The Apprentice

by Greg Miller

It has been called the political crime of the century: a foreign government, led by a brutal authoritarian leader, secretly interfering with the American presidential election to help elect the candidate of its choice. Now two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post national security reporter Greg Miller investigates the truth about the Kremlin’s covert attempt to destroy Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump win the presidency, Trump’s steadfast allegiance to Vladimir Putin, and Robert Mueller’s ensuing investigation of the president and those close to him.

Based on interviews with hundreds of people in Trump’s inner circle, current and former government officials, individuals with close ties to the White House, members of the law enforcement and intelligence communities, foreign officials, and confidential documents, The Apprentice offers striking new information about:


the hacking of the Democrats by Russian intelligence;
Russian hijacking of Facebook and Twitter;
National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s hidden communications with the Russians;
the attempt by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, to create a secret back channel to Moscow using Russian diplomatic facilities;
Trump’s disclosure to Russian officials of highly classified information about Israeli intelligence operations;
Trump’s battles with the CIA and the FBI and fierce clashes within the West Wing;
Trump’s efforts to enlist the director of national intelligence and the director of the National Security Agency to push back against the FBI’s investigation of his campaign;
the mysterious Trump Tower meeting;
the firing of FBI Director James Comey;
the appointment of Mueller and the investigation that has followed;
the tumultuous skirmishing within Trump’s legal camp;
and Trump’s jaw-dropping behavior in Helsinki.
Deeply reported and masterfully told, The Apprentice is essential reading for anyone trying to understand Vladimir Putin’s secret operation, its catastrophic impact, and the nature of betrayal.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Russia, Journalism, Presidents, True Crime

448 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2018

About the author

Greg Miller covers national security for The Washington Post, and is the author of "The Apprentice -- Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy," a book published in 2018 by the Washington Post and Harper Collins. Miller was among the Post reporters awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of Russia's interference in the 2016 election and the fallout under the Trump administration. Miller was also part of the team awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the paper's stories about U.S. surveillance programs exposed by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Reviews

[Geevee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Miller's book, aptly entitled The Apprentice, is a clear, comprehensive, illuminating well-written and sourced account of Trump and Russia.

Naturally, the story encompasses more than Trump as the events prior, during and passed the 45th president's path to and in power. For those that follow US news Mr Miller neatly brings all the cast and events together bringing light (or shadow) and depth to the personalities and behaviours of these people.

There are no revelations within the book that are likely to shock - I think the majority are well passed that point in relation to Trump and his administration - but over five parts and 14 chapters we read of hacking, meetings, connections of people and to people, cash and investments, investigations and denials, investigations and pressure to sway or move. Ultimately, the reader sees laid out before them the disregard Trump and his circle (and that circle changes often and quickly) have for law, the people of the US and their allies and the Constitution and Office of the president. Alongside this is also the continued corruption that resides in pockets of US commerce and government administrations.

The story of course continues to rumble on but rather like a good box set this first series shouts next one please. That said, I hope the electorate this October - 2020 as I write - shout Next! and we see the 46 president take office. This hopefully will see the US reset its internal and external behaviour and lead to Trump, Trump Jr, Kushner and many others receive their dues.

To add detail and informative background Luke Harding's Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem and Russia’s Remaking of the West is highly readable and worthwile. My review if you are interested:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

To Greg Miller and his associates a great debt is owed and shows that the tradition of high-quality investigative journalism at the Washington Post and other quality titles remains a shining light within a deeply troubled (and much loved by this Briton) country.

[Misfit · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are starting to run together, but there are still some new nuggets of info in this book. I turned on some highlights for those interested.

Oh, and Mitch McConnell and Devin Nunes, may you rot in hell when you meet your maker for what you have done to this country.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

8/30/2024 addendum: Another important read about the Trump ascendancy, published during the Trump ascendancy...

Greg Miller’s “The Apprentice: Trump, Russia, and the Subversion of American Democracy” is, perhaps, the most up-to-date, cumulative, and concise historical overview of the whole current mess surrounding our president and his potential ties to Russia since last year’s “Russian Roulette” by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, but considering the fact that the Mueller investigation is still on-going and God knows how it will end for Trump (at this point, any rational-minded person is thinking, “not well”), it is still incomplete.

