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

In the early 1990s:Clyde Haberman, “An Idaho Family, and Federal Tactics, Under Siege,” New York Times, October 26, 2014.

government investigators placed:“A Review of the FBI’s Handling of Intelligence Information Related to the September 11 Attacks,” U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, November 2004, oig.justice.gov/​special/​0506/​final.pdf [inactive].

In June 2004:“Remarks of Deputy Attorney General James Comey Regarding Jose Padilla,” U.S. Department of Justice, June 1, 2004, www.justice.gov/​archive/​dag/​speeches/​2004/​dag6104.htm.

the Times ran the story :Michael S. Schmidt, “Background Check Flaw Let Dylann Roof Buy Gun, F.B.I. Says,” New York Times, July 10, 2015.

agents and their supervisors initiated:“Hillary R. Clinton Part 05 of 41,” FBI Records: The Vault, vault.fbi.gov/​hillary-r.-clinton/​Hillary%20R.%20Clinton%20Part%2005%20of%2041/​view.

“You know you are”:James Comey, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership (New York: Flatiron Books, 2018).

“We should skype sometime”:Alana Goodman, “Anthony Weiner Carried On a Months-Long Online Sexual Relationship with a Troubled 15-Year-Old Girl Telling Her She Made Him ‘Hard,’ Asking Her to Dress Up in ‘School-Girl’ Outfits and Pressing Her to Engage in ‘Rape Fantasies,’ ” Daily Mail, September 21, 2016.

In 2015, the FBI had found:Michael S. Schmidt and Matt Apuzzo, “David Petraeus Is Sentenced to Probation in Leak Investigation,” New York Times, April 23, 2015.

Oh, my God: Andrew G. McCabe, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2019).

“We sat together on a couch”:Áine Cain, “FBI Director James Comey Reflects on His Time at the College,” Flat Hat, November 17, 2014, flathatnews.com/​2014/​11/​17/​fbi-director-james-comey-reflects-on-his-time-at-the-college/.

III. THE POINT OF NO RETURN

In this chapter, when discussing Lawrence E. Walsh’s actions surrounding the 1992 presidential election, I referenced Walsh’s 1997 book, Firewall , and Bob Woodward’s 1999 book, Shadow . For the section on links between Trump and Russia, I referenced the Wikipedia page entitled “Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections,” which I found to be a useful compendium of events, details, dates, and articles.

“There is evidence to support”:“Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-mail System,” FBI, July 5, 2016, www.fbi.gov/​news/​pressrel/​press-releases/​statement-by-fbi-director-james-b-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clinton2019s-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system.

“This is a great man”:“Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference Today,” Office of Nancy Pelosi, July 8, 2016, www.speaker.gov/​newsroom/​24531.

“highest standards of integrity”:Tim Kaine, interview on Fox News Sunday, October 16, 2016, archive.org/​details/​FOXNEWSW_20161017_020000_Fox_News_Sunday_With_Chris_Wallace/​start/​960/​end/​1020.

“Generations of prosecutors and agents”:Matthew Miller, “James Comey’s Abuse of Power,” Washington Post, July 6, 2016.

“I’m here because we’re mystified”:“FBI Director James Comey to Testify Before House Committee on Clinton E-mail Probe. Aired 10–10:30a ET,” CNN, July 7, 2016, transcripts.cnn.com/​TRANSCRIPTS/​1607/​07/​cnr.03.html.

“We did not find evidence sufficient”:“Continuing Coverage of FBI Director Testimony Before Congress. Aired Noon–12:30p ET,” CNN, July 7, 2016, transcripts.cnn.com/​TRANSCRIPTS/​1607/​07/​lvab.01.html.

“Russia, if you’re listening”:Ashley Parker and David E. Sanger, “Donald Trump Calls On Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails,” New York Times, July 27, 2016.

Less than five hours: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.

From a plain-looking building:Adrian Chen, “The Agency,” The New York Times Magazine, June 2, 2015.

He first traveled to the Soviet Union:Megan Twohey and Steve Eder, “For Trump, Three Decades of Chasing Deals in Russia,” New York Times, January 16, 2017.

his children toured the Kremlin:Matt Apuzzo and Maggie Haberman, “Trump Associate Boasted That Moscow Business Deal ‘Will Get Donald Elected,’ ” New York Times, August 28, 2017.

“Whether you like him or don’t”:Noah Bierman and Chris Megerian, “As Candidate, Trump Sought Friendlier Ties with Russia While Eyeing Big Money in Moscow,” Los Angeles Times, November 30, 2018.

At a business conference in Moscow:Twohey and Eder, “For Trump, Three Decades of Chasing Deals in Russia.”

Trump profited enormously:Robert Frank, “Only in Palm Beach: The $95 Million Tear-Down,” New York Times, August 27, 2016.

“In terms of high-end product”:Brennan Weiss, “Trump’s Oldest Son Said a Decade Ago That a Lot of the Family’s Assets Came from Russia,” Business Insider, February 21, 2018.

Russia’s state-run bank provided:Rob Barry, Christopher S. Stewart, and Brett Forrest, “Russian State-Run Bank Financed Deal Involving Trump Hotel Partner,” Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2017.

“This story is completely fabricated”:Eric Trump (@EricTrump), Twitter, May 8, 2017, 6:32 a.m., twitter.com/​EricTrump/​status/​861529156701564929.

When Letterman cracked a joke: Late Show with David Letterman, CBS, October 17, 2013, www.youtube.com/​watch?v=PR_SoJpWzOA.

“Do you think Putin will be going”:Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump), Twitter, June 18, 2013, 11:17 p.m., twitter.com/​realDonaldTrump/​status/​347191326112112640.

The Russians paid Trump $20 million:Katie Rogers, “How Trump’s ‘Miss Universe’ in Russia Became Ensnared in a Political Inquiry,” New York Times, July 11, 2017.

an oligarch close to Putin:Stephanie Baker, “Billionaire Ally of Putin Socialized with Kushner, Ivanka Trump,” Bloomberg, February 4, 2014.

“I was in Moscow recently”:Philip Bump, “How Well Does Trump Know Putin? A Chronology,” Washington Post, July 7, 2017.

“They’re terrific people”:Hugh Hewitt, “Donald Trump Returns,” The Hugh Hewitt Show, September 21, 2015, www.hughhewitt.com/​donald-trump-returns/.

Trump signed a letter of intent:Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election.”

“We were stablemates”:Christopher Massie, “Trump and Putin Appeared on ‘60 Minutes’ Together…from Different Continents,” BuzzFeed News, November 10, 2015.

Flynn had scheduled a trip:Nicholas Schmidle, “Michael Flynn, General Chaos,” New Yorker, February 18, 2017.