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Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America
For the first time, the full, explosive record of the how a US president compromised American foreign policy in exchange for the promise of future business and covert election assistance.
Looking back at this moment in history, historians will ask if Americans knew they were living through the first case of criminal conspiracy between an American presidential candidate turned commander in chief and a geopolitical enemy. The answer might it was hard to see the whole picture. The stories coming in from around the globe have often seemed clandestine meetings in foreign capitals, secret recordings in a Moscow hotel, Kremlin agents infiltrating the Trump inner circle...
Seth Abramson has tracked every one of these far-flung reports and now, in Proof of Collusion , he finally gives us a record of the unthinkable - a president compromising American foreign policy in exchange for the promise of future business and covert election assistance. The attorney, professor and former criminal investigator has used his exacting legal mind and forensic acumen to compile, organise and analyse every piece of the Trump-Russia story. His conclusion is the case for collusion is staring us in the face . Drawing from American and European news outlets, he takes readers through the Trump-Russia scandal chronologically, putting the developments in context and showing how they connect. His extraordinary march through all the public evidence
* How Trump worked for thirty years to expand his real estate empire into Russia even as he was rescued from bankruptcy by Putin’s oligarchs and Kremlin agents.
* How Russian intelligence gathered compromising material on him over multiple trips.
* How Trump recruited Russian allies and business partners while running for president .
* How he surrounded himself with advisers who engaged in clandestine negotiations with Russia .
* How Trump aides and family members held secret meetings with foreign agents and lied about them.
By pulling every last thread of this complicated story together, Abramson argues that - even in the absence of a Congressional investigation or a report from Special Counsel Mueller - the public record already indicates a quid pro quo between Trump and the Kremlin . The most extraordinary part of the case for collusion is that so much of it unfolded in plain sight .
Looking back at this moment in history, historians will ask if Americans knew they were living through the first case of criminal conspiracy between an American presidential candidate turned commander in chief and a geopolitical enemy. The answer might it was hard to see the whole picture. The stories coming in from around the globe have often seemed clandestine meetings in foreign capitals, secret recordings in a Moscow hotel, Kremlin agents infiltrating the Trump inner circle...
Seth Abramson has tracked every one of these far-flung reports and now, in Proof of Collusion , he finally gives us a record of the unthinkable - a president compromising American foreign policy in exchange for the promise of future business and covert election assistance. The attorney, professor and former criminal investigator has used his exacting legal mind and forensic acumen to compile, organise and analyse every piece of the Trump-Russia story. His conclusion is the case for collusion is staring us in the face . Drawing from American and European news outlets, he takes readers through the Trump-Russia scandal chronologically, putting the developments in context and showing how they connect. His extraordinary march through all the public evidence
* How Trump worked for thirty years to expand his real estate empire into Russia even as he was rescued from bankruptcy by Putin’s oligarchs and Kremlin agents.
* How Russian intelligence gathered compromising material on him over multiple trips.
* How Trump recruited Russian allies and business partners while running for president .
* How he surrounded himself with advisers who engaged in clandestine negotiations with Russia .
* How Trump aides and family members held secret meetings with foreign agents and lied about them.
By pulling every last thread of this complicated story together, Abramson argues that - even in the absence of a Congressional investigation or a report from Special Counsel Mueller - the public record already indicates a quid pro quo between Trump and the Kremlin . The most extraordinary part of the case for collusion is that so much of it unfolded in plain sight .
448 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 2018
845 people are currently reading
1370 people want to read
About the author
Seth Abramson
27 books192 followersSeth Abramson is author of The Suburban Ecstasies (Ghost Road Press, 2009) and a contributing author to The Creative Writing MFA Handbook (Continuum, 2008). In 2008 he was awarded the J. Howard and Barbara M.J. Wood Prize by Poetry. His poems and prose have recently appeared or are forthcoming in Best New Poets 2008, Poetry, American Poetry Review, AGNI, Poets & Writers, and New American Writing. A graduate of Harvard Law School and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he is currently a doctoral student in English Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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March 31, 2020
You know that kind of board people in the movies use to keep track of the connections between suspicious people? I’m not talking about those immaculate whiteboards, where a homicide squad lists all its suspects or a government task force outlines a Mafia hierarchy. No, I’m talking about those funky, old-school cork boards, where each dog-eared photo is connected to a dozen others with thumb tacks and four distinct colors of yarn, you know, the kind used by homicidal conspiracy theorists or the obsessive guy with the take-charge wife featured in that recent CarGuru’s commercial?
Well, that’s what Seth Abramson’s book Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America reminds me of—one of those old cork bulletin boards.
I’m not implying that Seth Abram’s is a conspiracy theorist. No, I consider him a committed, comprhensive researcher, a man with a good nose for the relevant and irrelevant in this whole convoluted Trump/Russia story. Still, Proof of Collusion is so exhaustive in scope, so humorless and devoid of the pleasures of style, that it seems obessive at times, and finally dispiriting.
Still, if you wish to wade deep in the Russian weeds, put on your big boy boots and follow Seth Abramson, for he is the boy to take you there. If, for example, you would like to know the names of all the important Russians who listened to Carter Page’s Moscow lectures, or visited the same European destinations as Pappadapoulos at approximately the same time he did, or attended Trump’s first foreign policy address at the Mayflower hotel, then you will find the information here. If that’s too deep of a wade for you, read Russian Roulette instead.
Oh, something all you interested conspiracy trackers should know. The book (although it possesses voluminous notes) does not come equipped with an index. This is not, however, because it has no index, but because the index, too exhaustive and cross-referenced to fit comfortably in an actual bound volume, is only available online. (It is, however—boy oh boy—electronically searchable.)
November 19, 2018
Essential Guide to Understanding Trump's Collusion
I have been avidly, and perhaps obsessively, following the Trump collusion investigation since it officially began, because, like many Americans, I was stunned by his election and the clear Russian interference into our election process. The assault on our Democracy offended me at the deepest level and my patriotic heart thrummed for justice . . . for a way to heal the wound to our nation.
The scope of the investigation, and many lines of criminal inquiry, are massive. This poses a problem for many people, like me, who have trouble memorizing random points of data. So many facts have hit the public sphere, it really is impossible for anyone, except those most gifted in memorizing detail, to see the whole picture.
Author Seth Abramson has done the public a great service in his piece of work, Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America. He has meticulously tracked all of the publicly available data points from reputable news sources and public filings, and has codified the relevant facts into a master timeline and provided that information in this book.
I have just finished one listen to the Audio. I intend to listen two more times, as I want to commit it to memory as much as possible, and my memory for this sort of detail is less than stellar, unless I were doing the research myself.
Abramson addresses some of the more interesting and obscure threads that I've been tracking myself, and which I've seen few others approach, including:
Nastya Rybka
Belarusian escort and ex-lover to Russian Oligarch Deripaska, jailed in Thailand, who claimed to have relevant video regarding the Trump Russia investigation, which Russia seemed to find worrisome enough that it threatened to cut YouTube off for their entire country. (Nothing to see here folks.)
Carter Page
Foreign Policy Advisor to the Trump Campaign, who had been under FBI surveillance for knowingly consorting with known Russian spies, since long before Trump officially announced his candidacy, and who once, himself, claimed, in writing, to be an advisor to the Kremlin.
The NRA Connection
Maria Butina and the funneling of Russian Oligarch Torshin's money through the NRA to assist the Trump Campaign.
Cambridge Analytica
Their ties to Russia, how the Facebook data got into Russia's hands, and the microtargetting of Americans with Fear Campaigns.
In addition to the more obscure threads noted above, Abramson covers all the more familiar threads such as:
> The Trump Tower Meeting
> The October Surprise
> The RNC Platform Change on Russian Sanctions
If you want to have the best grasp of the public information to date, this is the book. Forget all the rest. This is purely factual. If you are looking for political drama, look elsewhere. Abramson even handles the more salacious bits in a factual manner.
The only way you could get a better grasp of all that is currently known in the public sphere is to meticulously catalogue every journal article that relates to collusion yourself and build your own master timeline. Plus, to match the value you get in this book, you would need to be a lawyer yourself, as Abramson adds his expertise in understanding how the facts correlate to actual criminal statutes. Or, you can skip going to law school, years of research, and for a mere pittance comparatively, have it all at your fingertips.
