Donald Trump V. the United States : Inside the Struggle to Stop a President (9781984854674)
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On Saturday night in Florida: David A. Fahrenthold and Karen DeYoung, “Trump Turns Mar-a-Lago Club Terrace into Open-Air Situation Room,” Washington Post, February 13, 2017.
“I don’t know about that”: Matthew Rosenberg and Glenn Thrush, “Trump Will ‘Look Into’ Reports That Flynn Discussed Sanctions with Russia,” New York Times, February 10, 2017.
“General Flynn does enjoy”: Madeline Conway and Tara Palmeri, “Spicer and Conway Send Split Signals on Flynn’s Future,” Politico, February 13, 2017.
“We’ll give you a good recommendation”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“That sounds better”: Mark Mazzetti et al., “Intimidation, Pressure, and Humiliation: Inside Trump’s Two-Year War on the Investigations Encircling Him,” New York Times, February 19, 2019.
“Good afternoon”: “Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sean Spicer,” White House, February 14, 2017, www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/press-briefing-press-secretary-sean-spicer-021417/.
At 4:15 p.m.: James Comey, memorandum, February 14, 2017.
at least two meetings: Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima, and Greg Miller, “Sessions Met with Russian Envoy Twice Last Year, Encounters He Later Did Not Disclose,” Washington Post, March 1, 2017.
“became President of the United States”: Jason Kurtz, “Van Jones on Trump: ‘He Became President of the United States in That Moment, Period,’ ” CNN, March 1, 2017.
“This is bullshit”: Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear, Border Wars (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2019).
“You’re telling me”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
The showdown in the Oval Office: “Video Shows Heated Oval Office Meeting,” CNN, March 5, 2017, www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/03/05/heated-oval-office-meeting-bannon-trump-nobles-newday.cnn.
Trump put out a series: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, March 4, 2017, 6:25 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/837989835818287106.
When McGahn wasn’t looking: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
WikiLeaks had repeatedly teased: WikiLeaks (@wikileaks), Twitter, February 4, 2017, 5:38 a.m., twitter.com/wikileaks/status/827828627488268290.
He secretly told McGahn: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
From the Oval Office: Ibid.
“I can’t go into the particulars”: Kailani Koenig, “Schiff: ‘More Than Circumstantial Evidence’ Trump Associates Colluded with Russia,” NBC News, March 22, 2017.
Trump started the call: James Comey, memorandum, March 30, 2017.
Comey missed the call: James Comey, memorandum, April 11, 2017.
Trump proudly told McGahn: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
Feinstein accused Comey: Adam Goldman, “James Comey ‘Mildly Nauseous’ Over Idea He Swayed the Election,” New York Times, May 3, 2017.
In the exchange with lawmakers: “Read the Full Testimony of FBI Director James Comey in Which He Discusses Clinton Email Investigation,” Washington Post, May 3, 2017.
“This is terrible, Jeff”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“He told me three times”: Ibid.
“Dear Director Comey”: Ibid.
“Few events have represented”: Adam Goldman, “Andrew McCabe, Ex-F.B.I. Official, Will Not Be Charged in Lying Case,” New York Times, February 14, 2020.
McGahn and Dhillon also tried to appeal: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
Comey began his day in Jacksonville: “Hours Before His Firing, FBI Director James Comey Was at Law-Enforcement Conference in Jacksonville,” Action News Jax, May 9, 2017, www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/hours-before-his-firing-fbi-director-james-comey-was-at-law-enforcement-conference-in-jacksonville/521019494/.
Comey landed at Reagan National Airport: Flight data for JENA625, May 9, 2017, flightaware.com/live/flight/JENA625/history/20170510/0103Z/KLAX/KDCA.
“Only seven days after Donald J. Trump”: Michael S. Schmidt, “In a Private Dinner, Trump Demanded Loyalty. Comey Demurred,” New York Times, May 11, 2017.
“James Comey better hope”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, May 12, 2017, 8:26 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473.
Trump had disclosed highly sensitive intelligence: Greg Miller and Greg Jaffe, “Trump Revealed Highly Classified Information to Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador,” Washington Post, May 15, 2017.
“I could record the President”: Stewart, Deep State.
“It’s your fucking fault”: Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America (New York: Penguin Press, 2020).
“You’re weak”: Ibid.
“Oh my God”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“We’ve got a problem”: Chris Whipple, “ ‘Who Needs a Controversy over the Inauguration?’: Reince Priebus Opens Up About His Six Months of Magical Thinking,” Vanity Fair, February 14, 2018.
“Jeff, what’s going on”: Ibid.
But the following morning: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
ACT FOUR
VI. “HE’S SAYING SOME CRAZY SHIT”
In this chapter, when detailing Trump’s efforts to pressure Sessions through Lewandowski and Priebus, I regularly referenced the Mueller report.
at least eighty-three different gifts: Ken Klippenstein, “The Insane Gifts Saudi Arabia Gave President Trump,” Daily Beast, September 4, 2017.
Trump had taken Sessions’s resignation: 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.
