A Very Stable Genius
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on Porter domestic abuse accusations, 201
on Russian campaign interference indictment, 204–5
on Sessions, 140, 314
“stable genius” phrase in, 6–7
and Tillerson’s CBS comments, 328–29
on Tillerson’s firing, 217–18
and transparency, 4–5
on Trump Tower meeting, 127
on Turkish prisoner exchange deal, 280
on U.S. withdrawal from Syria, 341, 342
on Whitaker, 317
Trump Tower meeting (June 2016), 115–28
Brown’s notification to Congress, 117–18
and Circa, 118, 122
and congressional committee investigations, 114–15, 117–18
and Corallo’s resignation, 127–28
Hicks’s advice to Trump, 116, 126
Kasowitz and Bowe’s advice to Trump, 115–16
Lowell on, 116–17
and Magnitsky Act, 119, 125–26
Mueller investigation on, 291–92, 323, 327
Trump junior’s statement, 125–27
Trump legal defense team’s strategy, 119–20, 122, 124, 125
Trump’s Air Force One statement, 121–24, 126–27
Trump’s written answers on, 327
Tumulty, Karen, 283–85
Turkey
Flynn’s work for, 13
prisoner exchange deal, 278–82
and Syria withdrawal, 340–41, 343, 415
Turnbull, Malcolm, 31
tweets. See Trump’s tweets
Twitter. See Trump’s tweets
Ukraine
Manafort and Gates working for, 160
Russian interventions in, 113, 114, 273
Trump’s Biden investigation request, 412–14, 416–17
Trump’s communications with, 6–7
United Arab Emirates, 207
Unite the Right rally (Charlottesville, Aug. 2017), 154–56
Vance, Joyce White, 237
Vega, Cecilia, 276–77
Veselnitskaya, Natalia. See Trump Tower meeting
Veterans’ Day observation, 320–21
Videgaray, Luis, 36, 37
Wall Street Journal, 106
Walsh, Katie, 20
war crimes, 402–3
Warmbier, Otto, 371
Warner, Mark, 104, 185
war on terror, 72, 184
Washington Post
on Comey’s firing, 74–75
fact-checking by, 295
on FBI Russia investigation, 78
on Flynn-Kislyak call, 26, 31
on immigration policy, 187
and Kavanaugh’s nomination, 299–300
on Khashoggi’s murder, 322
Kushner back channel story, 84, 85
on Kushner’s security clearance, 202
on McGahn, 408
McRaven’s essay, 283–85
and Mueller report letter, 392
on obstruction of justice investigation, 97
on Sessions-Kislyak communications, 42, 139
on Trump’s congratulatory call to Putin, 230
Wehner, Peter, 7–8
Weingarten, Reid, 89–90
Weissmann, Andrew, 96
West, Kanye, 335
West, Kim Kardashian, 335
Westerhout, Madeleine, 156
Wheelbarger, Katie, 271–72
whistle-blowers. See internal resistance
Whitaker, Matthew
as interim attorney general, 314, 359–60
and Mueller investigation, 314, 316
and Rosenstein firing possibility, 297, 298
Trump’s defense of, 317
White, Dana, 271, 310, 311, 342
White, Paula, 410
White House legal defense team
Cipollone’s role, 356–57
Cobb’s hiring, 88–89, 148
cooperation strategy, 149–50, 172, 173, 174
and document sharing, 149–51, 173, 292
and Dowd’s timing forecasts, 151
executive privilege strategy, 357–58, 408–9
Mueller report celebration, 388
on Trump interview possibility, 173
See also Cipollone, Pat; Cobb, Ty; Flood, Emmet
white supremacy/racism
Haiti-Norway comments, 187
Phoenix rally, 155–56
and Sessions’s appointment, 50
and Trump followers, 2, 3–4
and Trump’s characteristics, 4, 369
Unite the Right rally, 154–56
WikiLeaks, 159–60, 256, 323, 324–25, 326, 369
Wilner, Tom, 71–72
Wilson, Frederica, 203
Wolf, Chad, 267
Wolkoff, Stephanie Winston, 18
Woodward, Bob, 130, 290
Words That Built America, The (Pelosi), 39–42
world leaders
manipulation of Kushner, 207
May call, 316–17
Peña Nieto calls, 31, 287–88
responses to Trump presidency, 5–6, 111–12, 153
state visit invitations, 228
Trump’s interactions with, 31, 228, 287–88, 316–17
See also authoritarian leaders, Trump’s alignment with; Kim Jong Un; May, Theresa; Putin, Vladimir
World War I commemoration, 316, 317–21
worldwide troop deployments
Iraq speech on, 354
Pentagon foreign policy briefing on, 132, 133–34, 135–36
and Tillerson’s resistance, 137–38, 177–78
See also Afghanistan war; Syria
Wray, Christopher, 185–86, 188, 189, 196, 197, 253, 363
Wynn, Steve, 90
Yates, Sally
firing of, 30
and Flynn-Kislyak call, 25, 26, 27–28, 29, 30
and Muslim travel ban, 30
security clearance of, 282
yes-men. See enablers in administration
Zapotosky, Matt, 392
Zebley, Aaron
and Corsi plea agreement, 326
hiring of, 95
Mueller report briefing, 375, 376
and Mueller report executive summary request, 391
and Mueller report letter, 385, 391, 393
and Mueller’s distance, 251
and Mueller team meeting (June 16, 2017), 100
and O’Callaghan’s hiring, 244
on prohibition on charging a sitting president, 250
and Trump interview possibility, 246
Zelensky, Volodymyr, 412–14
zero tolerance. See family separations
Zinke, Ryan, 143–44
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About the Authors
Carol Leonnig is a national investigative reporter at The Washington Post, where she has worked since 2000 and covers Donald Trump's presidency and other subjects. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on security failures and misconduct inside the Secret Service. She also was part of the Post teams awarded Pulitzers in 2017, for reporting on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, and in 2014, for revealing the U.S. government's secret, broad surveillance of Americans. Leonnig is also an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC.
Philip Rucker is the White House Bureau Chief at The Washington Post, leading its coverage of President Trump and his administration. He and a team of Post reporters won the Pulitzer Prize and George Polk Award for their reporting on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Rucker joined the Post in 2005 and previously has covered Congress, the Obama White House and the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns. He serves as an on-air political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, and graduated from Yale University with a degree in history.
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Philip Rucker, A Very Stable Genius