Facts matter. These are the facts as best we know them at this time.
I 100% recommend this book. It would also make a most excellent holiday gift.
This book is available in Audio, Kindle, and hardcover and I now own all three. I personally recommend buying the Audio and the Kindle version and listening as you read. The Russian names are a little daunting and having them spoken for you helps a lot. The Kindle version is great as a searchable reference. I can type in a search, such as 'Carter Page', and quickly find all the references about him. This feature will be especially convenient when Mueller starts indicting folks again.
This book is also available outside of Amazon and can be found in many libraries. Consider requesting that your local library order a copy, or donate a copy to them as I understand waiting lines in some libraries are already quite long.
I have been avidly, and perhaps obsessively, following the Trump collusion investigation since it officially began, because, like many Americans, I was stunned by his election and the clear Russian interference into our election process. The assault on our Democracy offended me at the deepest level and my patriotic heart thrummed for justice . . . for a way to heal the wound to our nation.
The scope of the investigation, and many lines of criminal inquiry, are massive. This poses a problem for many people, like me, who have trouble memorizing random points of data. So many facts have hit the public sphere, it really is impossible for anyone, except those most gifted in memorizing detail, to see the whole picture.
Author Seth Abramson has done the public a great service in his piece of work, Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America. He has meticulously tracked all of the publicly available data points from reputable news sources and public filings, and has codified the relevant facts into a master timeline and provided that information in this book.
I have just finished one listen to the Audio. I intend to listen two more times, as I want to commit it to memory as much as possible, and my memory for this sort of detail is less than stellar, unless I were doing the research myself.
Abramson addresses some of the more interesting and obscure threads that I've been tracking myself, and which I've seen few others approach, including:
Nastya Rybka
Belarusian escort and ex-lover to Russian Oligarch Deripaska, jailed in Thailand, who claimed to have relevant video regarding the Trump Russia investigation, which Russia seemed to find worrisome enough that it threatened to cut YouTube off for their entire country. (Nothing to see here folks.)
Carter Page
Foreign Policy Advisor to the Trump Campaign, who had been under FBI surveillance for knowingly consorting with known Russian spies, since long before Trump officially announced his candidacy, and who once, himself, claimed, in writing, to be an advisor to the Kremlin.
The NRA Connection
Maria Butina and the funneling of Russian Oligarch Torshin's money through the NRA to assist the Trump Campaign.
Cambridge Analytica
Their ties to Russia, how the Facebook data got into Russia's hands, and the microtargetting of Americans with Fear Campaigns.
In addition to the more obscure threads noted above, Abramson covers all the more familiar threads such as:
> The Trump Tower Meeting
> The October Surprise
> The RNC Platform Change on Russian Sanctions
If you want to have the best grasp of the public information to date, this is the book. Forget all the rest. This is purely factual. If you are looking for political drama, look elsewhere. Abramson even handles the more salacious bits in a factual manner.
The only way you could get a better grasp of all that is currently known in the public sphere is to meticulously catalogue every journal article that relates to collusion yourself and build your own master timeline. Plus, to match the value you get in this book, you would need to be a lawyer yourself, as Abramson adds his expertise in understanding how the facts correlate to actual criminal statutes. Or, you can skip going to law school, years of research, and for a mere pittance comparatively, have it all at your fingertips.
Facts matter. These are the facts as best we know them at this time.
I 100% recommend this book. It would also make a most excellent holiday gift.
This book is available in Audio, Kindle, and hardcover and I now own all three. I personally recommend buying the Audio and the Kindle version and listening as you read. The Russian names are a little daunting and having them spoken for you helps a lot. The Kindle version is great as a searchable reference. I can type in a search, such as 'Carter Page', and quickly find all the references about him. This feature will be especially convenient when Mueller starts indicting folks again.
This book is also available outside of Amazon and can be found in many libraries. Consider requesting that your local library order a copy, or donate a copy to them as I understand waiting lines in some libraries are already quite long.
Read
November 17, 2018Abramson is a prominent Trump-Russia tweeter, and he cops a lot of flack. I think some of it is deserved and some of it undeserved.
From what I've seen, he has a tendency to overreach: his bias can lead him to misinterpret the record, he sometimes presents speculative or uncertain conclusions with more certainty than is warranted, and he's definitely focused on 'building a case' rather than being evenhanded. He's not the model of a disinterested truth seeker. He also presents his lazier opponents with an easy target: his tone is often a weird combination of earnest pomposity and lowest-common-denominator rabble rousing, and his self-promotion can grate.
I think he is basically sincere, though, and that he is a kind of truth seeker: one more serious, intelligent and knowledgeable than his critics are willing to admit. (Especially those who try to lump him in with various charlatans and wild conspiracy theorists.) And I think he's playing a potentially important role.
The complexity and opacity of this case makes it very difficult for even an avid reader to get their head around, and most of the major-media coverage is fairly unhelpful in this regard. Not enough of the new developments are placed in their proper context; while admittedly it is easy to go too far in this direction and let the pattern-matching(/conspiracy-theorising) parts of our brain run wild, it is still important to keep an eye on the big picture and make note of suggestive links between the scraps of information available to us.
Twitter is a terrible platform for doing this, though. Not only because a multi-tweet mega-thread is a ridiculous alternative to an essay, but because of its linear, ephemeral nature. It is very hard to tell whether someone is drawing important links or wildly speculating, when to understand the full significance of the references they are making would require sifting through tens of thousands of tweets. So I'm very glad Abramson took the time to lay out his case in book form (and to have it professionally edited and fact checked).
Anyway, the great thing about this book is that it's copiously footnoted, and the sources are generally available online. So we can bypass the question of Abramson's personal credibility, and judge the case he has built on its own merits. (Or, less time-consumingly, we can at least judge his credibility as author of this book via spot checks of the citations, as well as keeping our eyes open for logical leaps, rhetorical tricks and the like.) I'm only a little way in, but I'll update this if and when I come to a firm conclusion.
From what I've seen, he has a tendency to overreach: his bias can lead him to misinterpret the record, he sometimes presents speculative or uncertain conclusions with more certainty than is warranted, and he's definitely focused on 'building a case' rather than being evenhanded. He's not the model of a disinterested truth seeker. He also presents his lazier opponents with an easy target: his tone is often a weird combination of earnest pomposity and lowest-common-denominator rabble rousing, and his self-promotion can grate.
I think he is basically sincere, though, and that he is a kind of truth seeker: one more serious, intelligent and knowledgeable than his critics are willing to admit. (Especially those who try to lump him in with various charlatans and wild conspiracy theorists.) And I think he's playing a potentially important role.
The complexity and opacity of this case makes it very difficult for even an avid reader to get their head around, and most of the major-media coverage is fairly unhelpful in this regard. Not enough of the new developments are placed in their proper context; while admittedly it is easy to go too far in this direction and let the pattern-matching(/conspiracy-theorising) parts of our brain run wild, it is still important to keep an eye on the big picture and make note of suggestive links between the scraps of information available to us.
Twitter is a terrible platform for doing this, though. Not only because a multi-tweet mega-thread is a ridiculous alternative to an essay, but because of its linear, ephemeral nature. It is very hard to tell whether someone is drawing important links or wildly speculating, when to understand the full significance of the references they are making would require sifting through tens of thousands of tweets. So I'm very glad Abramson took the time to lay out his case in book form (and to have it professionally edited and fact checked).
Anyway, the great thing about this book is that it's copiously footnoted, and the sources are generally available online. So we can bypass the question of Abramson's personal credibility, and judge the case he has built on its own merits. (Or, less time-consumingly, we can at least judge his credibility as author of this book via spot checks of the citations, as well as keeping our eyes open for logical leaps, rhetorical tricks and the like.) I'm only a little way in, but I'll update this if and when I come to a firm conclusion.
October 17, 2020
I have decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Election. Many of these will focus on actors intricately involved in the process, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.
This is Book #28 in my 2020 US Election Preparation Challenge.
While this reading challenge has taken me on some very interesting paths, I chose to turn to some more legal and analytical tomes before I run out of time. Seth Abramson has penned three decisive novels about Trump and those around him, arguing some of the substantial claims of collusion, conspiracy, corruption in the years before he became president and into his authoritarian reign. This is the first of those novels, where collusion is discussed and some strong arguments made to substantiate it. Recommended to those who enjoy the political history game and seeing how to connect some of the dots that Mueller could not make and that Trumpers refuse to acknowledge.