In an effort to shield Nixon: “Dean Disbarred in Virginia for ‘Unethical’ Acts,” Associated Press, February 7, 1974, www.nytimes.com/1974/02/07/archives/dean-disbarred-in-virginia-for-unethical-acts.html.
Late on June 14: Devlin Barrett et al., “Special Counsel Is Investigating Trump for Possible Obstruction of Justice, Officials Say,” Washington Post, June 14, 2017.
“Why is that Hillary”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, June 15, 2017, 3:43 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/875438639823675392.
“I am being investigated”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, June 16, 2017, 9:07 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/875701471999864833.
At 2:23 p.m.: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“Call Rod, and tell Rod”: Ibid.
Concentrate on the judges: Ibid.
“While I was there, I said hello”: Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, and Maggie Haberman, “Citing Recusal, Trump Says He Wouldn’t Have Hired Sessions,” New York Times, July 19, 2017.
More than two weeks earlier: Jo Becker, Matt Apuzzo, and Adam Goldman, “Trump’s Son Met with Russian Lawyer After Being Promised Damaging Information on Clinton,” New York Times, July 9, 2017.
Hours before we interviewed Trump: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
Lewandowski had also served: Maggie Haberman and Michael M. Grynbaum, “Corey Lewan
dowski, Donald Trump’s Campaign Manager, Is Charged with Battery,” New York Times, March 29, 2016.
“I know that I recused”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
On Friday night: Adam Entous, Ellen Nakashima, and Greg Miller, “Sessions Discussed Trump Campaign-Related Matters with Russian Ambassador, U.S. Intelligence Intercepts Show,” Washington Post, July 21, 2017.
“So many people”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, July 22, 2017, 7:44 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/888726438265966592.
In an interview with the Times: Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael D. Shear, “Donald Trump Drops Threat of New Hillary Clinton Investigation,” New York Times, November 22, 2016.
The president said it was Priebus’s job: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“Did you get it”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“Attorney General Jeff Sessions”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, July 25, 2017, 6:12 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/889790429398528000.
Then, in mid-September: Kenneth P. Vogel, “ ‘Isn’t That the Trump Lawyer?’ A Reporter’s Accidental Scoop,” New York Times, September 19, 2017.
Trump himself had dictated: Ashley Parker et al., “Trump Dictated Son’s Misleading Statement on Meeting with Russian Lawyer,” Washington Post, July 31, 2017.
“I think he’s going to be fair”: “Excerpts from Trump’s Interview with the Times,” New York Times, December 28, 2017.
Trump was considering firing Mueller: Michael D. Shear and Maggie Haberman, “Friend Says Trump Is Considering Firing Mueller as Special Counsel,” New York Times, June 12, 2017.
In the second week of January: Michael Rothfeld and Joe Palazzolo, “Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star’s Silence,” Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2018.
“shithole countries”: Josh Dawsey, “Trump Derides Protections for Immigrants from ‘Shithole’ Countries,” Washington Post, January 12, 2018.
“At this hour”: Erik Wemple, “Fox News’s Sean Hannity Is Suddenly an Expert on Trump and Mueller,” Washington Post, March 19, 2018.
“So we have sources tonight”: Callum Borchers, “Fox News Hits Peak Trump Sycophancy, as Opinion Hosts Disregard the Network’s Own Reporting,” Washington Post, January 26, 2018.
“Of all the things”: Kailani Koenig, “Reince Priebus Disputes Report That Trump Tried to Fire Robert Mueller,” NBC News, February 4, 2018.
called his former chief of staff: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
telling the White House staff secretary: Ibid.
“If he doesn’t write a letter”: Ibid.
Four days earlier: Martin Gould, “White House Romance! Trump’s Comms Director Hope Hicks Is Seen Canoodling with President’s High Level Staff Secretary Rob Porter,” Daily Mail, February 1, 2018.
“I never said to fire Mueller”: Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”
“What are these notes”: Ibid.
In July 1974, the House: Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Carrie Dann, “Impeachment Seems Much More Likely After Thursday’s Bombshell Report,” NBC News, January 18, 2019.
VII. NORMS OF PRESIDENTIAL CONDUCT 101
they had said that reports: Mark Landler, “Trump Will Have Wide Latitude to Let Family into Government’s Secret Circles,” New York Times, November 16, 2018.
In a section of his application: Maggie Haberman et al., “Trump Ordered Officials to Give Jared Kushner a Security Clearance,” New York Times, February 28, 2019.
“I have never seen that level”: Kara Scannell, “Background Check Chief Has ‘Never Seen’ Mistakes and Omissions at Level of Jared Kushner Forms,” CNN, February 13, 2018.
Kushner’s family owed more than $1 billion: Charles V. Bagli and Kate Kelly, “Deal Gives Kushners Cash Infusion on 666 Fifth Avenue,” New York Times, August 3, 2018.
“again have confirmed”: Shane Harris et al., “New White House Security Clearance Policy Could Put ‘Bull’s Eye’ on Kushner,” Washington Post, February 16, 2018.
It was in 1883: “An Act to Regulate and Improve the Civil Service of the United States (Pendleton Act),” National Archives, January 16, 1883.
