He asked one of his aides: Josh Campbell, “ ‘No Turning Back Now’: The Inside Story of James Comey’s Trip to Trump Tower,” CNN, September 16, 2019.
“I don’t believe in human sources”: Woodward, Fear.
Trump fixated on the prostitutes: James Comey, memorandum, January 7, 2017.
“very smart”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, December 30, 2016, 2:41 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/814919370711461890.
In the column: David Ignatius, “Why Did Obama Dawdle on Russia’s Hacking?,” Washington Post, January 12, 2017.
ACT THREE
V. THE ROAD TO MUELLER
In this chapter, when examining the history of Atlantic City and the life of Paddy McGahn, I referenced Nelson Johnson’s 2002 book, Boardwalk Empire, and Timothy L. O’Brien’s 1998 book, Bad Bet.
every U.S. president since John Adams: Betty C. Monkman, “John and Abigail Adams: A Tradition Begins,” White House Historical Association, www.whitehousehistory.org/john-and-abigail-adams-a-tradition-begins.
Obama’s crimson drapes: Katie Kindelan, “Donald Trump Brings Gold Curtains, Winston Churchill Bust to the Oval Office,” ABC News, January 21, 2017.
His mother suggested: Nelson Johnson, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City (New York: Fall River Press, 2002).
He was even so appreciative: Michael Daly, “The Decorated Marine Who Called Trump a ‘Draft-Dodging Bastard’ to His Face,” Daily Beast, November 29, 2016.
“Jack, I’m 13 and 0”: John R. O’Donnell, Trumped! The Inside Story of the Real Donald Trump—His Cunning Rise and Spectacular Fall, with James Rutherford (Hertford, N.C.: Crossroad Press, 2017).
Paddy had charged Trump: “Trump Sues Former Lawyer Patrick ‘Paddy’ McGahn,” Press of Atlantic City, October 6, 1995.
“expert at interpreting things”: Kendall Taggart and Chris Geidner, “Trump’s Lawyer: We Met with Him in Pairs to Avoid Lies,” BuzzFeed News, October 6, 2016.
“There’s three sides to every story”: Donald F. McGahn II, “A Conversation with Don McGahn,” Stockton University, January 23, 2020.
McCabe told Flynn: Andrew McCabe, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019).
they could see Trump telling movers: James B. Stewart, Deep State: Trump, the FBI, and the Rule of Law (New York: Penguin Press, 2019).
The agents said that: FD-302 for Michael Flynn, Federal Bureau of Investigation, February 15, 2017, assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5633260
/12-17-18-Redacted-Flynn-Interview-302.pdf.
“What a beautiful black sky”: McCabe, Threat.
Flynn’s son had been fired: Matthew Rosenberg, Maggie Haberman, and Eric Schmitt, “Trump Fires Adviser’s Son from Transition for Spreading Fake News,” New York Times, December 6, 2016.
“Not again, this guy”: Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election,” U.S. Department of Justice, March 2019.
“Why does it matter”: “Full Transcript: Sally Yates and James Clapper Testify on Russian Election Interference,” Washington Post, May 8, 2017.
“The head of the FBI”: James Comey, Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership (New York: Flatiron Books, 2018).
At 6:20 p.m.: James Comey, memorandum, January 28, 2017.
Morticians embalmed: Conrade C. Hinds, The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908 (Charleston, S.C.: History Press, 2012).
Eleanor Roosevelt greeted the pilot: Maurine H. Beasley, Eleanor Roosevelt and the Media: A Public Quest for Self-Fulfillment (Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1987).
“so-called judge”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, February 4, 2017, 8:12 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/827867311054974976.
Blumenthal said that Gorsuch: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Supreme Court Nominee Calls Trump’s Attacks on Judiciary ‘Demoralizing,’ ” New York Times, February 8, 2017.
Trump then publicly called: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, February 9, 2017, 6:57 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/829660612452036608.
When Comey entered the White House: James Comey, memorandum, February 8, 2017.
Flynn had in fact spoken: Greg Miller, Adam Entous, and Ellen Nakashima, “National Security Adviser Flynn Discussed Sanctions with Russian Ambassador, Despite Denials, Officials Say,” Washington Post, February 9, 2017.
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