Even from the opening pages of his book, Seth Abramson effectively argues that business tycoon Donald Trump had a relationship with Russian oligarchs, which would have paved the way for a tie to Vladimir Putin. Trump has long been interested in putting his mark on Russia with one of his hotels, though the chance did not occur while the USSR was clinging to life. However, once Russia came into its own, Trump sought to sweeten the deal, which included helping to pull some strings and ensure that Putin noticed him in ways that could make things happen.
Abramson discusses the hoopla around ensuring Putin was pleased when his mistress won the Miss Universe Pageant, an event Trump says he was able to rig because he is that powerful. That began a bartering to make sure that Trump had doors opened for him for a Trump Tower Moscow, as well as sending the Miss Universe Pageant to the Russian capital for another of its interesting permutations.
It was at this time that there ‘may’ have been some less than germaphobe-approved events with Russian prostitutes, which could have left Trump beholden to his Russian friends, things that could (and surely would) be used to blackmail him in years to come. It was also around this time that Trump decided that he needed to curry added favour with Russia by running for office, something that may have been a long-shot, but showed that he was serious about helping Russia on the international front.
Abramson shows that Trump’s political ambitions were only part of what was going on at the time. The push to curry favour with the Russians was ongoing with various members of his family and entourage. While financial dealings were only part of the reason, it became apparent that there were fingers in all sorts of pies and Trump was aware of them. As he became a more serious contender, Russians from all walks of life came out to support or broker their own possible connections to him, which appeared only to add momentum to the connectivity, which would one day turn out to be colluding of a sort.
The tome tackles some of the proof around Russian involvement in trying to sway the election results, as they had already tipped the scales in the BREXIT vote to their favour. While Trump never thought that he would win, it appears his campaign worked hand in hand with Russians and other highly influential social media gurus to create a targeted system of ensuring that false news and fictitious events reflected poorly on Clinton, thereby paving the way for his success.
The knowledgeable reader will recognise many of the names that come out of the discussions in the book, which shows how complicit a larger group was to the collusion and helps to prove that this was not a single man’s idea. Trump could never have pulled it off, nor did he. When he miraculously won in November 2016, the wheels began to turn and the Russian promises were subtly made, inching America towards a strong and more open relationship with Russia. The were also numerous violations of the Logan Act (a piece of legislation that bars private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments with whom the country has an active dispute, which would include Russia at this time) by many close to Trump, as Abramson proves, though nothing was ever done by the Obama (too few days left) or the Trump Administrations (for obvious reasons). There was more, all of which would benefit Russia, but also create new and lasting ties with other nefarious countries whose help Trump would use to strengthen the connection to Moscow.
Now in power and having attain that spot because of Russian interference, Trump had to decide how to play things. He and Putin had, albeit through intermediaries, colluded to ensure Russia gained more power on the international scene and the only notable superpower did not stand in their way. With all this power and refusing to acknowledge that anything out of sorts happened, Trump needed to move forward and foster this friendship, while dodging any and all pitfalls that might await him. This leads into Abramson’s second tome, where conspiracies abound (those with substantiation, not of the Trump variety where ‘people are saying’)!
While this reading journey has opened my eyes to a great deal, Seth Abramson’s book has done that and more. Speaking of collusion is one thing, but seeing it presented in such a clear-cut fashion is another. Abramson opens by discussing that the term may not hold water in a court of law, but the definition fits like a glass slipper and he runs with it. Much of the information within the tome is not new to me, but it was connected so well that I can finally see how all the pieces fit and the larger narrative makes total sense. Within each chapter is a time period, which makes the larger story more digestible. The chapters open with a summary, move into the facts, and end with the annotated history, all of which paint the picture that Abramson seeks to offer the reader. The writing is clear and easy to understand, though there are many characters and dates, which can get a little intense at times. However, I am leaping at the chance to continue into some of the deeper and darker areas of the Trump story, sure to be blown away yet again. This is one of those books that deeply dedicated political junkies will want to read, as it opens the mind and the eyes in equal measure.
Kudos, Mr. Abramson, for a stunning beginning to what is sure to be a stellar trilogy. I am glad I left some of the heavy lifting until now, as it will make the most impact on American voters, some of whom I hope are still reading what I have to say!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
This is Book #28 in my 2020 US Election Preparation Challenge.
While this reading challenge has taken me on some very interesting paths, I chose to turn to some more legal and analytical tomes before I run out of time. Seth Abramson has penned three decisive novels about Trump and those around him, arguing some of the substantial claims of collusion, conspiracy, corruption in the years before he became president and into his authoritarian reign. This is the first of those novels, where collusion is discussed and some strong arguments made to substantiate it. Recommended to those who enjoy the political history game and seeing how to connect some of the dots that Mueller could not make and that Trumpers refuse to acknowledge.
Even from the opening pages of his book, Seth Abramson effectively argues that business tycoon Donald Trump had a relationship with Russian oligarchs, which would have paved the way for a tie to Vladimir Putin. Trump has long been interested in putting his mark on Russia with one of his hotels, though the chance did not occur while the USSR was clinging to life. However, once Russia came into its own, Trump sought to sweeten the deal, which included helping to pull some strings and ensure that Putin noticed him in ways that could make things happen.
Abramson discusses the hoopla around ensuring Putin was pleased when his mistress won the Miss Universe Pageant, an event Trump says he was able to rig because he is that powerful. That began a bartering to make sure that Trump had doors opened for him for a Trump Tower Moscow, as well as sending the Miss Universe Pageant to the Russian capital for another of its interesting permutations.
It was at this time that there ‘may’ have been some less than germaphobe-approved events with Russian prostitutes, which could have left Trump beholden to his Russian friends, things that could (and surely would) be used to blackmail him in years to come. It was also around this time that Trump decided that he needed to curry added favour with Russia by running for office, something that may have been a long-shot, but showed that he was serious about helping Russia on the international front.
Abramson shows that Trump’s political ambitions were only part of what was going on at the time. The push to curry favour with the Russians was ongoing with various members of his family and entourage. While financial dealings were only part of the reason, it became apparent that there were fingers in all sorts of pies and Trump was aware of them. As he became a more serious contender, Russians from all walks of life came out to support or broker their own possible connections to him, which appeared only to add momentum to the connectivity, which would one day turn out to be colluding of a sort.
The tome tackles some of the proof around Russian involvement in trying to sway the election results, as they had already tipped the scales in the BREXIT vote to their favour. While Trump never thought that he would win, it appears his campaign worked hand in hand with Russians and other highly influential social media gurus to create a targeted system of ensuring that false news and fictitious events reflected poorly on Clinton, thereby paving the way for his success.
The knowledgeable reader will recognise many of the names that come out of the discussions in the book, which shows how complicit a larger group was to the collusion and helps to prove that this was not a single man’s idea. Trump could never have pulled it off, nor did he. When he miraculously won in November 2016, the wheels began to turn and the Russian promises were subtly made, inching America towards a strong and more open relationship with Russia. The were also numerous violations of the Logan Act (a piece of legislation that bars private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments with whom the country has an active dispute, which would include Russia at this time) by many close to Trump, as Abramson proves, though nothing was ever done by the Obama (too few days left) or the Trump Administrations (for obvious reasons). There was more, all of which would benefit Russia, but also create new and lasting ties with other nefarious countries whose help Trump would use to strengthen the connection to Moscow.
Now in power and having attain that spot because of Russian interference, Trump had to decide how to play things. He and Putin had, albeit through intermediaries, colluded to ensure Russia gained more power on the international scene and the only notable superpower did not stand in their way. With all this power and refusing to acknowledge that anything out of sorts happened, Trump needed to move forward and foster this friendship, while dodging any and all pitfalls that might await him. This leads into Abramson’s second tome, where conspiracies abound (those with substantiation, not of the Trump variety where ‘people are saying’)!