The stated reason: Matt Apuzzo and Adam Goldman, “Andrew McCabe, a Target of Trump’s F.B.I. Scorn, Is Fired Over Candor Questions,” New York Times, March 16, 2018.
“FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, December 23, 2017, 3:30 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/944666448185692166.
Comey described Trump: James Comey, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership (New York: Flatiron Books, 2018).
ABC News aired an hour-long interview: “Transcript: James Comey’s Interview with ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos,” ABC News, April 15, 2018.
“James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, April 13, 2018, 8:01 a.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984763579210633216.
“was a fucking liar”: Bob Woodward, Fear: Trump in the White House (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018).
On the day the White House: “Read the Powerhouse Politics Interview with Outgoing White House Lawyer Ty Cobb,” ABC News, May 2, 2018.
Later that same night: Amber Phillips and Callum Borchers, “Rudy Giuliani’s Revealing Interview with Sean Hannity, Annotated,” Washington Post, May 3, 2018.
At the Times: Matt Apuzzo, “Jared Kushner Gets Security Clearance, Ending Swirl of Questions Over Delay,” New York Times, May 23, 2018.
That afternoon on CNN: “Transcripts: Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” CNN, May 23, 2018, us.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1903/01/cnr.05.html.
shortly after 4:30 p.m.: “Kim Kardashian West Goes to the White House to Talk Pardon with Trump,” CNBC, May 31, 2018.
she had insinuated her way: Katie Rogers, “Trump Meets with Kim. Kim Kardashian West, That Is,” New York Times, May 30, 2018.
“Happy Birthday Alice Marie Johnson”: Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian), Twitter, May 30, 2018, 9:50 a.m., twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1001823217219129344.
President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich: David Johnston, “U.S. Is Beginning Criminal Inquiry in Pardon of Rich,” New York Times, February 15, 2001.
When President George W. Bush commuted: Scott Shane and Neil A. Lewis, “Bush Commutes Libby Sentence, Saying 30 Months ‘Is Excessive,’ ” New York Times, July 3, 2007.
Instead of being wronged by the system: Richard Pérez-Peña, “Former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio Is Convicted of Criminal Contempt,” New York Times, July 31, 2017.
received a commutation of his sentence: Mitch Smith, “President Commutes Sentence of Iowa Meatpacking Executive,” New York Times, December 20, 2017.
Trump pardoned a former sailor: Matt Zapotosky, “Trump Pardons Former Navy Sailor Convicted of Retaining Submarine Pictures in Case That Drew Comparisons to Clinton,” Washington Post, March 9, 2018.
The following month: Peter Baker, “Trump Pardons Scooter Libby in a Case That Mirrors His Own,” New York Times, April 13, 2018.
he issued a posthumous pardon: John Eligon and Michael D. Shear, “Trump Pardons Jack Johnson, Heavyweight Boxing Champion,” New York Times, May 24, 2018.
“I would like to thank”: Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian), Twitter, May 30, 2018, 10:03 p.m., twitter.com/KimKardashian/status/1002007628501934083.
“The White House counsel”: Michael S. Schmid
t and Maggie Haberman, “White House Counsel, Don McGahn, Has Cooperated Extensively in Mueller Inquiry,” New York Times, August 18, 2018.
“I allowed White House Counsel”: Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, August 18, 2018, 6:12 p.m., twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1030940529037651968.
We wrote that at the time: Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt, “Trump Lawyers’ Sudden Realization: They Don’t Know What Don McGahn Told Mueller’s Team,” New York Times, August 18, 2018.
McGahn had watched the testimony: Carl Hulse, Confirmation Bias: Inside Washington’s War over the Supreme Court, from Scalia’s Death to Justice Kavanaugh (New York: Harper, 2019).
“Did I tell you that”: Ibid.
Bloomberg reported that Mueller: Chris Strohm, Greg Farrell, and Shannon Pettypiece, “Mueller Ready to Deliver Key Findings in His Trump Probe, Sources Say,” Bloomberg, October 17, 2018.
NBC News reported that Mueller: Pete Williams and Ken Dilanian, “Mueller May Submit Report to Attorney General as Soon as Mid-February, Say Sources,” NBC News, December 20, 2018.
CNN and NBC News reported: Evan Perez, Laura Jarrett, and Katelyn Polantz, “Justice Department Preparing for Mueller Report as Early as Next Week,” CNN, February 20, 2019.
CBS News said the report: Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy), Twitter, February 21, 2018, 7:33 a.m., twitter.com/stevenportnoy/status/1098561308142829568.
At 4:00 p.m. that Friday: Katie Rogers and Katie Benner, “Where’s the Mueller Report? Washington Barely Handled the Anticipation,” New York Times, March 22, 2019.
“It was a complete and total exoneration”: Mark Mazzetti and Katie Benner, “Mueller Finds No Trump-Russia Conspiracy, but Stops Short of Exonerating President on Obstruction,” New York Times, March 24, 2019.
“Up to the attorney general”: “Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel After Bilateral Meeting,” White House, March 25, 2019, www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-prime-minister-netanyahu-israel-bilateral-meeting-4/.