A Very Stable Genius
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on Trump followers, 15
Trump’s tweets on, 205
See also Clinton email investigation; Russian election interference; Trump Tower meeting
Clinton email investigation
and Comey firing, 54, 56, 57, 60, 62
Comey’s role, 26
McCabe’s disclosures, 222
Trump’s praise for Comey, 23
CNN, 78, 194–95
Coats, Dan
and FISA, 185–86
and Helsinki press conference, 275
and Nunes’s memo, 196
and Putin state visit invitation, 277
and Trump’s public exoneration demands, 52, 53
Cobb, Ty
and Cohen investigation, 240–41
and document sharing, 149–51
and Dowd’s resignation, 224
and Gates and Manafort indictments, 161
hiring of, 88–89, 148, 149
and Kushner/Ivanka White House roles, 148–49
and Raskins hiring, 245
and Trump interview possibility, 173, 190, 194
Cohen, Eliot A., 263
Cohen, Michael
congressional testimony, 366–70
FBI investigation of, 237–43, 246
guilty plea, 286, 366, 367
and Moscow Trump Tower deal, 363, 366, 369
Mueller investigation subpoena threat, 240
and Stormy Daniels payoff, 200–201, 236–37, 238, 239, 368
Cohn, Gary, 154, 165, 209. See also Pentagon foreign policy briefing
Cohn, Roy, 46–47, 50
Comey, James
congressional testimony (May 3, 2017), 52–53, 56
congressional testimony (June 8, 2017), 91–92
Corallo on, 85–86
and Flynn-Kislyak call, 25, 26
and Flynn’s FBI interview, 27–28
memo leak, 64–65
security clearance, 282
on Steele dossier, 23
Trump intelligence briefing (Jan. 6, 2017), 23
Trump meeting (Feb. 2017), 33, 62, 65, 92, 179
and Trump’s public exoneration demands, 52, 53, 54, 57
See also Comey’s firing
Comey’s firing, 54–65
Barr’s memo on, 330
and Clinton email investigation, 54, 56, 57, 60, 62
congressional reactions, 62
and cooperation strategy, 149–51
FBI reactions, 61–62
and FBI Russia investigation, 54, 56–57, 62, 63–64, 77
Justice Department strategy session, 63–64
and memo leak, 64–65
and Mueller-Trump meeting (May 16, 2017), 66–68
newspaper reports on, 74–75, 77–78
Pence’s statement, 63
Rosenberg on, 144
Rosenstein’s DEA remarks, 64
Rosenstein’s letter, 57, 59–61
and Russia investigation obstruction attempts, 63, 75, 77
successor interviews, 68
and Trump interview possibility, 248
Trump NBC interview, 63
Trump’s plans for, 54–56
Trump’s tweet on, 65
competitiveness, 151–52
Confederacy monument issue, 154–55
conservative political base. See Trump followers
Constitution reading documentary, 39–42
Conway, George, 74–76, 107–8
Conway, Kellyanne, 30, 60, 74, 75, 276, 386
Cooper, Anderson, 60
Corallo, Mark
and Dowd’s timing forecasts, 102, 103
hiring of, 85–87
on Kushner/Ivanka White House roles, 92–93, 94, 201
resignation of, 127–28
and Trump legal defense team internal conflicts, 101
and Trump’s personal contact attempts, 88
and Trump Tower meeting, 118, 122, 123–25, 127
Corker, Bob, 158–59, 290, 350
Corsi, Jerome, 324–27
Costa, Robert, 183, 386, 408
Cotton, Tom, 168, 187
Cox, Archibald, 62
Craighead, Shealah, 58
Crimea, Russian annexation of, 111, 113, 259
criminal justice system
First Step Act, 335, 364
Suffolk County Community College Speech, 144–45
Crossfire Hurricane. See FBI Russia investigation
Crowell, James, 243
Cruz, Ted, 41
Culvahouse, A. B., Jr., 89
Cummings, Elijah, 366–67
Cuomo, Chris, 397
Cutz, Fernando, 231, 232–33
cybersecurity, 395, 396
Daily Mail, 198
Daley, Bill, 201–2
Daniels, Stormy (Stephanie Clifford), 200–201, 236–37, 238, 239, 368