While this reading journey has opened my eyes to a great deal, Seth Abramson’s book has done that and more. Speaking of collusion is one thing, but seeing it presented in such a clear-cut fashion is another. Abramson opens by discussing that the term may not hold water in a court of law, but the definition fits like a glass slipper and he runs with it. Much of the information within the tome is not new to me, but it was connected so well that I can finally see how all the pieces fit and the larger narrative makes total sense. Within each chapter is a time period, which makes the larger story more digestible. The chapters open with a summary, move into the facts, and end with the annotated history, all of which paint the picture that Abramson seeks to offer the reader. The writing is clear and easy to understand, though there are many characters and dates, which can get a little intense at times. However, I am leaping at the chance to continue into some of the deeper and darker areas of the Trump story, sure to be blown away yet again. This is one of those books that deeply dedicated political junkies will want to read, as it opens the mind and the eyes in equal measure.
Kudos, Mr. Abramson, for a stunning beginning to what is sure to be a stellar trilogy. I am glad I left some of the heavy lifting until now, as it will make the most impact on American voters, some of whom I hope are still reading what I have to say!
Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
February 10, 2019
When I showed a friend the title of this book, he asked, "If there's proof of collusion, how come it's not all over the news right now?"
Abramson answers this at the very beginning of the book. First, there is no actual crime on the books called "collusion." Collusion is a popular term being thrown around to describe a much more specific set of crimes that Trump and his surrogates may have committed in connection with the Russia scandal: campaign finance violations, election fraud, wire fraud, bribery, bank fraud, computer crimes, extortion, identity theft, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, perjury, making false statements to Congress or law enforcement, failure to register as a foreign agent, money laundering, tax evasion, and RICO charges. (For example, it is illegal for a candidate to solicit or accept a donation of money or anything of value from a foreign national, and "anything of value" can include "dirt" on the opposition.) Second, it may not be possible to indict a sitting president - instead, he must be impeached. And third, the evidence IS all over the news. It's right out in the open all around us.
So what is that evidence? It exists in the form of testimony, affidavits, and court documents connected with the Mueller probe, as well as other public statements made to reporters and interviewers and across a variety of social media. In short, it shows that Trump has been attempting to and has done business with Russia for decades and was even trying to negotiate a Trump Tower Moscow deal while running for president, that Trump softened his and the GOP's stance on Putin as Putin was actively helping Trump win, and that Trump campaign officials and other Trump associates had numerous back channel communications with Wikileaks and Russia, such that it is practically impossible that Trump had no knowledge.
This evidence however, can be difficult to keep track of. It comes out slowly, over the months and now years. Each time, there is a denial from team Trump, a lot of "both sides-ing" in the media, and then it fades into the background as we turn our attention to the next, almost daily Trump outrage. But this book collects all of it in one place, and the key word is DETAIL. Abramson won't just tell you that a conversation took place for example, he'll give you the conflicting accounts from every person in the room, summarize the other evidence, and put it in context with the bigger issues. And when it's all laid like it is here, it becomes extremely obvious, if it wasn't already, that Trump did betray America and that his political and legal problems are just beginning.
Of course, through no fault of the author, a book like this is out of date almost immediately after it is published, because there is so much additional information hitting the news every day. But that doesn't detract from it's value. I can't tell you how many times I read or heard something on the news in recent weeks about Trump Tower Moscow, Maria Butina, Paul Erickson, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, etc., and I had a deeper understanding of the story because of something I had just read in this book. So read it and decide for yourself. Or don't decide. Consider it your Trump-Russia Collusion 101 to get a solid background on the issues, which you can then apply as the Mueller investigation (and other investigations) continue to unfold. Because there is a lot here, and this story isn't going away any time soon.
Abramson answers this at the very beginning of the book. First, there is no actual crime on the books called "collusion." Collusion is a popular term being thrown around to describe a much more specific set of crimes that Trump and his surrogates may have committed in connection with the Russia scandal: campaign finance violations, election fraud, wire fraud, bribery, bank fraud, computer crimes, extortion, identity theft, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, perjury, making false statements to Congress or law enforcement, failure to register as a foreign agent, money laundering, tax evasion, and RICO charges. (For example, it is illegal for a candidate to solicit or accept a donation of money or anything of value from a foreign national, and "anything of value" can include "dirt" on the opposition.) Second, it may not be possible to indict a sitting president - instead, he must be impeached. And third, the evidence IS all over the news. It's right out in the open all around us.
So what is that evidence? It exists in the form of testimony, affidavits, and court documents connected with the Mueller probe, as well as other public statements made to reporters and interviewers and across a variety of social media. In short, it shows that Trump has been attempting to and has done business with Russia for decades and was even trying to negotiate a Trump Tower Moscow deal while running for president, that Trump softened his and the GOP's stance on Putin as Putin was actively helping Trump win, and that Trump campaign officials and other Trump associates had numerous back channel communications with Wikileaks and Russia, such that it is practically impossible that Trump had no knowledge.
This evidence however, can be difficult to keep track of. It comes out slowly, over the months and now years. Each time, there is a denial from team Trump, a lot of "both sides-ing" in the media, and then it fades into the background as we turn our attention to the next, almost daily Trump outrage. But this book collects all of it in one place, and the key word is DETAIL. Abramson won't just tell you that a conversation took place for example, he'll give you the conflicting accounts from every person in the room, summarize the other evidence, and put it in context with the bigger issues. And when it's all laid like it is here, it becomes extremely obvious, if it wasn't already, that Trump did betray America and that his political and legal problems are just beginning.
Of course, through no fault of the author, a book like this is out of date almost immediately after it is published, because there is so much additional information hitting the news every day. But that doesn't detract from it's value. I can't tell you how many times I read or heard something on the news in recent weeks about Trump Tower Moscow, Maria Butina, Paul Erickson, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, etc., and I had a deeper understanding of the story because of something I had just read in this book. So read it and decide for yourself. Or don't decide. Consider it your Trump-Russia Collusion 101 to get a solid background on the issues, which you can then apply as the Mueller investigation (and other investigations) continue to unfold. Because there is a lot here, and this story isn't going away any time soon.
December 12, 2018
Definitely some new factoids/author opinions here that haven't been seen in all the other books, but I did find the way the author broke down his chapters from the main 'core' of the thread, into a secondary and then a more detailed one. At least for me, that led to a lot of repetition that wore me down a bit (I'm easily worn down these days), hence I'm dropping a star off my rating.
Kindle copy obtained via library loan.
Kindle copy obtained via library loan.
November 30, 2018
This book is full of BS and it gets worse as you kept reading where as the real lies the author is pushing are in the last 4 chapters of the book. Just a couple examples noted below.
Location 5400, the author forgot to point out McCabe was fired because Horowitz's report (the IG report) was referred to the FBI's office of professional responsibility who recommend it and THEN Sessions booted him out on the street. The author forgot to tell you this.
Location 5365, Ohr, an associate attorney general with the U.S. Department of Justice, was demoted in December 2017 because of contacts he had with the controversial Fusion GPS firm that hired the former British spy who created the infamous “Trump dossier” on Russia. His wife, Nellie Ohr, has now become part of the controversy because she worked for Fusion GPS. They did this because Steel was fired by the FBI because he leaked the dossier to the MSM so they were trying to do a back channel. Also, Ohr did not notify the DOJ of his wife's work and the connection. The author forgot to tell you this.
Section 5558, Papadopouos started serving TWO WEEKS the other day from this posting. Not trying to excuse what Papadopous did but it was not the big deal the author tried to spin up throughout most of this junk book or Papdopous would be there for much more than two weeks. The author failed to point this out because there a lot of the book that claims Papadopous' role was a lot more that it really was. Papadpous was just a small bit player for the Trump campaign that had NOTHING TO DO with Trump/Russian collusion but the author sort of forgot to point this out.
Section 5476, historical patterns expected the other party to get the lower and or the upper house in the mid terms. The author blows it up and thinks the blue wave will be because of "Trump's excesses and malfeasance." But as we have all seen, the mid terms was nothing but a drip and Obama and Clinton lost a whole lot more but don't expect the author to be honest with you.
Section 5468, author failed to point out that Paul Manafort pleaded guilty for crimes that had nothing to do with the Trump campaign but the author forgot to tell you this because much of the book spun around a fake connection with Manafort and the Trump Campaign colluding with the Russians. Mueller was trying to squeeze him (Manafort) to turn on Trump. In the last week, others have accused Mueller of the same trying to force people to lie, as they are claiming this publicly.
