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Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump
The FBI veteran behind the Russia investigation draws on decades of experience hunting foreign agents in the United States to lay bare the threat posed by President Trump.
When he opened the FBI investigation into Russia’s election interference, Peter Strzok had already spent more than two decades defending the United States against foreign threats. His career in counterintelligence ended shortly thereafter, when the Trump administration used his private expression of political opinions to force him out of the Bureau in August 2018. But by that time, Strzok had seen more than enough to convince him that the commander in chief had fallen under the sway of America’s adversary in the Kremlin.
In Compromised, Strzok draws on lessons from a long career—from his role in the Russian illegals case that inspired The Americans to his service as lead FBI agent on the Mueller investigation—to construct a devastating account of foreign influence at the highest levels of our government. And he grapples with a question that should concern every U.S. citizen: When a president appears to favor personal and Russian interests over those of our nation, has he become a national security threat?
When he opened the FBI investigation into Russia’s election interference, Peter Strzok had already spent more than two decades defending the United States against foreign threats. His career in counterintelligence ended shortly thereafter, when the Trump administration used his private expression of political opinions to force him out of the Bureau in August 2018. But by that time, Strzok had seen more than enough to convince him that the commander in chief had fallen under the sway of America’s adversary in the Kremlin.
In Compromised, Strzok draws on lessons from a long career—from his role in the Russian illegals case that inspired The Americans to his service as lead FBI agent on the Mueller investigation—to construct a devastating account of foreign influence at the highest levels of our government. And he grapples with a question that should concern every U.S. citizen: When a president appears to favor personal and Russian interests over those of our nation, has he become a national security threat?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published September 8, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 311 reviews
September 13, 2020
This well-written, detailed account into the life of this government agent, was extremely enlightening. I can empathize with Mr. Strzok's frustration as his life as an FBI agent began to unravel. He performed his duties as an agent with great professionalism, mindful of his duty to country. Unfortunately, because of what his work uncovered (regarding Trump), he has been taunted by the child-like President. The President has relentlessly attacked Mr. Strzok based on just a few lines of personal texts.
Having worked for the federal government myself for 40 plus years, I can relate to the expectation in following strict rules that prohibit any type of political discussion while on the job. I can also relate to the multiple layers of opinions and management decisions to which government employees are subjected, particularly when it comes to how well you perform your job.
This book reinforces my ideas about the damage that is being levied against our country, and our democracy. I don't see this book as a political statement, rather it is a first-hand account as to how all hell can break loose based on who we elect. I'm hoping that our country will somehow reject the seeds of hate that have been planted, come together based on our needs of common decency, and move on to a stronger democracy.
Great job!
Having worked for the federal government myself for 40 plus years, I can relate to the expectation in following strict rules that prohibit any type of political discussion while on the job. I can also relate to the multiple layers of opinions and management decisions to which government employees are subjected, particularly when it comes to how well you perform your job.
This book reinforces my ideas about the damage that is being levied against our country, and our democracy. I don't see this book as a political statement, rather it is a first-hand account as to how all hell can break loose based on who we elect. I'm hoping that our country will somehow reject the seeds of hate that have been planted, come together based on our needs of common decency, and move on to a stronger democracy.
Great job!
March 21, 2022
Excellent read. The author is very fair and even handed in telling his story. You are given information on how investigations are conducted and how hard agents work to be unbiased in their work and conclusions. Strzok sets up his book by giving you insight into how the Russians work and are desirous of undermining our influence in the world by telling what he can about the breaking up of a Russian cell in 2010 - that part reads like a thriller! He does this up so as to illustrate how “kompromat” works and why it’s so dangerous. Strzok writes about the Clinton email investigation and you learn how tedious it was. He also confirms that investigation into the Trump Campaign began well before that Steele report made it to the FBI. All throughout each of these investigations, you know that the focus is always on finding the truth and assuring the protection of this country. By the time you get to Strzok’s wrongful firing from a job he loved and took pride in, your eyes are fully open to the complicity of the FBI higher ups in doing the bidding of that despicable human in the WH and his other simpering minions and you are simply angry. That so many are willing to destroy truth for cult worship is scary and disgusting. Thank goodness for good people like Mr Strzok and others who believe in the truth and work to preserve the Constitution. Let’s hope we weather this moment in history.
March 24, 2025
"If my upbringing impressed on me the strength of our democracy, it also showed me, time and again, how quickly a law-based moral order can collapse if good people do nothing."I recently saw ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok interviewed on a 'Burn the Boats' podcast episode on YouTube and, as a result, wanted to read his memoir. Here's the thing: so much crap is displayed on the political landscape on a daily basis (quite otten now on an hourly basis) that it can be a challenge maintaining more than a cursory understanding of what's being trotted out.
Quite a lot is trotted out under the banner of MAGA chaos; it's like hearing Dorothy Parker asking daily: "What fresh hell is this?" So we see the latest 'upset apple cart' on Monday and on Tuesday there's a spanking new one, and Monday's cart can be left in shadow.