Davis, Lanny, 367–68
Dawsey, Josh, 187, 322, 363
“Deep State”
and Nunes’s memo, 194–95
Trump’s paranoia about, 51, 186, 189
Defense Department
Gallagher prosecution, 402–4
and “I Am Part of the Resistance” editorial, 291
Mattis’s resignation, 344–45, 351–53, 355
Shanahan’s tenure, 364–65
White House dinner (2019), 401–3
See also Mattis, James; Pentagon foreign policy briefing; worldwide troop deployments
Democratic National Committee. See DNC hack
Democrats, 54, 104. See also House Democrats; Schumer, Charles; specific people
Dhillon, Uttam, 56
diGenova, Joseph, 223–24, 234–35
DNC hack
indictments, 273–74
and Mueller investigation indictments, 376
Mueller report on, 389
and Stone, 324–25, 369
tracking, 159–60
Trump’s exhortation to Russia on Clinton’s emails, 255–56, 361
Trump’s written answers on, 323
Dobbs, Lou, 306–7
DOJ. See Justice Department (DOJ)
Donaldson, Annie, 99, 407–8
Doocey, Sean, 219
Dowd, John
and document sharing, 150, 151
and Flynn’s joint defense withdrawal, 172
hiring of, 83–84
and Kushner/Ivanka White House roles, 93, 94, 148–49
and Mueller’s distance, 251
on obstruction of justice investigation, 100
public statement by, 223
resignation of, 224, 389
timing forecasts by, 102–3, 172, 223
and Trump interview possibility, 173, 176, 178–79, 190–91, 192, 213–14, 246, 249
and Trump legal defense team recruitment, 88–89, 223–24
Trump’s abuse of, 192, 223
Dreeben, Michael, 96, 149–50, 246
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 144–45
Dubke, Michael, 33–35, 58, 59, 73, 85
Dunford, Joseph
and Mattis’s resignation, 352
and Pentagon foreign policy briefing, 131, 136, 139
and Shanahan, 365
and Tillerson’s resistance to Trump, 177, 178
and World War I commemoration, 318, 319
Durbin, Dick, 187, 364
Edwards, John, 94
Eisenberg, John, 357
enablers in administration, 2, 355–56, 365, 373–74, 402, 414
Engel, Steven, 330
Erdogan, Recep Tayyip, 13, 278–81, 340–41, 343
Espy, Mike, 150–51, 213, 247
executive power
Constitution on, 40–41
and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, 170–71
McGahn on, 43–44
and nepotism, 20
and obstruction of justice investigation, 330–31
and security clearances, 252
executive privilege, 91, 149–50, 357–58, 408–9
family separations, 4, 265–69, 372, 373
FBI. See Federal Bureau of Investigation
FBI Russia investigation
and Comey’s firing, 54, 56–57, 62, 63–64, 77
Flynn as subject of, 32, 33, 62, 65, 179
Kushner as person of interest in, 78
Republican quest for wrongdoing in, 187–90, 194–95, 196–97, 253–55, 295, 297–98
Sessions’s recusal, 42–43, 44–45, 46–48, 53–54, 107–8, 141
Trump’s complaints about, 52–54
Trump’s lies, 53
Trump’s public exoneration demands, 52, 53, 54, 57, 63
See also Russia investigation obstruction attempts
Fear (Woodward), 130, 290
fearmongering, 311–12
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Cohen investigation, 237–43
and Comey’s firing, 61–62
Flynn investigation, 25, 27–29
Kushner foreign contact disclosure investigation, 201
Mueller’s tenure at, 72–73
and Porter domestic abuse accusations, 199
Strzok-Page texts, 62, 128, 193, 362
See also Comey, James; FBI Russia investigation; Wray, Christopher
Federalist, The, 416
Figliuzzi, Frank, 72–73, 390
Financial Times, on Unite the Right rally, 154
First Step Act (2018), 335, 364
FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), 183–86
Flood, Emmet