Section 5419, the author claims Trump is offering people jobs to kept them from talking. BS!
Section 5416, author is being a puss because Trump is using Tweeter, bypassing the MSM BS the author does work for.
section 5413 author is bitching because somehow, Trump has the power to shut down congressional investigations. BS. They are shutting down because there's been no evenhanded proof of any sort of Russian collusion.
Section 5402, the author did not explain it to where people can see & understand that Rosenstein signed off on one of the fake fisa warrents using the fake Trump dossier as justification for the warrant to use Page that did work for the FBI previously that was NEVER charged although the author makes it look like both Page and Papadopouos are in the key people doing Trump's dirty stuff with the Russians.
Section 5364, the author forgot to tell you what Lisa Page had going on with Peter Strzok as shown by their text messages attempting to make/create a plan to take out Donald Trump using fake info and a insurance policy talked about in McCabe's office, something the author forgot to tell you.
Section 5354, the author forgot to tell you Brennan told congress that Ex CIA dude had no information that Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians but just point out that Brennan was claiming that Sally Yates was fired because she was working on a Russian Investigation. That's totally BS as Yates was fired for not complying with the White house policy to defend travel ban.
Section 5350, the author notes John Brennan's comments calling out Trump's claims that he did not collude with the Russians also noted at the beginning of this junk that is was hogwash however as noted above, Brennan already told congress he had no information that Trump was colluding.
Section 5343, quote from the FIRED FBI LEAKER Comey claiming consciousness of guilt from Trump is insane and is almost funny but this is how the author is working his crap in this book.
Section 5139, author notes "a bundled North Korea summit and attacks on John McCain however the author forgot to tell you Clinton gave the north Korea a nuk reactor, south Korea leader praised Trump for getting the north and south to start talking and both countries have started the long process of normalization. The author is full of shit. As for John McCain's dirty secrets about the POW's, that can be found in the publication, into the Buzzsaw.
Which by the way, this whole book was based on main stream news media platforms but the book noted above (Into the Buzzsaw note that these same msm reporters admit that can't tell you the truth and the book Into the Buzzsaw tells you that.
There's more but I've spent too much time on this junk as it is.
Bottom line, the book sucks and is full of bs but it's apparent that was the intent of the author as his claimed mission as noted in his tweets is to discredit the republication party.
There was an attempted coup in this nation and I hold this author responsible for trying to cover that up.
Location 5400, the author forgot to point out McCabe was fired because Horowitz's report (the IG report) was referred to the FBI's office of professional responsibility who recommend it and THEN Sessions booted him out on the street. The author forgot to tell you this.
Location 5365, Ohr, an associate attorney general with the U.S. Department of Justice, was demoted in December 2017 because of contacts he had with the controversial Fusion GPS firm that hired the former British spy who created the infamous “Trump dossier” on Russia. His wife, Nellie Ohr, has now become part of the controversy because she worked for Fusion GPS. They did this because Steel was fired by the FBI because he leaked the dossier to the MSM so they were trying to do a back channel. Also, Ohr did not notify the DOJ of his wife's work and the connection. The author forgot to tell you this.
Section 5558, Papadopouos started serving TWO WEEKS the other day from this posting. Not trying to excuse what Papadopous did but it was not the big deal the author tried to spin up throughout most of this junk book or Papdopous would be there for much more than two weeks. The author failed to point this out because there a lot of the book that claims Papadopous' role was a lot more that it really was. Papadpous was just a small bit player for the Trump campaign that had NOTHING TO DO with Trump/Russian collusion but the author sort of forgot to point this out.
Section 5476, historical patterns expected the other party to get the lower and or the upper house in the mid terms. The author blows it up and thinks the blue wave will be because of "Trump's excesses and malfeasance." But as we have all seen, the mid terms was nothing but a drip and Obama and Clinton lost a whole lot more but don't expect the author to be honest with you.
Section 5468, author failed to point out that Paul Manafort pleaded guilty for crimes that had nothing to do with the Trump campaign but the author forgot to tell you this because much of the book spun around a fake connection with Manafort and the Trump Campaign colluding with the Russians. Mueller was trying to squeeze him (Manafort) to turn on Trump. In the last week, others have accused Mueller of the same trying to force people to lie, as they are claiming this publicly.
Section 5419, the author claims Trump is offering people jobs to kept them from talking. BS!
Section 5416, author is being a puss because Trump is using Tweeter, bypassing the MSM BS the author does work for.
section 5413 author is bitching because somehow, Trump has the power to shut down congressional investigations. BS. They are shutting down because there's been no evenhanded proof of any sort of Russian collusion.
Section 5402, the author did not explain it to where people can see & understand that Rosenstein signed off on one of the fake fisa warrents using the fake Trump dossier as justification for the warrant to use Page that did work for the FBI previously that was NEVER charged although the author makes it look like both Page and Papadopouos are in the key people doing Trump's dirty stuff with the Russians.
Section 5364, the author forgot to tell you what Lisa Page had going on with Peter Strzok as shown by their text messages attempting to make/create a plan to take out Donald Trump using fake info and a insurance policy talked about in McCabe's office, something the author forgot to tell you.
Section 5354, the author forgot to tell you Brennan told congress that Ex CIA dude had no information that Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians but just point out that Brennan was claiming that Sally Yates was fired because she was working on a Russian Investigation. That's totally BS as Yates was fired for not complying with the White house policy to defend travel ban.
Section 5350, the author notes John Brennan's comments calling out Trump's claims that he did not collude with the Russians also noted at the beginning of this junk that is was hogwash however as noted above, Brennan already told congress he had no information that Trump was colluding.
Section 5343, quote from the FIRED FBI LEAKER Comey claiming consciousness of guilt from Trump is insane and is almost funny but this is how the author is working his crap in this book.
Section 5139, author notes "a bundled North Korea summit and attacks on John McCain however the author forgot to tell you Clinton gave the north Korea a nuk reactor, south Korea leader praised Trump for getting the north and south to start talking and both countries have started the long process of normalization. The author is full of shit. As for John McCain's dirty secrets about the POW's, that can be found in the publication, into the Buzzsaw.
Which by the way, this whole book was based on main stream news media platforms but the book noted above (Into the Buzzsaw note that these same msm reporters admit that can't tell you the truth and the book Into the Buzzsaw tells you that.
There's more but I've spent too much time on this junk as it is.
Bottom line, the book sucks and is full of bs but it's apparent that was the intent of the author as his claimed mission as noted in his tweets is to discredit the republication party.
There was an attempted coup in this nation and I hold this author responsible for trying to cover that up.
December 2, 2018
I have been avidly following Seth's addictive and scathing Trump tweets for years and could not wait to get my hands on this book. Abramson's book is definitely the most up to date, well researched, and comprehensive book on Trump's many crooked dealings. The events alone are damning, but when all the events are put into a sweeping narrative, as laid out in this book, there is no doubt about corruption going on at the highest levels. This is a must read for any citizen of America. If you have to choose between this book and Woodward's book, I would suggest choosing this.
Read
March 25, 2019As most US readers will surely know, Robert Mueller, head of the special counsel investigation into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election, has concluded his investigation and submitted his final report to Attorney General William Barr, recommending no further indictments and effectively (I use italics to emphasize that Mueller himself has not explicitly declared anyone to be innocent, since that's not the role of law enforcement anyway) exonerating the Trump Campaign and the Trump Administration from colluding with Russia to change the outcome of the election.
Though many indictments were handed down for such offenses as obstruction of justice and tax fraud, not a single American was indicted for colluding with Russian actors to alter the outcome of the election, which was the primary focus of the investigation. Neither Trump nor anyone on his campaign, from his most senior staff members to the lowliest intern or volunteer, was found to have betrayed his or her country. It should have been clear long ago to anyone looking at the investigation with some rational skepticism, but the President is not a Russian agent, was not a "Siberian Candidate", and did not, as the Newsweek editor who authored this book so irresponsibly asserted, betray America.