It was, of course, a huge media event when Russian intelligence expert Strzok was (stupidly) charged with treason... treason!... basically (or, much more likely, ostensibly) for letting it be known in text communication that he wasn't T----'s biggest fan. There was a Senate hearing that many of us watched:
... the majority's members increasingly filled their time with statements and assertions rather than questions, preventing me from correcting their misstatements and challenging their false accusations. When I attempted to respond, the chairman told me I could not, since a question had not been asked. Great, I thought, Alex Trebay's 'Jeopardy!' rules of parliamentary procedure. Lies can be lies , so long as they're not couched in a question.~ and then - more or less in short order - Strzok was largely gone from public view, fired from the FBI... and the MAGA mob moved on, looking to keep us all distracted with the next opportunity for mindless chaos and abject terror.
So, as with the televised broadcast of the findings of the Mueller Report (which figures prominently in this memoir), much of The Real Story was first misrepresented and obfuscated, then swept under the rug.
'Compromised' details Strzok's real story. It's a stunner - required reading for all thinking Americans - as, in an unflinching manner, it lays out T----'s role as a conduit for Russia; instilling fear inside our Government's intelligence and justice agencies to such a degree that, more than ever in Strzok's line of work, the search for the truth was a search inside "a wilderness of mirrors".
Only occasionally is this tell-all a bit dense - while nevertheless illuminating certain kinds of activity or intercommunication between the FBI and the DOJ. But that's not an inordinate concern. For the most part, in his unraveling and handling of a rather complex atmosphere, Strzok is able to cut through particularly bureaucratic fog with the straightforward approach of 'explaining it as if to a five-year-old'.
Near the end of the memoir, Strzok recalls a day many years ago when he was a green / somewhat naive, new agent (believing that his job was a matter of making sure to 'get the bad guys') - and he recalls something a much-more-experienced agent wanted to impress on him about justice:
"Understand that we don't have a truly equal system of justice. . ...Some crime is too complex, and with enough money and political clout, the bad guys can bury us, or just wait us out. Worse... with enough power, they can find ways to make the injustice legal. Don't forget that."Gee... not unlike what the SCOTUS has just done with its 'total immunity' decision (among other equally heinous decisions).
Strzok now works as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. He was unable to complete his lifelong dream of staying with the FBI until retirement. He had suddenly been thrown into a life of nothing but grief and assaults. Once he was out of it, he could have stayed completely out - esp. by not writing a book and inviting more harrowing grief and assault.
But he did write a book - a dynamite book - and he tells us exactly why he felt compelled to keep the warning fresh:
Because the Russians haven't gone away.
September 16, 2020
When Rachel Maddow interviewed Strzok last Friday evening she said of all the books (about the Trump administration) that have come out recently, this is THE one she has been waiting for and she expressed how important she believes it is. Her comment enticed me into reading it and having done so I totally agree with her. This book is a real eye opener regarding the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign (called Hurricane Crossfire by the FBI), as well as some others during Strzok's career. At times, during the first 150 or so pages, it is almost like reading a spy novel, full of intrigue, while providing insights into the workings of an FBI investigation. However, those details of the workings of FBI did drag some because of many technical terms, foreign names and acronyms. The later half of the book becomes a page turner, and at times a hair curler, as he unfolds Hurricane Crossfire, while he and his team simultaneously finished up the Hillary Clinton emails investigation. Through this book you learn what was happening behind the scenes with the evolving Hurricane Crossfire while Trump cast doubts on the patriotism of the FBI and slandered individuals as well as the overall organization with his interviews and tweets. Ultimately, Strzok paid a great price for that as did some of his colleagues. I recall vividly watching Strzok testify before Congress and how well he presented himself - at times to the applause of those present in the audience. He served this country well. I believe he deserves credit and praise for the two and half decades he served in the military and in the FBI. His loss to the FBI is also our loss!
December 10, 2024
I borrowed the audiobook of Peter Strzok’s “Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald Trump’s J. Trump,” from my local library. After having listened to just 35% of this book, I’m grateful that I didn’t purchase it.
At first, I was intrigued by the story. Strzok has a long history in public service and was even present in Iran during the 1979 revolution when his father worked at the embassy. At this point early on in the narration, I was really interested. That is, until Strzok portrayed an almost glowing review of the Patriot Act.
The part that really irked me, however, was when Strzok discussed The Hillary Affair (aka The Emails). If Strzok had simply discussed what happened, I could have accepted this. Instead, though, he played the Blame Game, blaming Clinton for everything that happened when, in fact, the FBI played a crucial role in the mismanagement of the entire affair and did so at a critical point just before the 2016 presidential election.
