A Very Stable Genius

by Philip Rucker

  We have spent three years in the trenches with scores of journalists at the top of their game, each striving to bring light to darkness and to explain the sometimes incomprehensible. This has been the most challenging and exhilarating period in American journalism during our lifetimes, of which the citizens of our country are the beneficiaries. Our competitors, of which there are too many to list here, have enlivened and inspired our work.

  Leonnig

  I want to thank the people who have lifted, inspired, and cheered me, including when this project seemed insurmountable. First, I give endless love and thanks to my husband, John Reeder, who somehow bounces back each day, happy and encouraging. He unfailingly carried me, as well as our children, on so many days when I was going to fall down. I am ridiculously lucky to have him as my partner and center in this life. Our literal and figurative house is still standing because of him.

  Next, I give buckets of gratitude and love to my wonderful girls, Elise and Molly. You gave me smiles and hugs when I had only a furrowed brow. During this project, you handled major responsibilities on your own, beautifully. You make me so proud. Both of you, along with your father, gave me the reason to keep going when I needed it most.

  I will be forever grateful to my work partner, Phil Rucker, who injected our project with an amazing drive and rigor that was stunning to witness in progress. He is a colleague par excellence who never lets up, who demands so much of himself, and who never asks of you what he has not already delivered and cross-checked. The skills and energy he brought to this work left me in awe. I couldn’t imagine a more precise, caring, and gifted collaborator in any narrative project, in this moment, and at any time.

  Words fail in expressing my gratitude for the treasure of family and friends who have been critical cheerleaders, in spirit and in deed. Thanks always to my mother, Dolly, who wordlessly did so much for me; to my sister, Brooke, and brother, Henry, for constant support and understanding; to my late father, Harry, who instilled in me a joy for a hard job done well. Major thanks to every member of my extended Reeder clan, too long to list, and to Maureen Reeder and Glenn Kelley for their graceful help throughout.

  I am forever indebted to a group of friends—including Michelle Dolge, Julie Maner, Lisa Rosenberg, Kristianne Teems, Liz Wieser, and Kristin Willsey—for giving me the gifts one cannot buy: their ear, laughter, and time. Thank you for the soul-restoring breaks, sometimes running through Rock Creek Park or talking over wine. Caitrine Callison, I couldn’t have made it without your every gracious deed and welcoming hug. Thanks also to people who were encouraging listeners from the earliest days, including Cynthia Baker, Kitson Jazynka, Juliana Reno, Laura Scalzo, and Elizabeth Shreve.

  Thanks to the people in the craft who were my early guides. I’m grateful to Steve Coll, Anne Hull, Carlos Lozada, David Maraniss, Dana Priest, Karen Tumulty, Joby Warrick, Paige Williams, Bob Woodward, and many more, who generously offered their advice on book writing over lunches and long talks. Thank you, Paige, for hopping on the phone at any hour.

  I have a wealth of fabulous collaborators at the Post, where teamwork is a hallmark and the reason I love the place. Rachael Bade, Bob Barnes, Bob Costa, Aaron Davis, Josh Dawsey, David Fahrenthold, Anne Gearan, Tom Hamburger, Shane Harris, Rosalind Helderman, Greg Jaffe, Michelle Lee, Ashley Parker, Beth Reinhard, Mike Semel, Ian Shapira, Craig Timberg, and so many others make the work invigorating—and fun. I’m indebted to the magical poise and instincts of Matea Gold, who leads our political enterprise team, along with John Drescher and Sandhya Somashekhar. Finally, thank you to the amazing team at NBC and MSNBC, where smart, savvy pros including Chris Hayes, Dafna Linzer, Rachel Maddow, Andrea Mitchell, Nicolle Wallace, Brian Williams, and many others shine a light day in and day out on the best breaking journalism and bring our reporting to a broader audience.

  Rucker

  To my mother, Naomi, who brought me into this world with bravery and unconditional love, thank you. You afforded me every opportunity a shy boy curious about the world could ever need or want, sometimes at great personal sacrifice. You gave me the courage to walk through open doors and taught me to live a life of honor, to think critically, and, importantly, to write. There could never be a book without you.