I am tempted to describe the two-year, multi-million-dollar feeding frenzy undertaken by some of our most respected media institutions over what was essentially a left-wing conspiracy theory as the most shameful episode of ideologically-driven hysteria to cloud our national consciousness since the McCarthy era, but that would be unfair to the late senator from Wisconsin. There really were communist sympathizers and Soviet agents in politics and entertainment during the McCarthy era. American agents of the flabby, diminutive President of the Russian Federation have been thin on the ground. Who would've thought?
As I write, the author of this book is trying desperately to convince his 620,000 Twitter followers, whom he, like so many in our increasingly irrelevant media establishment, has personally and substantially profited from misleading, that despite all reports to the contrary, the emperor really is wearing clothes, even if they precisely match his skin tone. He is attacking William Barr, a Trump appointee, for "usurping" Mueller's responsibility of deciding whether Trump should be charged with obstruction of justice, even though Mueller submitted the report to Barr in order to allow him to make just such a determination, and the crime of obstruction of justice is only prosecutable if there is an underlying crime that the would-be offender is attempting to obscure.
Such sophistry, undertaken by the self-righteous and self-appointed journalistic guardians of the American Way over the last two years, makes it unsurprising that according to a poll by The Economist/YouGov, 67 percent of Democrats believe that Russian actors actually changed the vote tallies of the election, despite the complete lack of evidence that such is the case. Our author has contributed to a climate of misinformation and mistrust for which there is probably no remedy, and for which he will probably never be held to account.
In reality, this author is trying to justify the royalties he presumably made from this book, and to secure the royalties he hopes to make from his forthcoming book.
I think this man has made enough money. There is no reason to purchase this book or the next one. Divert the money you might've spent on it to a worthy charity, or to a friend or family member who is struggling financially like so many are while provocatively-overpaid human noise machines condescend to us. Then turn off the cable news station, delete your social media accounts, and talk about politics only with friends and only in person. Let's starve the yellow press of oxygen before it finishes off the remains of our civil society.
Though many indictments were handed down for such offenses as obstruction of justice and tax fraud, not a single American was indicted for colluding with Russian actors to alter the outcome of the election, which was the primary focus of the investigation. Neither Trump nor anyone on his campaign, from his most senior staff members to the lowliest intern or volunteer, was found to have betrayed his or her country. It should have been clear long ago to anyone looking at the investigation with some rational skepticism, but the President is not a Russian agent, was not a "Siberian Candidate", and did not, as the Newsweek editor who authored this book so irresponsibly asserted, betray America.
I am tempted to describe the two-year, multi-million-dollar feeding frenzy undertaken by some of our most respected media institutions over what was essentially a left-wing conspiracy theory as the most shameful episode of ideologically-driven hysteria to cloud our national consciousness since the McCarthy era, but that would be unfair to the late senator from Wisconsin. There really were communist sympathizers and Soviet agents in politics and entertainment during the McCarthy era. American agents of the flabby, diminutive President of the Russian Federation have been thin on the ground. Who would've thought?
As I write, the author of this book is trying desperately to convince his 620,000 Twitter followers, whom he, like so many in our increasingly irrelevant media establishment, has personally and substantially profited from misleading, that despite all reports to the contrary, the emperor really is wearing clothes, even if they precisely match his skin tone. He is attacking William Barr, a Trump appointee, for "usurping" Mueller's responsibility of deciding whether Trump should be charged with obstruction of justice, even though Mueller submitted the report to Barr in order to allow him to make just such a determination, and the crime of obstruction of justice is only prosecutable if there is an underlying crime that the would-be offender is attempting to obscure.
Such sophistry, undertaken by the self-righteous and self-appointed journalistic guardians of the American Way over the last two years, makes it unsurprising that according to a poll by The Economist/YouGov, 67 percent of Democrats believe that Russian actors actually changed the vote tallies of the election, despite the complete lack of evidence that such is the case. Our author has contributed to a climate of misinformation and mistrust for which there is probably no remedy, and for which he will probably never be held to account.
In reality, this author is trying to justify the royalties he presumably made from this book, and to secure the royalties he hopes to make from his forthcoming book.
I think this man has made enough money. There is no reason to purchase this book or the next one. Divert the money you might've spent on it to a worthy charity, or to a friend or family member who is struggling financially like so many are while provocatively-overpaid human noise machines condescend to us. Then turn off the cable news station, delete your social media accounts, and talk about politics only with friends and only in person. Let's starve the yellow press of oxygen before it finishes off the remains of our civil society.
November 15, 2018
If you want to know exactly what Trump did and why he is under investigation this is a great assembly of all the relevant info. Everyone around him is probably going to jail. And they should.
November 21, 2018
Mostly a review for anyone following Trump-Russia for the last two years. However, the enormous amount of documented evidence all in one place creates a devastating timeline of Trump's culpability.
April 25, 2019
Opening: THE TRUMP-RUSSIA INVESTIGATION MAY BE the most multifaceted, wide-ranging, high-stakes federal criminal investigation in American history. It crosses continents and decades and has swept into its vortex more than four hundred people, millions of pages of financial records, and scores of unanswered questions about the state of our democracy. It has already resulted in dozens of indictments and a host of guilty pleas and prison sentences. If President Trump colluded with Kremlin agents to secure his election or to benefit his real estate empire down the road, or if he knows that any of his associates did so, it gives the Kremlin leverage over him in a way that endangers our national security and even our national sovereignty. Whatever your political views, and whatever your opinion of Donald Trump, you have a vested interest in finding out the truth about Trump-Russia collusion if you want America to be governed by the consent of the people and not the Kremlin.
November 15, 2018
Harvard Law graduate and former Public Defender Seth Abramson's "Proof of Collusion" is a thorough and well organized treatise on the 2016 Trump team's collusion with foreign powers.
Where Robert Woodward's very worthwhile "FEAR" reads more like a novel, "Proof of Collusion" is a reference book that connects every known publicly available bit of information on Team Trump's activities and statements. These two very readable books make excellent companion pieces.
Missing is the financial paper trail that, to date, has not been made public.
If you read one book about Team Trump's shady and likely criminal behavior that led up to winning the presidency, this is it. If you do not believe collusion happened in the 2016 election, this book will change your mind.
Where Robert Woodward's very worthwhile "FEAR" reads more like a novel, "Proof of Collusion" is a reference book that connects every known publicly available bit of information on Team Trump's activities and statements. These two very readable books make excellent companion pieces.
Missing is the financial paper trail that, to date, has not been made public.
If you read one book about Team Trump's shady and likely criminal behavior that led up to winning the presidency, this is it. If you do not believe collusion happened in the 2016 election, this book will change your mind.
November 17, 2018
Bigger than Watergate, this is a phenomenal book about the inner deals the Trumps are making at the expense of our country's democracy. Could not put it down.
November 29, 2018
One heck of a chest sheet for the current nonsense. Entire story curated from reporting already done- Abramsom just pulls it together into a compelling believable narrative.
July 16, 2019
Originally posted on my book blog, TheBibliophage.com where you'll also find many more reviews of politically oriented books.
I confess. It wasn’t easy to read this Seth Abramson book. I spent a lot of it feeling down, depressed, and angry. But what we need is clarity, and Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America is absolutely crystal clear.
It explains exactly how Trump has been connected to the Russians since long before he ran for President. And it lays out those connections logically, while also explaining what’s illegal and what else is simply unethical and immoral. The specifics are too complex to try and summarize here.
Abramson is a former defense attorney, and now a professor at the University of New Hampshire. His tone here mixes those two positions. He takes the legalese, and interprets it into regular language, as a professor would do for students.
Each chapter chronicles a different time period, in the order events occurred from 1987-2018. His curated information stops just prior to the 2018 midterm elections, and the 2019 release of the Mueller Report.
Structurally, Abramson starts each chapter with a Summary, then has a Facts section, and concludes with an Annotated History. Although this leads to some duplication, that actually enhanced my ability to commit the myriad details to memory.
And Proof is heavy on details. Fully thirty percent of the book is endnotes from his various sources. It draws from other journalists, from court transcripts, online media, social media, and many others. As I scanned the endnotes, I saw recognizable sources that will likely stand the test of history.
And what a history this book tells. The decisions Trump made during the last several decades, and continues to make, will affect us all for decades to come. It’s well worth our time to understand the events and their implications.