Given that, Miller’s book is still an amazing and wonderful piece of journalism. It is, I daresay, what Bob Woodward’s “Fear” should have been but wasn’t. It is also somewhat more in-depth than the afore-mentioned book by Isikoff/Corn. While “Russian Roulette” reads like a lengthy series of news articles (albeit extremely well-written and informative), “The Apprentice” reads like a fast-paced and suspenseful Daniel Silva novel.

Miller, the national security correspondent for The Washington Post, has clearly spent lots of time, effort, blood, sweat, and tears on investigating the Trump Administration, the Russian computer hacking, the state of affairs in Washington, D.C., and everything in between. Indeed, he was one of several Washington Post reporters who recently won a Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism. In his Acknowledgements, he gives recognition of the fact that his book is, technically, a group effort of the numerous reporters, editors, and political sources that combined to create it.

It’s impossible to convince people of the importance of something, and it’s almost equally impossible, if not moreso, to convince people that they are gravely mistaken about what they think or believe on any given subject. Understandably, telling someone that their political views are incorrect or based on misinformation and/or a disregarding of the facts puts one in an untenable position of perceived arrogance, self-righteousness, and sophomania (the delusion that one possesses superior intellect).

Today, Trump supporters and Trump himself have become rigidly sophomaniacal. Trump, during the campaign, even bragged about his “high IQ” and his “good brain” and how he doesn’t feel the need to have advisors because his best advisor is himself.

His supporters feel the same way. Ask a Trump supporter what they feel that Trump has accomplished in office, and they will give a litany of answers, most of them vague, unsubstantiated, or blatantly untrue. But they will not listen to reason. Or, if they claim to try, they will get antagonistic and nasty when confronted with facts that dispute their own. They will claim that it is “the liberal mainstream media” that is perpetuating an “anti-Trump agenda” with “fake news”.

The truth is, the only truly “fake news” that has been created has (based on all evidence by CIA, NSA, FBI, and a myriad of other intelligence agencies) as its source a rather nondescript and innocuous four-story office building in St. Petersburg, Russia. The building houses the Internet Research Agency, a rather dull title for an agency that essentially created millions of fake memes, tweets, Facebook posts, news articles, and comments that managed to shift and shape Americans’ opinions and views prior to the 2016 election. The IRA is the world’s largest and most effective Russian troll factory.

Also according to every intelligence agency, incontrovertible evidence shows that Russia hacked into the computer systems of both the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and the Republican National Convention (RNC). We know this because of all the thousands of leaked e-mails from the DNC that were dumped on Facebook and other social media outlets during the summer and fall of 2016.

We know that while voting machines weren’t tampered with or hacked (owing to the archaic and still predominantly paper-based voting machines used in most states), Russia’s trolls still managed to effect the outcome of the election by creating doubt, sowing seeds of mistrust, and taking the heat off of Trump’s numerous pecadillos by branding Hillary Clinton a criminal and a monster.

We know that Vladimir Putin hated Hillary, and while there is no smoking-gun evidence that Putin actually orchestrated the whole thing, government agencies say that the evidence overwhelmingly supports the theory that a cyber attack of this magnitude could have only been perpetrated by a foreign government and that Russia is the only foreign government who had so much to gain from it.

All of this is, of course, bullshit to a Trump supporter, and Trump himself, which is frightening in its complete disregard for truth and its obvious desperation and blind loyalty to a man who continually creates new constitutional crises every day that he is in office.

Miller’s book is an absolutely essential book to read if you believe in things like freedom and democracy and holding people like Trump---and his supporters---and bad-acting countries like Russia accountable for their actions.

[Muhammad Ahmad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read most of the books & memoirs coming out of the Trump admin, for me Greg Miller's "The Apprentice" stands out as the most illuminating investigation into Trump's ascent, the GOP's complicity, Obama's abdication & Russia's aggressive sabotage of US democracy. Miller presents rigorous and irrefutable evidence from multiple independent sources of the scale and determination of the Russian campaign to assist's Trump's election.

[Mark Valentine · Rating 5 out of 5]

In steady, emotionless sentences, Miller relates the bone-chilling, soul-crushing, fear-inducing treasonous steps the Trump Organization has taken in dismembering democratic structures and Constitutional safeguards in its rise to power. Because the story unfolds at this moment and because Miller is a journalist and not a theorist, he lets the facts show us what is happening.

I will infer and state what Miller has portrayed: It can happen here. Fascism is upon us, American-style, and the sooner we recognize this fact, the sooner we can work to dismantle and destroy its insidious, destructive ways. Trump has committed treason in plain sight in Helsinki, 2018.