  Clara, my brilliant, loving, and free-spirited sister, and Karen have proven that there is more to living than hustle. My nephew, Lee, has brightened my life and makes me hopeful about the future. My late grandparents, Helen and Bunny, were trailblazers for equality and justice and endowed me with the resolve to question authority.

  I could not have partnered with a more faithful and indefatigable co-author than Carol Leonnig. Her prowess as a reporter is beyond compare. To watch Carol follow a lead and reconstruct a scene in exacting detail was breathtaking. She imbued this project with shrewd intuition and intellectual integrity, and her persistence expanded our ambitions. The readers are the richer for it. Carol’s warm spirit and optimism kept me moving forward, no matter my apprehensions, for which I will forever be in her debt.

  I have had the great fortune to cover the Trump presidency as part of the strongest White House reporting squad in the news business: Josh Dawsey, Anne Gearan, Seung Min Kim, David Nakamura, Tolu Olorunnipa, and Ashley Parker, led by the steadfast and sharp Dan Eggen and Dave Clarke. Jacqueline Alemany, Rachael Bade, Jabin Botsford, Bob Costa, Colby Itkowitz, Jenna Johnson, Paul Kane, Damian Paletta, Felicia Sonmez, and John Wagner have lent their smarts and firepower to our team. You all have elevated my craft and still given me reasons to laugh. You are simply the best.

  Three reporting partners have shaped my past decade covering politics at the Post. Dan Balz took me under his wing when I was a rookie on the trail and taught me to be rigorous and fair and to explore the country with an open notebook, imparting the simple truth that campaigns are about more than what candidates say. They are about how voters feel. Bob Costa, who took Trump’s aspirations seriously before anyone else in the media, showed me the power of reporting to challenge conventional wisdom. And Ashley Parker, my rival as a Romney Rambler in 2012, became my indispensable collaborator during the Trump presidency, coaching me in the art of language and counseling me through trials large and small.

  I am privileged to have found a second professional home at NBC News and MSNBC. Thank you to Peter Alexander, Phil Griffin, Kasie Hunt, Hallie Jackson, Andy Lack, Dafna Linzer, Chris Matthews, Craig Melvin, Andrea Mitchell, Elena Nachmanoff, Kelly O’Donnell, Jesse Rodriguez, Stephanie Ruhle, Katy Tur, Nicolle Wallace, Kristen Welker, Brian Williams, and so many others. I am indebted to the inimitable Alan Berger and his crack team at Creative Artists Agency for making it all possible.

  Al Kamen graciously opened his home on Lake Michigan in Pentwater for me to write with a change of scenery. Holly Bailey, Mary Jordan, Ruth Marcus, Eli Saslow, Mike Shear, and Karen Tumulty shared book-writing tips and offered encouragement. Ann Gerhart and Maralee Schwartz buoyed me with wisdom and warmth. Tammy Haddad offered generous counsel. The cheerful staff at Philz in Adams Morgan kept me caffeinated.

  To Luis Gabriel Cuervo, Elizabeth Dooghan, Borja Gracia, Anna Gregory, Mari Fer Merino, Justin Mills, Ryan Ozimek, John Petersen, Sarah Strom, and April Warren, who have been my D.C. family at Sunday night “Noche” dinners, thank you for your love and nourishment. To Mike Bender, Andrew and Liz Cedar, Matt Lachman, Elyse Layton, Tom Lee, Will and Addar Levi, Rebecca Livengood, Leslie Pope, Adam and Rachel Presser, Julia Pudlin, Maeve Reston, Matt Rivera, Tim Runfola, Eli Stokols, Rachel Streitfeld, Keith and Kristen Urbahn, Burden Walker, Nate Wenstrup, and David Wishnick, thank you for always being there. And to Evelyn Kramer, Michelle Kwan, the Wieners, Christine Brennan, and the rest of the Ice Castle diaspora, you knew me when.

  Thank you for downloading this eBook.

  * * *

  All the books totally free of charge, if you like to receive our books on the next time, please Subscribe and join our free books group.

  Subscribe

  Notes

  Ch
apter One: Building Blocks

  Nor of his attendance: Greg Miller, “Trump’s Pick for National Security Adviser Brings Experience and Controversy,” Washington Post, Nov. 17, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trumps-pick-for-national-security-adviser-brings-experience-and-controversy/2016/11/17/0962eb88-ad08-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html.