My conclusions
If I wanted to highlight all of the important sentences in this book, I’d have highlighted the entire thing. There is no “fluff” in here. What I did highlight extensively was Abramson’s final chapter, where he summarizes his findings and talks about the potential future outcomes. Here’s one bit that reflects my thinking to a tee:
“How one stood on the question of Donald J. Trump at this moment in American history will be the defining feature of many Americans’ self-identity as citizens for years to come.” (ebook, p. 318)
As I said, this isn’t an easy book. But I suspect Abramson does a better job than most. While the content seems a bit dry and overwhelming sometimes, he give it the proper gravitas and organization.
I’d recommend reading this book, even if all you read is the first two sections of each chapter and the last chapter in its entirety. My next political book will be the Mueller Report, while this one is still fresh in my mind. It’s the perfect introduction.
I confess. It wasn’t easy to read this Seth Abramson book. I spent a lot of it feeling down, depressed, and angry. But what we need is clarity, and Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America is absolutely crystal clear.
It explains exactly how Trump has been connected to the Russians since long before he ran for President. And it lays out those connections logically, while also explaining what’s illegal and what else is simply unethical and immoral. The specifics are too complex to try and summarize here.
Abramson is a former defense attorney, and now a professor at the University of New Hampshire. His tone here mixes those two positions. He takes the legalese, and interprets it into regular language, as a professor would do for students.
Each chapter chronicles a different time period, in the order events occurred from 1987-2018. His curated information stops just prior to the 2018 midterm elections, and the 2019 release of the Mueller Report.
Structurally, Abramson starts each chapter with a Summary, then has a Facts section, and concludes with an Annotated History. Although this leads to some duplication, that actually enhanced my ability to commit the myriad details to memory.
And Proof is heavy on details. Fully thirty percent of the book is endnotes from his various sources. It draws from other journalists, from court transcripts, online media, social media, and many others. As I scanned the endnotes, I saw recognizable sources that will likely stand the test of history.
And what a history this book tells. The decisions Trump made during the last several decades, and continues to make, will affect us all for decades to come. It’s well worth our time to understand the events and their implications.
My conclusions
If I wanted to highlight all of the important sentences in this book, I’d have highlighted the entire thing. There is no “fluff” in here. What I did highlight extensively was Abramson’s final chapter, where he summarizes his findings and talks about the potential future outcomes. Here’s one bit that reflects my thinking to a tee:
“How one stood on the question of Donald J. Trump at this moment in American history will be the defining feature of many Americans’ self-identity as citizens for years to come.” (ebook, p. 318)
As I said, this isn’t an easy book. But I suspect Abramson does a better job than most. While the content seems a bit dry and overwhelming sometimes, he give it the proper gravitas and organization.
I’d recommend reading this book, even if all you read is the first two sections of each chapter and the last chapter in its entirety. My next political book will be the Mueller Report, while this one is still fresh in my mind. It’s the perfect introduction.
November 28, 2018
Devastating and utterly convincing
I highly recommend Proof of Collusion. Seth Abramson has harnessed his incredible attention to detail and command of the facts to present a devastating and utterly convincing argument that Trump and his administration colluded with Russia to win the presidency.
I highly recommend Proof of Collusion. Seth Abramson has harnessed his incredible attention to detail and command of the facts to present a devastating and utterly convincing argument that Trump and his administration colluded with Russia to win the presidency.
December 1, 2018
Lays it all out - the meetings, the associations, all the connections you need to follow the coming end of the Trump presidency. Which can't happen soon enough. Thoroughly researched with amazing footnotes - it's all there.
Currently reading
November 25, 2018Essential Guide to Understanding Trump's Collusion
I have been avidly, and perhaps obsessively, following the Trump collusion investigation since it officially began, because, like many Americans, I was stunned by his election and the clear Russian interference into our election process. The assault on our Democracy offended me at the deepest level and my patriotic heart thrummed for justice . . . for a way to heal the wound to our nation.
The scope of the investigation, and many lines of criminal inquiry, are massive. This poses a problem for many people, like me, who have trouble memorizing random points of data. So many facts have hit the public sphere, it really is impossible for anyone, except those most gifted in memorizing detail, to see the whole picture.
Author Seth Abramson has done the public a great service in his piece of work, Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America. He has meticulously tracked all of the publicly available data points from reputable news sources and public filings, and has codified the relevant facts into a master timeline and provided that information in this book.
I have just finished one listen to the Audio. I intend to listen two more times, as I want to commit it to memory as much as possible, and my memory for this sort of detail is less than stellar, unless I were doing the research myself.
Abramson addresses some of the more interesting and obscure threads that I've been tracking myself, and which I've seen few others approach, including:
Nastya Rybka: Belarusian escort and ex-lover to Russian Oligarch Deripaska, jailed in Thailand, who claimed to have relevant video regarding the Trump Russia investigation, which Russia seemed to find worrisome enough that it threatened to cut YouTube off for their entire country. (Nothing to see here folks.)
Carter Page: Foreign Policy Advisor to the Trump Campaign, who had been under FBI surveillance for knowingly consorting with known Russian spies, since long before Trump officially announced his candidacy, and who once, himself, claimed, in writing, to be an advisor to the Kremlin.
The NRA Connection: Maria Butina and the funneling of Russian Oligarch Torshin's money through the NRA to assist the Trump Campaign.
Cambridge Analytica: Their ties to Russia, how the Facebook data got into Russia's hands, and the microtargetting of Americans with Fear Campaigns.
In addition to the more obscure threads noted above, Abramson covers all the more familiar threads such as:
The Trump Tower Meeting
The October Surprise
The RNC Platform Change on Russian Sanctions
If you want to have the best grasp of the public information to date, this is the book. Forget all the rest. This is purely factual. If you are looking for political drama, look elsewhere. Abramson even handles the more salacious bits in a factual manner.
The only way you could get a better grasp of all that is currently known in the public sphere is to meticulously catalogue every journal article that relates to collusion yourself and build your own master timeline. Plus, to match the value you get in this book, you would need to be a lawyer yourself, as Abramson adds his expertise in understanding how the facts correlate to actual criminal statutes. Or, you can skip going to law school, years of research, and for a mere pittance comparatively, have it all at your fingertips.
Facts matter. These are the facts as best we know them at this time.
I 100% recommend this book. It would also make a most excellent holiday gift.
I have been avidly, and perhaps obsessively, following the Trump collusion investigation since it officially began, because, like many Americans, I was stunned by his election and the clear Russian interference into our election process. The assault on our Democracy offended me at the deepest level and my patriotic heart thrummed for justice . . . for a way to heal the wound to our nation.
The scope of the investigation, and many lines of criminal inquiry, are massive. This poses a problem for many people, like me, who have trouble memorizing random points of data. So many facts have hit the public sphere, it really is impossible for anyone, except those most gifted in memorizing detail, to see the whole picture.
Author Seth Abramson has done the public a great service in his piece of work, Proof of Collusion: How Trump Betrayed America. He has meticulously tracked all of the publicly available data points from reputable news sources and public filings, and has codified the relevant facts into a master timeline and provided that information in this book.
I have just finished one listen to the Audio. I intend to listen two more times, as I want to commit it to memory as much as possible, and my memory for this sort of detail is less than stellar, unless I were doing the research myself.
Abramson addresses some of the more interesting and obscure threads that I've been tracking myself, and which I've seen few others approach, including:
Nastya Rybka: Belarusian escort and ex-lover to Russian Oligarch Deripaska, jailed in Thailand, who claimed to have relevant video regarding the Trump Russia investigation, which Russia seemed to find worrisome enough that it threatened to cut YouTube off for their entire country. (Nothing to see here folks.)
Carter Page: Foreign Policy Advisor to the Trump Campaign, who had been under FBI surveillance for knowingly consorting with known Russian spies, since long before Trump officially announced his candidacy, and who once, himself, claimed, in writing, to be an advisor to the Kremlin.
The NRA Connection: Maria Butina and the funneling of Russian Oligarch Torshin's money through the NRA to assist the Trump Campaign.
Cambridge Analytica: Their ties to Russia, how the Facebook data got into Russia's hands, and the microtargetting of Americans with Fear Campaigns.
In addition to the more obscure threads noted above, Abramson covers all the more familiar threads such as:
The Trump Tower Meeting
The October Surprise
The RNC Platform Change on Russian Sanctions
If you want to have the best grasp of the public information to date, this is the book. Forget all the rest. This is purely factual. If you are looking for political drama, look elsewhere. Abramson even handles the more salacious bits in a factual manner.