and Barr’s appointment, 329
and Barr’s memo, 330
and Cipollone’s hiring, 303
and Comey’s testimony, 91
hiring of, 223
and Mueller report, 381, 382, 386, 388
on prohibition on charging a sitting president, 361
and war room planning, 89
Flynn, Michael
appointment of, 11–14
FBI investigation of, 32, 33, 62, 65, 179
firing of, 31, 32–33
joint defense withdrawal, 171–72
and Turkey, 13
See also Flynn-Kislyak call
Flynn-Kislyak call, 21–22
Comey-Yates debate, 25
and FBI investigation, 25, 27–29
Flynn’s guilty plea, 173–74, 175
NSA intercept, 22, 25, 28, 30
and Putin response, 22–23
Trump team’s lies about, 26, 28, 29
Washington Post on, 26, 31
Ford, Christine Blasey, 299–300, 301–2
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), 170–71
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 183–86
foreign relations
Bolton’s role, 263–65
and Group of Seven summit (2018), 259–60
India, 162–64
Iran nuclear deal, 16, 135, 168
Iraq, 354–55
NATO, 6, 132–33, 134, 270–73, 332
Saudi Arabia, 322–23
“shithole countries” comment, 215
and Trump-McMaster tensions, 164–68
and Trump’s characteristics, 130–31, 163
Turkish prisoner exchange deal, 278–82
world leaders’ responses, 5–6, 111–12, 153
See also Afghanistan war; immigration policy; Mexico; North Korea; Pentagon foreign policy briefing; world leaders; worldwide troop deployments
Fox network
and Bolton’s hiring, 232, 234
and diGenova’s hiring, 224
on FISA, 183, 184
and Gallagher prosecution, 402
on government spending bill negotiations, 350
and immigration policy, 306, 310–11, 397
and Republican congressional quest for wrongdoing in Russia investigation, 254–55
and Sekulow, 88
on Strzok-Page texts, 362
Trump’s addiction to, 183, 321
and Trump’s denial of Russian election interference, 275–76
See also Hannity, Sean
France, 321. See also Macron, Emmanuel
Francisco, Noel, 210, 297, 298
Franken, Al, 42
Freeh, Louis, 72
Fuentes, Zach, 318, 319
Futerfas, Alan, 117, 120, 121–23, 125
Gallagher, Edward, 402–4
Galston, William A., 416
Garten, Alan, 121–22, 125
Gates, Bill, 30
Gates, Rick, 18–19, 160–61
Germany, 270
Gidley, Hogan, 271
Gingrich, Newt, 275–76
Giuffra, Robert, 89
Giuliani, Rudy
and Biden investigation request, 413, 414
and Christie chief of staff offer, 335–36
and Corsi plea agreement, 324, 326, 327
hiring of, 244–45
and Mueller report, 361, 382, 388, 405, 408
and Mueller’s distance, 251
television comments, 362–63
and transition appointments, 49–50
and Trump interview possibility, 246, 247–48, 249
and Trump’s written answers, 323
Glor, Jeff, 274
Goldman, Adam, 295–96
Goldstein, Andrew, 101, 245, 246, 326
Goldstein, Steve, 218–19
Goldstone, Ron, 115, 122, 126, 127
Goodlatte, Bob, 187, 194
Gordon, Sue, 254
Gorsuch, Neil, 98
Gosar, Paul, 369
government shutdown (2018), 350–51, 353, 355, 363–64
government spending bill negotiations, 333–34, 349–51
Gowdy, Trey, 194–95, 253, 254, 255
Graham, Franklin, 155
Graham, Lindsey, 187, 289
Great Britain
Salisbury nerve agent attack, 217, 226, 227, 229–30
Trump-May relationship, 112, 316–17
See also May, Theresa
Griffin, Michael, 344
Group of Seven summit (2017), 6
Group of Seven summit (2018), 259–60
Groves, Steven, 149
Grudinin, Pavel, 226
Guccifer 2.0, 160
Gulen, Fethullah, 13, 279
Haberman, Maggie, 127
Haiti-Norway comments, 187
Haley, Nikki, 17, 149, 168, 216
Hamilton, Alexander, 416
Haney, Franklin, 236
Hannity, Sean, 88, 230, 231, 299