I know Mueller and his SCO is working on this. I must believe it will work. But our Union is in peril at this moment--in far greater peril than what we saw on September 11, 20o1. The mobilization then was immediate, swift, and vast. Today, with the danger greater than on that particular Tuesday, fewer people seem to know or if they do know, don't care.

The good news is that at least Miller has fulfilled his job in letting us know. Read this book!

[Kelly Corridon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, comprehensive overview of Trump’s ascendance to the White House in 2016 and the foundations of his animosity toward the DOJ, FBI, and national security apparatus over the Russia investigation

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

If one has fallen asleep in 2015 and woke up in 2019 and did not know what has happened in the past three years, this would be the perfect book to read.
If you are a history teacher and assign a book to the freshman class of INTRO to "The World of Trump", this is the book to read.
Its very thorough and well measured review of what is happening to the US in Trump Times.
But for anyone looking for something new, this is not that book.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about Crossfire Hurricane, the investigation into Russian tampering of the 2016 election. It’s very breezy and engaging. It also provides a very thorough account of what happened. This is told from a journalist’s point of view. A breath of fresh air because it isn’t about someone who was involved but writing about them. I highly recommend this book.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reads like a spy thriller but it's real life. I almost expected it to have a happy ending but turns out Trump is still president. Apologies to all friends for politic-ing up your feed.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly readable & coherent

Greg Miller’s The Apprentice is a highly readable and coherent account of the Russian intervention in the 2016 US presidential election. While involving a highly complex series of events, he manages to make it understandable through a compelling writing style.

The book clearly shows that Trump’s presidential campaign was targeted by Russian surrogates seeking pro-Putin influence. The Russians spread massive disinformation during the last 3 months if the election, generating 8.7 Facebook interactions, estimated to reach over 125 million Americans. Estimates are there was more false news distributed on Facebook by the Russians than actual real news. While some may assert this disinformation had no influence on the election, it stretches all credibility to stick to that assertion (though the current president insists on doing just that). This type of pro-Trump “advertising” certainly had to have had an impact. Given that candidates and businesses spend billions on campaign adds, it is impossible to believe these Facebook and Twitter posts had no impact.

This book doesn’t produce a smoking gun in terms of linking Trump to this Russian campaign. There is no evidence that the President was knowingly and directly involved with the Russians. But was the campaign as innocent as they claim? I think that there were players like Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, and Carter Page who knew exactly what they were doing. In terms of the President and his family, I suspect at best they were naive in their interactions with the Russians. The current president was so blinded by his lust for office that while maybe not colluding he at least turned a blind to those around him who might have been.

This book isn’t likely to change the minds of any of the President’s supporters. That isn’t its purpose. But if one seeks a coherent explanation of the Russian case and how it creates this current presidency, Greg Miller has written this excellent book to explain these events.

[Chris Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another reviewer already captured my initial reaction to this book perfectly by stating, "If one has fallen asleep in 2015 and woke up in 2019 and did not know what has happened in the past three years, this would be the perfect book to read."

I have been a voracious consumer of Trump-era books this last year. Some are more substantive than others, some are more memoirs with a dash of Trump, some try to dissect how we got where we are. It's probably not a healthy habit, to constantly delve into the depths of our country's current crisis and our democracy at risk. I need to mix in some more escapist reading, some more fiction to provide a needed escape.

But like the other reviewer said, if I were to recommend just ONE book to someone who wanted to gain a big picture understanding about the Trump campaign and presidency so far, and exactly how Russia successfully attacked our Democracy, then this is the one book I would recommend. Written by a Washington Post reporter who wrote many of these stories when they first broke in the news, this book allows him to now weave them altogether, layering on still more information revealed since they were originally reported. It's a fast and unnerving read.

And of course, this story's far from over. I'm writing this review two days before the 2018 mid-term elections, one in which ALL agree is a real referendum on Trump, regardless of the fact that he's not himself on the ballot. Will voters endorse his lies and hate mongering? Or will they instead vote for a Congress that will serve as a check on Trump? Will there be any indication that Russia has again attacked our elections, and cast doubt on any of the results? And with the election over, what will come next from the Mueller probe? So yes, read The Apprentice to refresh your memory and strengthen your grasp on recent events, then pay close attention every day to the news, because the first draft of the sequel is being written every day.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A year after its publication this book has less than 600 ratings on Goodreads. In any other American presidential administration this book would be a shocking blockbuster but as it is it's largely lost in the dense thicket of DJT 45 books.

