Schmidt S. - Donald Trump V. the United States - Inside the Struggle to Stop a President

Working as a reporter at The New York Times has been the highlight of a lifetime. The Sulzberger family, led by A.G., is one of the great treasures of the United States. Unlike nearly every other paper in the country, the Times is more robust today than it’s ever been—and that is directly a result of the family’s decision to protect the newsroom. Dean Baquet, our executive editor, is one of the great lions of journalism. He’s the most inspiring journalist I’ve ever worked with. His deputy, Matt Purdy, is one of the most thoughtful and gracious editors around, and above all he’s a great person. He’s guided me through my career, always keeping me focused and in line.

My home base for the past eight years has been the Times Washington bureau. The bureau exists because of an extraordinary group of people. Our bureau chief, Elisabeth Bumiller, has led us fearlessly in the Trump era, as we’ve expanded as a bureau to produce more stories a day than anyone ever could have imagined. Elisabeth has kept us on mission and done it with charm. Her husband and longtime Times reporter, Steve Weisman, is a great friend. My editor in the bureau, Amy Fiscus, has been the steady hand that has guided us through covering the Mueller investigation and all the other craziness that came after it. She made us better reporters and writers, and is a great friend and someone you want in the foxhole with you. My editors early in my tenure in the bureau—David Leonhardt, Carolyn Ryan, Bill Hamilton, and Rebecca Corbett—should be rewarded for the patience they had with me. They were great tutors and allies to have. The backbone of the bureau is formed by Tahirah Burley, our senior operations manager, and our technology specialists, Cliff Meadows and Jeff Burgess. The laptop Cliff arranged for me to have to write the book is one of the greatest electronics I’ve ever had. Without it, I never would have finished on time. I’m also thankful to work for and alongside: Dick Stevenson, Thom Shanker, Carl Hulse, Julie Davis, Helene Cooper, Matt Apuzzo, Katie Benner, Matt Rosenberg, Nick Fandos, Peter Baker, Sharon LaFraniere, Eileen Sullivan, Julian Barnes, Charlie Savage, Michael Shear, Ken Vogel, Michael Crowley, Noah Weiland, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Annie Karni, Scott Shane, Mark Landler, Eric Lipton, Eric Schmitt, and many others.

There are four people I’m closest to at the Times who are some of the greatest friends I’ve ever had. Mark Mazzetti selflessly became the editor of our Russia coverage after the election. It was as daunting an assignment as anyone could take on. He did it with grace. He’s as good a journalist as he is a person. I still want to be like Mark when I grow up. Maggie Haberman is far and away the greatest reporter of her generation. She covered the Trump campaign better than anyone else. And after Trump won, she selflessly threw herself at the story, taking on the most important political story of our time with a singular goal of just covering it. No one did it better—and no one has given more to the paper than her. No one can do the improbable in journalism better than Adam Goldman. He has more raw reporting power than anyone else I’ve worked with. If Adam wants the story, he will get it. It’s quite something to watch. Adam is as loyal a friend as there is. Emily Steel and I spent countless days in a small conference room at the Times in 2016 and 2017 reporting out the story of Bill O’Reilly’s sexual harassment settlements. It was an incredibly difficult assignment. But there is no one else I would have rather worked with it on and I’m incredibly grateful for the friendship we have.

Mom, Dad, Molly, J.J., Tim, Nicolle, and Liam, you are what sustains me. Words cannot express what you all mean to me.

NOTES

For this book, I examined over a thousand pages of documents from across the federal government that had never been previously made public. I spent hundreds of hours with current and former senior government officials, and others outside the government intimately involved in the story, often speaking to them on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing sensitive, privileged, or classified information.

ACT ONE I. RULE OF LAW, RULE OF TRUMP

By the end of the second year:Barry J. McMillion, “Judicial Nomination Statistics and Analysis: U.S. District and Circuit Court, 1977–2018,” Congressional Research Service, March 21, 2019.

Indeed, in 2008:Jason Szep and Caren Bohan, “McCain and Obama Call Political Cease-Fire for 9/11,” Reuters, September 11, 2008.

But on September 11:“American Killed in US Consulate Attack in Benghazi: Official,” Agence France-Presse, September 11, 2012.

In Cairo, reports indicated:Tamim Elyan, “Egyptians Angry at Film Scale U.S. Embassy Walls,” Reuters, September 11, 2012.

The embassy in Cairo:“U.S. Embassy Condemns Religious Incitement,” U.S. embassy in Cairo, September 11, 2012, web.archive.org/​web/​20120912144752/​http://egypt.usembassy.gov/​pr091112.html.

At the far end of the party:Michael Cooper, “Palin, on Offensive, Attacks Obama’s Ties to ’60s Radical,” New York Times, October 4, 2008.

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.