  Flynn called for the United States: Michael T. Flynn, “Our Ally Turkey Is in Crisis and Needs Our Support,” Hill, Nov. 8, 2016, thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/305021-our-ally-turkey-is-in-crisis-and-needs-our-support.

  During the March 5 Kansas caucuses: Susan B. Glasser, “Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of Trump,” New Yorker, Aug. 19, 2019, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/08/26/mike-pompeo-the-secretary-of-trump.

  “Don’t forget, he’s a showbiz guy”: Philip Rucker and Karen Tumulty, “Donald Trump Is Holding a Government Casting Call. He’s Seeking ‘the Look,’” Washington Post, Dec. 22, 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-is-holding-a-government-casting-call-hes-seeking-the-look/2016/12/21/703ae8a4-c795-11e6-bf4b-2c064d32a4bf_story.html.

  But Trump dug in: Greg Miller, Greg Jaffe, and Philip Rucker, “Doubting the Intelligence, Trump Pursues Putin and Leaves a Russian Threat Unchecked,” Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/donald-trump-pursues-vladimir-putin-russian-election-hacking/.

  Chapter Two: Paranoia and Pandemonium

  “You know, I won”: Max Greenwood, “Trump Told Pelosi: You Know I Won the Popular Vote,” Hill, June 9, 2017, thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/337117-trump-told-pelosi-you-know-i-won-the-popular-vote.

  Chris Christie and his wife: Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election,” U.S. Department of Justice, March 2019.

  Chapter Three: The Road to Obstruction

  McGahn’s mind raced: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”

  He discovered an unexpected ally: Meghan Clyne, “Trump Scoffs at U.N.’s Plan for New H.Q.,” New York Sun, Feb. 4, 2005, www.nysun.com/new-york/trump-scoffs-at-uns-plan-for-new-hq/8727/.

  He told the other senators: “U.S. Financial Involvement in Renovation of U.N. Headquarters,” Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Hearing, July 21, 2005, www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-109shrg23164/pdf/CHRG-109shrg23164.pdf.

  But that didn’t seem to bother Trump: Philip Rucker, Robert Costa, and Ashley Parker, “Inside Trump’s Fury: The President Rages at Leaks, Setbacks, and Accusations,” Washington Post, March 5, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-trumps-fury-the-president-rages-at-leaks-setbacks-and-accusations/2017/03/05/40713af4-01df-11e7-ad5b-d22680e18d10_story.html.

  Chapter Four: A Fateful Firing

  “This is terrible, Jeff”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”

  “While I greatly appreciate”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”

  The straitlaced Rosenstein: Ruben Castaneda, “Profile of Rod Rosenstein, U.S. Attorney for Maryland,” Washington Post, Oct. 9, 2011, www.washingtonpost.com/local/profile-of-rod-rosenstein-us-attorney-for-maryland/2011/09/29/gIQAfOTWYL_story.html?utm_term=.4055254b7e1e.

  “This was a tumultuous time”: Testimony of James A. Baker, Executive Session, October 18, 2018. Committee on the Judiciary, Joint with the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, U.S. House of Representatives.

  “We need to open the case”: Catherine Herridge, “Strzok-Page Calling to ‘Open’ Case in ‘Chargeable Way’ under Fresh Scrutiny,” Fox News, September 17, 2018, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/strzok-page-texts-calling-to-open-case-in-chargeable-way-under-fresh-scrutiny.

  Then the president told them: Matt Apuzzo, Maggie Haberman, and Matthew Rosenberg, “Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure from Investigation,” New York Times, May 19, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html.

  On May 16, Michael Schmidt: Michael S. Schmidt, “Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation,” New York Times, May 16, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html.

  Chapter Six: Suiting Up for Battle

  He was particularly incensed: Ellen Nakashima, Adam Entous, and Greg Miller, “Russian Ambassador Told Moscow That Kushner Wanted Secret Communications Channel with Kremlin,” Washington Post, May 26, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russian-ambassador-told-moscow-that-kushner-wanted-secret-communications-channel-with-kremlin/2017/05/26/520a14b4-422d-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?tid=sm_fb&utm_term=.7fb4395f2b1a.