Greg Miller is a staff writer for The Washington Post and The Apprentice is credible and highly readable. (DJT fans would likely vigorously disagree with that assertion.) The book covers the 2016 election interference by Russia (that theme never seems to go away) and the ensuing fallout.

This is a book in need of regularly updated epilogues (like all DJT 45 books). It concludes before the release of the Mueller Report, which hangs in the book as a looming threat but which at this point appears to be much less so. As I write this the story of seeking foreign interference for political gain is the scandal du jour. Another six months may bring something else entirely. That's the trick of reading books about this administration - none can possible seem relevant unless you read them immediately after publication.

This was 4 star reading but I took a star off because the author stretched himself a little to make points when he didn't need to.

[Brian Bridgeforth · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those who are too busy to keep up with all the twists and turns in regards to Trump and Russian meddling in the 2016 election, this is a great book to get you up to speed. This book covers everything through Michael Cohen naming Trump as a coconspirator in the illegal payoff of women during the campaign along with Trump’s meeting with Putin in Helsinki where he refused to publicly back the intelligence community’s findings over Putin’s denials. For those who follow the news closely, most of this book will be a review of what has been reported in the press with the exceptions of a few new details from Miller’s interviews.

[Bettie]

New book: Putin tried to reinforce Trump’s belief in a ‘deep state’ undermining him

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the book with the most "new" information. So many of the others have been repetitive. I requested this one before I swore off books about the-toddler-in-chief. My husband liked it, so I listened to it, too.

[Quinton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important read. Shocking. The world needs to know what Putin (and Trump) are really up to.

[Melania 🍒 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8|5

• Book Riot’s 2019 Read Harder Challenge - 5. A book by a journalist or about journalism •

[Jim Breslin · Rating 5 out of 5]

While a few books about the Trump era have received the most press, mainly Bob Woodward’s Fear and Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury, The Apprentice by Washington Post’s national security reporter Greg Miller may be the most important. With the news cycle spinning dizzily these days, it’s easy to forget the now-verified details of the Russian digital invasion into the minds of American voters. Miller captures all these fragmented pieces into a cohesive tome that covers the clandestine digital war, the lack of response from the Obama administration and their predicament after Republicans shrugged at the evidence, and the Trump administration’s known relationships to Russian oligarchs and spies and the ensuing Muller investigation.

In retrospect, Russia’s troll farm’s efforts to infiltrate American voters through Facebook and social media, creating groups to inflame racist rhetoric and divide the democratic landscape, was much more successful than first believed. The Russian pages included groups such as “Woke Blacks” and “Stop the Islamization of Texas,” and “Being Patriotic.” The trolls went so far as to set up competing protests on the same day in Houston, drawing out protestors with homemade signs on both sides who yelled at each other from across the street. The Russian trolls also paid a Florida woman to dress as Hillary Clinton in a prison uniform. The Russian trolls even had some fun, once manipulating an unnamed man to stand in front of the White House with a happy birthday sign to their boss. The Russian trolls also used Twitter to create innocuous pages such as @KansasDailyNews and @Today Pittsburgh for their disinformation campaigns, mixing in local and national news with their disinformation posts. They created hashtags such as #Clintoncollapse and #Hillaryshealth and were known to use the derogatory term Killary. Miller writes, “Russia’s pro-Trump propaganda flooded into the Facebook and Twitter feeds of tens of millions of voters in an election decided by fewer than 80,000 ballots across just three states.”

Miller recaps the history of the dossier, and how the claims led investigative reporters to research and peel back many of the truths in the document. He explores the facts known about Trump officials Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulas, and James Flynn, who are all facing jail time after investigations for lying to the government officials about their relationships to or knowledge about Russian actors.

Trump’s bizarre coddling of Putin and denials of Russian interference are covered in detail. On the day after Don Jr met with Russians in Trump Tower, Don Sr stood at a podium and asked Russians to release the emails. Trump’s involvement with drafting the highly misleading statement about the meeting at Trump Tower shows his willingness to deceive. Trump’s hiring of Flynn as a security advisor and reluctance to fire him once it was discovered Flynn had lied about telephone calls with Kislayak is also a bizarre story. As if all these connections and denials aren’t enough, we’re also reminded that Congress has been forced to strip Trump of his authority on sanctions because of Trump’s pro-Russia impulses. And then, there’s the Mueller investigation, and Trump’s several attempts to obstruct the investigation, including firing Comey.