The only way you could get a better grasp of all that is currently known in the public sphere is to meticulously catalogue every journal article that relates to collusion yourself and build your own master timeline. Plus, to match the value you get in this book, you would need to be a lawyer yourself, as Abramson adds his expertise in understanding how the facts correlate to actual criminal statutes. Or, you can skip going to law school, years of research, and for a mere pittance comparatively, have it all at your fingertips.
Facts matter. These are the facts as best we know them at this time.
I 100% recommend this book. It would also make a most excellent holiday gift.
February 18, 2019
A well-researched, well-documented, vetted and reviewed accounting of the Trump campaign and the illegal Russian, Saudi, etc., influences upon it. Seth Abramson is a professor of journalism at UNH, and has a law degree from Yale. I’ve been following the author on twitter for two years. His coverage is measured and thorough. Everything he says in this book is sourced with publicly available information. If you want to get up to speed on what has happened to the US under Trump, this is the book. Read it. Be informed.
August 17, 2020
In what is by far the most comprehensive dive into the publicly known facts behind the Trump/Russia ties, Abramson delivers incredibly well referenced research on just how the Trump campaign colluded with Putin's Russia in order to influence the 2016 election and beyond. Although at times Seth draws conclusions that aren't 100% provable, he's never out of the realm of it being highly likely and has an extensive list of footnotes to back up his points. Once Mueller releases his report we'll know the full extent of the collusion and just how correct Abramson has been.
December 15, 2018
I gave this 5 Stars more for the importance of the content.
Some might find the book a little difficult to follow with the dozens of names and characters. Seth Abramson did an amazing job of collecting years of publicly available facts (interviews - TV, radio, print; Twitter and other social medial accounts) that come directly from Trump and those in his orbit.
If Seth Abramson has this much data, the amount of information that Mueller has must be mind-boggling.
Some might find the book a little difficult to follow with the dozens of names and characters. Seth Abramson did an amazing job of collecting years of publicly available facts (interviews - TV, radio, print; Twitter and other social medial accounts) that come directly from Trump and those in his orbit.
If Seth Abramson has this much data, the amount of information that Mueller has must be mind-boggling.
December 1, 2023
Seth meticulously connects the dots via venerable news reporting, creating a timeline for interactions between Trump, his organization and his campaign, and Russia. It paints a damning picture of Trump's betrayal of America and its 242-year-old Democracy, in the pursuit of self-enrichment.
November 24, 2018
This book sucked as all of the claimed sources are from Main Stream Media and those people can't tell you the truth and my justification comes from the book, into the Buzzsaw.
November 26, 2018
Seth Abramson's sets out the publicly known facts on 'collusion' in a methodical, logical and enlightening way. A must read.
November 23, 2018
Seth Abramson, whose book, Proof of Collusion (Simon and Schuster, Nov., 2018), everyone should read. Its premise is that Trump et al. not only colluded (an umbrella term encompassing many different crimes) with Russia, but with KSA, Qatar, the UAE, and Israel before the election in quid pro quo agreements, and we are watching those agreements play out today. This is especially important to know because Jamal Khashoggi’s brutal assassination and the genocide in Yemen and Syria are wrapped up in these deals. Abramson uses only publicly available sources, arguing that proof of collusion took and takes place right before our eyes. The book includes thousands of citations from international news sources. An excellent and essential read for understanding what happened during Trump’s campaign, transition, and presidency.
November 25, 2018
Abramson compiles the publicly available details of the Trump Russia investigation into a coherent narrative. As a factual rather than speculative account the book is dry, and likely to be superceded in the coming months by additional evidence and testimony. However, I still give the book five stars due to the sheer importance of the work.
January 8, 2019
This book is written by a prosecutor, not by an investigative journalist. The book comes out that way. To be honest, it is not very well written. There's a difference between cramming information in and connecting the dots, although I understand we are beyond dots here. If you want to touch this topic, go with COLLUSION by Luke Harding.
July 30, 2020
Let me state this clearly the president of the United States and several members of his administration are foreign agents.
There are two general reasons why I can state this with certainty and then I can get you specifics:
1. After the election the senate intelligence committee came forward with a bipartisan report telling us that Russia Interfered in the 2016 election. This report and I read it was extensive and bipartisan in pointing out that Russian agents Russian companies and Russian actors such as their intelligence services interfered in the election. (Available online)
2. The Mueller report. In the Mueller report (which is available online) not only did Mueller indict and get pleas from people who worked for the Trump campaign. More importantly he got guilty pleas and indictments from RUSSIANS who worked with that campaign.
For anyone interested in this...and most people have already made up their minds. I suggest you look at two sources that tie all of these together. One is the documentary Active Measures (available for viewing on both Hulu & YouTube) and the other is this book written by Seth Abramson.
In this book Abramson meticulously goes through in a timeliness from 2013 until after Trump is elected using many officials OWN statements to prove that they were acting on behalf of Russia. And its all about money. Cash.
Russia wanted sanctions lifted and Trump was their man. Saudi Arabia wanted nuclear power plants & weapons...as you know Trump has given them that technology.
China wanted North Korea stable as a buffer to South Korea in the region. Trump delivered for them. They wanted Taiwan & Hong Kong securely under their control...Trump has delived for them.
Trump talked with Putin last week and was asked why he didn't talk about Russian bounties on US troops. He called it fake news.
As the book also points out the NRA took massive amounts of cash from Russia. Who was their biggest ad buy for? President Trump. Five senatirs went to visit Putin on the 4TH OF JULY. That wasn't a coincidence...it was a signal by Putin. All eight senators have since received campaign contributions traced back to Russian oligarchs. Who received the most donations? The current Majority leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell. Read this book. It will connect all the dots for you using their own public statements to do it...
There are two general reasons why I can state this with certainty and then I can get you specifics:
1. After the election the senate intelligence committee came forward with a bipartisan report telling us that Russia Interfered in the 2016 election. This report and I read it was extensive and bipartisan in pointing out that Russian agents Russian companies and Russian actors such as their intelligence services interfered in the election. (Available online)
2. The Mueller report. In the Mueller report (which is available online) not only did Mueller indict and get pleas from people who worked for the Trump campaign. More importantly he got guilty pleas and indictments from RUSSIANS who worked with that campaign.
For anyone interested in this...and most people have already made up their minds. I suggest you look at two sources that tie all of these together. One is the documentary Active Measures (available for viewing on both Hulu & YouTube) and the other is this book written by Seth Abramson.
In this book Abramson meticulously goes through in a timeliness from 2013 until after Trump is elected using many officials OWN statements to prove that they were acting on behalf of Russia. And its all about money. Cash.
Russia wanted sanctions lifted and Trump was their man. Saudi Arabia wanted nuclear power plants & weapons...as you know Trump has given them that technology.
China wanted North Korea stable as a buffer to South Korea in the region. Trump delivered for them. They wanted Taiwan & Hong Kong securely under their control...Trump has delived for them.
Trump talked with Putin last week and was asked why he didn't talk about Russian bounties on US troops. He called it fake news.
As the book also points out the NRA took massive amounts of cash from Russia. Who was their biggest ad buy for? President Trump. Five senatirs went to visit Putin on the 4TH OF JULY. That wasn't a coincidence...it was a signal by Putin. All eight senators have since received campaign contributions traced back to Russian oligarchs. Who received the most donations? The current Majority leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell. Read this book. It will connect all the dots for you using their own public statements to do it...
February 27, 2021
While this book is dated when I read it having been published before the release of the Mueller report, it is filled with information that is both new and well known. It gathers together a wealth of information that traces the Trump campaign involvement with and assistance of the Russians that is fairly conclusive there was something untoward going on. This book is far more damning than the Mueller Report concerning what Trump’s involvement with Russia really was (or is). As the author writes on page 315: “Trump implicitly surrendered to foreign interests thirty years ago and explicitly traded for continued access to foreign money and influential foreign leaders in 2013 or shortly thereafter.” The author’s conclusions as to what Trump will do to this country are pretty prescient. While I didn’t always like the format and writing style, this was a worthwhile read.
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