  All of them followed Sullivan’s lead: Robert Costa and Ashley Parker, “Trump Close to Choosing Outside Counsel for Russia Investigation,” Washington Post, May 22, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-close-to-choosing-outside-counsel-for-russia-investigation/2017/05/22/8709f62e-3f22-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html.

  Chapter Seven: Impeding Justice

  Testifying June 13 before: Miles Park, “Rosenstein Says He Wouldn’t Fire Special Counsel Mueller Without Good Cause,” NPR, June 13, 2017.

  McGahn drove from his home: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”

  On June 21, The Wall Street Journal: Eli Stokols and Michael C. Bender, “White House Looks to Chart Steadier Course amid Turmoil over Russia Probes,” Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2017, www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-looks-to-chart-steadier-course-amid-turmoil-over-russia-probes-1498088253.

  Chapter Eight: A Cover-Up

  Yet Trump, who harbored deep: Greg Miller, “Trump Has Concealed Details of His Face-to-Face Encounters with Putin from Senior Officials in Administration,” Washington Post, Jan. 12, 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-has-concealed-details-of-his-face-to-face-encounters-with-putin-from-senior-officials-in-administration/2019/01/12/65f6686c-1434-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html.

  As she later told the special counsel: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”

  Once Trump boarded Air Force One, however: Ashley Parker et al., “Trump Dictated Son’s Misleading Statement on Meeting with Russian Lawyer,” Washington Post, July 31, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-dictated-sons-misleading-statement-on-meeting-with-russian-lawyer/2017/07/31/04c94f96-73ae-11e7-8f39-eeb7d3a2d304_story.html.

  At the last minute, Trump: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”

  “It was a short introductory meeting”: Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo, and Adam Goldman, “Trump Team Met with Lawyer Linked to Kremlin During Campaign,” New York Times, July 8, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/07/08/us/politics/trump-russia-kushner-manafort.html.

  “After pleasantries were exchanged”: Jo Becker, Adam Goldman, and Matt Apuzzo, “Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said,” New York Times, July 11, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politics/trump-russia-email-clinton.html.

  Trump junior, meanwhile: Becker, Goldman, and Apuzzo, “Russian Dirt on Clinton?”

  Trump ripped into Attorney General: Peter Baker, Maggie Haberman, and Michael S. Schmidt, “Citing Recusal, Trump Says He Wouldn’t Have Hired Sessions,” New York Times, July 19, 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/politics/trump-interview-sessions-russia.html.

  Chapter Nine: Shocking the Conscience

  “That’s our task, right?”: Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker, “How President Trump Consumes—or Does Not Consume—Top-Secret Intelligence,” Washington Post, May 29, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-president-trump-consumes—or-does-not-consume—top-secret-intelligence/2017/05/29/1caaca3e-39ae-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html.

  The secretary of state
came: Carol E. Lee et al., “Tillerson’s Fury at Trump Required an Intervention from Pence,” NBC News, Oct. 4, 2017, www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/tillerson-s-fury-trump-required-intervention-pence-n806451.

  Over the next few days: Philip Rucker et al., “Trump Names Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly as White House Chief of Staff, Ousting Reince Priebus,” Washington Post, July 27, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/07/28/trump-names-homeland-security-secretary-john-kelly-as-white-house-chief-of-staff-ousting-reince-priebus/.

  Chapter Ten: Unhinged

  Scaramucci unloaded on Priebus : Ryan Lizza, “Anthony Scaramucci Called Me to Unload About White House Leakers, Reince Priebus, and Steven Bannon,” New Yorker, July 27, 2017, www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/anthony-scaramucci-called-me-to-unload-about-white-house-leakers-reince-priebus-and-steve-bannon.

  This abdication of moral leadership: Demetri Sevastopulo and Gillian Tett, “Gary Cohn Urges Trump Team to Do More to Condemn Neo-Nazis,” Financial Times, Aug. 25, 2017, www.ft.com/content/b85beea2-8924-11e7-bf50-e1c239b45787.

  Chapter Eleven: Winging It

  In March, McMaster was: Greg Miller, Greg Jaffe, and Philip Rucker, “Doubting the Intelligence, Trump Pursues Putin and Leaves a Russian Threat Unchecked,” Washington Post, Dec. 14, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/donald-trump-pursues-vladimir-putin-russian-election-hacking/.