For sure, the story in this book has not come to an end. There are many questions for us to ponder - and for Mueller to investigate. Had Flynn freelanced when he talked to Kislyak or had he done so with Trump’s knowledge? What had Trump done after being warned by Sally Yates? What are the details of Trump’s attempts to enlist Coats, Rogers, and others to contain the expanding probe? Comey’s firing and trump’s contradictory explanations are also at the core of the scandal. Shortly after Putin showed a video simulation of a missile heading towards Florida, Tillerson released a harshly worded statement against Russia. Trump fired Tillerson in a tweet a few hours later. And why did Trump draft a misleading statement about the Trump Tower meeting? So many unanswered questions the American people need to know.

Towards the end of the book, Miller recaps, “Russia had set out with its interference campaign to discredit American democracy. The President was succeeding in doing much the same, damaging the reputations of institutions that are supposed to enforce America’s laws and protect its citizens.”

For those who feel they’ve struggled to stay on top of the facts about the Russian interference, this book will bring you almost up-to-date. I can definitely see an addendum or a sequel on the horizon.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andy Thomas has updated his hugely popular painting of Republican presidents by adding Donald Trump in. I think, after reading this detailed exploration of the pro-Trump meddling by Russians of the 2016 Election, that he should do one of Trump at the Resolute desk sharing a laugh with Putin and Julian Assange.

That aside, is fascinating and detailed account of how the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was first infiltrated by the Russian hacker groups Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear as well as Facebook ads buys in rubles, etc. Of course, Trump found this quite helpful:

Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.

— Donald J. Trump

Along with "shithole countries" and other things I have heard, it seems this exchange in here is just as revealing about the man:

McMaster had recruited an internal ally on Russia in March with the hiring of Fiona Hill as the senior Russia adviser on the NSC. Hill shared McMaster’s distrust of the Kremlin and had even written a critical biography of Putin. Her relationship with Trump couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start. In one of her first visits with the president in the Oval Office—a planning session for a call with Putin on Syria—Trump appeared to mistake Hill for a member of the White House clerical staff and handed her an edited document to type up. When she responded with an arched brow, Trump lashed out at what he perceived to be insubordination. “What’s the matter with this one?” he shouted, motioning for McMaster to intervene. McMaster followed Hill out the door and scolded her. Later, he and others explored ways to repair her damaged relationship with the president. As it turned out, she was still in the White House long after McMaster had been fired.

[Randall Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you watch Fox News, don't read this book. You won't believe a word of it. For everybody else, i.e., any open-minded person, this book will remove any doubt whatsoever you might have of the the President's guilt. Trump can spout "no collusion" and claim the Russians didn't aid his campaign. The facts plainly painted here scream otherwise.

Miller lays out a compelling and convincing case that Donald Trump eagerly and opportunistically colluded with the Russians to win the election. Compounding his guilt, he obstructed justice, and continues to obstruct justice, to cover up the widely-know and well-documented facts of his guilt.

The people who need to read this book won't. The people who read it probably already know, and believe, the narrative Miller definitively lays out for the reader. He documents everything thoroughly and has extensive sourcing for the most damning and explosive revelations.

This isn't fake news, or alternate truth, or any BS the Trump administration spouts to try to cover their filthy tracks. It is simply a point-by-point deconstruction of the alibis the President and his toadies repeat in hopes that the American people will believe this accidental president didn't have a boatload of help getting elected from our greatest adversary.

The facts Miller presents should sicken every American who believes in the rule of law, that nobody - even the President -is above the law, and who hates what Donald J. Trump has done to our institutions and to our reputation around the world.

Miller identifies Devin Nunes as perhaps the most sycophantic, deceitful, mendacious and hypocritical minion in the President's toady corner. My hope is that he gets his comeuppance when the Dems take control of the House in January.

Miller has done an excellent job of telling this harrowing tale. Any American who fails to accept and comprehend what Trump is doing under the guise of "making America great again" is simply burying his or her head in the sand.

History will reveal the truth. When it does, American should reflect and applaud Miller for getting so much of the narrative right as it was happening.