Harris, Shane, 322
Haspel, Gina, 217
Hayden, Michael, 176, 282
Hegseth, Pete, 402
Hicks, Hope
as calming influence, 209
and Comey’s firing, 54
and Manafort home raid, 154
and McMaster’s firing, 232
Mueller investigation interview, 211
and Mueller’s appointment, 73
resignation of, 209
and Russia investigation obstruction attempts, 104, 120–21, 125
and transition appointments, 20
and Trump’s New Jersey golf club vacation (Aug. 2017), 152
and Trump Tower meeting, 116, 118, 119, 120–21, 124, 125, 126
and Wall Street Journal article, 106
Hill, Fiona, 229
Hogan, Lawrence J., 417
Holder, Eric, 47, 90
Holderness, Colbie, 199, 200
Holt, Lester, 63, 248
Homan, Thomas, 266
Homeland Security Department, 395. See also immigration policy; Nielsen, Kirstjen
Hood, Robert, 344
Hoover, J. Edgar, 47
Horowitz, Michael, 128
House Democrats
government spending bill negotiations, 333–34, 349–51
and impeachment possibility, 408–9
investigation plans, 312, 316, 321, 322, 356
midterm victory, 312
Trump’s paranoia about, 27
See also Pelosi, Nancy; specific people
House Freedom Caucus, 185, 35
0
House Intelligence Committee investigation, 104, 114–15, 116, 117–18, 209
House Oversight Committee, Cohen’s testimony before, 366–70
House Republican quest for wrongdoing in Russia investigation, 187–90, 194–95, 196–97, 253–55, 295, 297–98
Hunt, Jody, 53, 68, 70, 140, 141, 142
Hur, Robert, 243
“I Am Part of the Resistance” editorial, 290–91
Ignatius, David, 26
ignorance. See Trump’s characteristics, ignorance
image, focus on. See Trump’s characteristicsm, image focus
immigration policy
and asylum caravan, 303, 308
brainstorming on, 308–9
chaos in, 307–8
Dobbs on, 306–7
family separations, 4, 265–69, 372, 373
and government spending bill negotiations, 333–34
Mexico border wall demands, 35, 38, 203, 333–34, 350, 354, 364
and midterm elections, 303, 310–12
and migrant surge (2019), 371–73, 395–98
national emergency declaration, 364, 402
and Sessions’s appointment, 50
troop deployments, 31, 36–38, 309–11, 342, 364–65, 371–72
Trump’s abuse of Nielsen, 303–6, 308
Trump’s Haiti-Norway comments, 187
White House czar proposal, 373–74
impact on American democracy, 2–3, 7–8, 285–86
impeachment possibility
and Biden investigation request, 414, 416–17
and executive privilege strategy, 408–9
Hamilton on, 416
and midterm elections, 294–95
and Mueller report, 361, 384, 386
and Trump’s Biden investigation request, 412
impulsivity. See Trump’s characteristics, impulsivity
inauguration planning, 18–19
Ingraham, Laura, 356
insecurity. See Trump’s characteristics, insecurity
internal conflicts. See Trump administration internal conflicts
internal resistance, 4–5
and “I Am Part of the Resistance” editorial, 290–91
Mattis’s resignation letter, 344–45
and McCain memorial, 289
McRaven’s essay, 283–85
and Pentagon foreign policy briefing, 137–38
Rosenstein’s DEA speech, 64
and Syria withdrawal plans, 343–44
Tillerson, 137–38, 177–78, 328–29
Twenty-fifth Amendment proposals, 290, 296, 297
Iowa Freedom Summit, 43
Iran nuclear deal, 16, 135, 168
Iraq
Gallagher prosecution, 402–4
Trump’s visit (2018), 354–55
Isgur Flores, Sarah
and Comey’s firing, 59–60
and Rosenstein firing possibility, 297, 298
and Rosenstein Twenty-fifth Amendment proposal story, 295–96
and Sessions resignation demands, 141
and Sessions’s firing, 313, 314
ISIS, 339–40, 402–4. See also Syria
Israel
and Kushner’s role, 207