[Linda Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meticulous reporting from Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Greg Miller--I recommend this thorough, fascinating account of the Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election. To quote the author, "One thing is clear about Donald Trump, there is only one person he has ever looked out for and that's himself." When I finished reading the book, I was more informed and yes, angry and afraid.

[Nick Bonnema · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book begins with Russian interference and ends with the raid of Michael Cohen's office. In between is chronicled in great detail the hacking of the Democrats by Russian intelligence and how that information was weaponized to exploit the already open fault lines among the American public; the lack of an adequate response by the Obama administration to this attack; the multitude of connections to Russians among The Donald's campaign and its willingness to break norms (including a desire to create a means of communication between the White House and Moscow that would get around American surveillance- a move which even the Russian diplomats found absurd); and the outright sympathy towards Putin and other Authoritarians held by Donald. In addition, the author succinctly lays out timelines of various events and presents a rigorous outline reflecting that what is know publicly should be enough to unnerve even the most skeptical of the investigations into the Trump campaign and administration- such as the Mueller probe which was still ongoing at the time of writing.

[Andy Osburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately the story doesn’t have an end. The book is based almost entirely on reporting by the Washington post, so if you’re a subscriber and have been paying close attention almost nothing in here will be a surprise. The book does a nice job of consolidating these stories into a larger narrative with a bit of perspective that isn’t possible just by rereading the previous news stories, which you can look up in an extensive bibliography in the back. If you didn’t read these stories the first time or somehow forgot how brazenly the administration has lied, obfuscated, and moved the goal posts regarding their involvement with Russia, this book may be shocking by how obvious it has been.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4

Interesting book that further demonstrates the madness of Agent Orange. Trump wasn't an inspired choice for the Whitehouse and it's damning to a country that would elect him. This book connects the dots but you need to be reading more into the Mueller investigation. I will say this will brush you with background information but there's more in depth out there. There's layers to the corruption and it's odd that Trump still appears to be in the mix for a return appearance at the next election. The issue is Republicans won't read these books and are living in denial about a man who shouldn't have been elected in the first place.

[Chuck McGrady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Figured I'd never read another Trump book, but with Russia attacking Ukraine, it seemed like reading this book, whose subtitle was "Trump, Russia and the Subversion of American Democracy," would be relevant to what was happening now. It was. Even now, Trump continues to praise Putin, Russia's authoritarian leader, having gotten surreptitious campaign help. It seems clear that Russia's spy agencies ran an operation to interfere with the 2016 election, but Trump when in office tried to to shut down efforts by US agencies to uncover what happened. It still amazes me how many people joined the administration only to lose their jobs later.

[Susan (the other Susan) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m speechless.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

If one has been trying to keep up with illegalities of the Dumbtruck criminal gang, little in this book will be new. It does, however, provide one of the most documented accounts of all that criminality and just plain stupidity. When you are President, it is, indeed a crime to be stupid. Bush43 was guilty. The current idiot is proving to be a very useful idiot to Putin. That makes the idiot a criminal.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the most comprehensive account of the Trump vs. Russia Saga to date. After reading Greg Miller's book, "The Apprentice" the pieces of the puzzle are put together and you can finally see what is happening. Greg Miller makes it crystal clear, the truth is right in front of you.

If you truly believe in the United States, then you must believe in the rules that we have and must follow to make sure we stay a country. We must have the rule of Law or it all falls apart. NO ONE, is above the law, not even the President of the United States. As of December 2018, Donald Trump IS above the law and Congress is doing absolutely nothing about it.

Robert S. Mueller III, might have something to say about that. The Constitutional Crisis that everyone is waiting for is already here. The facts about Trump, who he really is as person, what he has done during the campaign, with available reporting year-to-date, your own eyes and ears, is available to all who have a; television, Facebook account, a Twitter account, the Internet, a cell phone, newspapers (what are those?!), radio (!?). Donald Trump's behavior is available for all to see.

Trump's character is such that he is a guy that does not lose. Donald Trump did whatever he had to do win the 2016 election and defeat Hilary Clinton. And he used Russian help to do it. Russia, with its sophisticated hacking scheme (that the G.R.U. and the S.V.T. had been working on since at least 2014) was able to spread disinformation (read: PROPAGANDA), in the United States and tip the scale juuuusst enough to put an asterisk on the Trump presidency forever. There was clearly Russian influence. With disinformation, it is difficult to accurately say how much that influence, actually influenced. How many people read or saw something on Facebook or Twitter that they re-posted or re-tweeted that turned out to be actual fake news provided by Russian Intelligence? How much did that affect someone to vote they way they did?

Can we agree on say, millions? 2% or 3% of the vote, let's say?

With the razor sharp nature of the vote, that is enough to tip an election.

Isn't reasonable to conclude that Russia succeeded in their attempt to do what they set out to do?

To disrupt democracy in the United States of America.

That's it.

Game Over.

Everything Trump has done since then SCREAMS of guilt. He is like a president who every single day says: "I'm not guilty!"

Trumps own people can't convince him to stay on message. Trump says and does whatever he wants. He's the President.

The Intelligence Community of the United States knows Trump communicated with the Russians during the 2016 campaign. That is confirmed with multiple agencies; the CIA, FBI, NSA. Not only that, but this was confirmed by MI-6 in the U.K., and strangely enough, Dutch Intelligence, who told our agencies this information. There are multiple levels of corroboration, from multiple trusted allies, in addition to our own confirmation.

Now, how do you prove all of that?! How do you prove that the president actually knew about this and actively participated in? Where is the "smoking gun?"

Those questions are way above my pay grade. I defer you sincerely to Special Counsel Mueller.

But even if Mueller produces a smoking gun, will Congress act? Can you convince 20 republican senators (should you even HAVE to convince them?!) to remove a sitting president with overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing?

The jury's still out. Remember, we are talking about the rule of law here. Are you above the law because you are the president?

I guess we'll find out.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read Harder Challenge (Book by a journalist or about journalism)

With any book about Donald Trump, it will most likely elicit a polarizing response. For his supporters, any book that is negative about him will be vilified and deemed worthy of burning. For his detractors, any book that paints him in a negative light is one worth reading and will be rated highly. Given that this book is about how Russia interfered with the 2016 Election which benefited Trump and how many in his inner campaign circle and family got involved, this book will not be a must read for those who back Trump. That the author is a writer for the Washington Post (aka the “Amazon Washington Post”), it will be seen in an even more partisan light.

However, that aside, there is much in this book that would be worth reading for any on the political spectrum. The parts with the most insights and where the reader could gain some serious (and disconcerting insight) center on Russia’s capability to leverage and weaponize social media to achieve their aims. Some of what is reported might make the reader wonder just how did the author get the information and from whom did he get it. That is the most engaging part of the tale.

Much of the rest centers on the political fallout of the 2016 Election and the aftermath. At this point, it all but pulls from the headlines of the Post covering the scandals, the firings, the appointing of Mueller as Special Council and the subsequent fallout. That part, well, is well-worn turf and depending on your point of view on Trump, is insightful, or part of a hit job. From that part, I took away a couple of things:

- While not many in positions of leadership come out looking good in this situation, Mitch McConnell will really not like his treatment in this work. His partisan dismissal of a serious attempt to bring him in on the concerns of law enforcement and intelligence analysis which presented a danger to a pillar of the American system is all but unforgivable. At least Ryan was open to taking the concerns of the official seriously. Could Obama have done more...yep, he could have, and should have. Yet, it is also hard to see how it would not have been spun in a partisan manner.

- The ultimate unforced error in this affair: Trump firing Comey and his actions immediately afterwards. If he had kept Comey on, perhaps there is no special council and Trump would not feel stymied in his efforts to lead the nation (or at least we would not have to deal with tweet after tweet of “NO COLLUSION/WITCH HUNT!!”). Yet, Trump is his own worst enemy, and that is never more apparent than with his actions related to Comey and the immediate aftermath (conflicting accounts about why he fired him, what he boasted to his Russian counterparts, etc).

Whether you plan to actually read this book or not really depends on your views on Trump. Still, at least take the time to read the parts about how Russia engaged in its operations and leveraged social media. There is much to take from there. The rest, well, eye of the beholder.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable synopsis/time-line – up to about Labor Day of this year, (2018) - of the Russian “interference” in - and subsequent investigation of - the 2016 US Presidential election. There’s very little analysis, as well as little new here if you’ve been following the investigation/travails in the news. The book is a straightforward narrative driven by personalities and anecdotes – with minimal journalistic backslapping/high-fiving/log rolling. And unlike Bernstein & Woodward, the author does not follow the money, but rather the hacking. If you feel the need to “catch up” or simply want a refresher on this topic this book is more than adequate. If you’re up to speed - as stated earlier – nothing new here