Strzok didn’t discuss his personal life, which is fine by me, but as he reminded listeners that he was, at least for some time, a Republican, he reminds me of several people who for years have been engaged in a switch and bait political game. Some examples include the I’m-a-Democrat-turned-Republican (e.g., Tulsi Gabbard, Trump), I-say-I’m-a-Democrat-but-I’ve-always-been-a-Republican (e.g., Joe Manchin), I-was-a-Democrat-but-now-I’m-an-Independent (e.g., Kyrsten Sinema) or, in Strzok’s case, an I’m-a-Republican-But-I’m-a-Good-Republican-and-Hero-FBI-man.
Strzok, in my opinion is a fine example of a man that is universally disliked not because of what he did, or didn’t do, but because of his weasely behavior. But, apparently, it pays because he was just awarded a $1.2 million settlement with the federal government.
At first, I was intrigued by the story. Strzok has a long history in public service and was even present in Iran during the 1979 revolution when his father worked at the embassy. At this point early on in the narration, I was really interested. That is, until Strzok portrayed an almost glowing review of the Patriot Act.
The part that really irked me, however, was when Strzok discussed The Hillary Affair (aka The Emails). If Strzok had simply discussed what happened, I could have accepted this. Instead, though, he played the Blame Game, blaming Clinton for everything that happened when, in fact, the FBI played a crucial role in the mismanagement of the entire affair and did so at a critical point just before the 2016 presidential election.
Strzok didn’t discuss his personal life, which is fine by me, but as he reminded listeners that he was, at least for some time, a Republican, he reminds me of several people who for years have been engaged in a switch and bait political game. Some examples include the I’m-a-Democrat-turned-Republican (e.g., Tulsi Gabbard, Trump), I-say-I’m-a-Democrat-but-I’ve-always-been-a-Republican (e.g., Joe Manchin), I-was-a-Democrat-but-now-I’m-an-Independent (e.g., Kyrsten Sinema) or, in Strzok’s case, an I’m-a-Republican-But-I’m-a-Good-Republican-and-Hero-FBI-man.
Strzok, in my opinion is a fine example of a man that is universally disliked not because of what he did, or didn’t do, but because of his weasely behavior. But, apparently, it pays because he was just awarded a $1.2 million settlement with the federal government.
November 7, 2021
I finished this book in just over 48 hours.
Though I know he’s out there somewhere feeling fully vindicated, I so wish the news of this past weekend vis a vis Trump’s tax fraud and business compromises were known to Strozk before submitting this for publication. Watching him connect so many dots would have been deeply fulfilling.
My opinion of and feelings toward America are at an all time low; it is impossible to learn more history, sociology, and economics without feeling that. It just is. I suppose the only variable is in how much esteem you held the country in the first place.
That said, I feel proud and impressed that people like Strozk work in our justice system.
Yes—that system is beset by a history of overreach, inequity, and outright corruption. But agents like Peter Strozk are committed to FACTS and unafraid to say that though cases are staggeringly complex, they still contain honest and dishonest actors, selfless and self serving powers. Innocent and guilty.
Obviously, Strozk wrote this book. It’s bound (in all the senses of that word) to be subjective. Such a perspective is inescapable—if 20th century philosophy and psychology taught us nothing else, let it be that. But again, I find—the same way poets strive for the perfect words in the perfect order knowing that their work will still only approximate Truth—the refusal to give up that stone rolling, noble.
It’s also quixotic, especially when one of the actors whose script you’re trying to interpret is a sociopath.
In reading this book and observing the medical and political machinations of the last four years, I’ve learned that—beyond the Constitution—so much socio-physico-political hygiene depends upon good will, a hope that others conduct themselves knowing our symbiosis.
So there’s a deep injustice and sadness about this book as well. As an adult, you don’t need many reminders that life isn’t “fair.” Still, Strozk’s occupational fate is tragic. We need MORE people like him, Robert Mueller, and the hundreds of nameless others who labor and sacrifice on behalf of an ideal of Justice, while knowing, like Fitzgerald, that they “beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly.”
Though I know he’s out there somewhere feeling fully vindicated, I so wish the news of this past weekend vis a vis Trump’s tax fraud and business compromises were known to Strozk before submitting this for publication. Watching him connect so many dots would have been deeply fulfilling.
My opinion of and feelings toward America are at an all time low; it is impossible to learn more history, sociology, and economics without feeling that. It just is. I suppose the only variable is in how much esteem you held the country in the first place.
That said, I feel proud and impressed that people like Strozk work in our justice system.
Yes—that system is beset by a history of overreach, inequity, and outright corruption. But agents like Peter Strozk are committed to FACTS and unafraid to say that though cases are staggeringly complex, they still contain honest and dishonest actors, selfless and self serving powers. Innocent and guilty.
Obviously, Strozk wrote this book. It’s bound (in all the senses of that word) to be subjective. Such a perspective is inescapable—if 20th century philosophy and psychology taught us nothing else, let it be that. But again, I find—the same way poets strive for the perfect words in the perfect order knowing that their work will still only approximate Truth—the refusal to give up that stone rolling, noble.
It’s also quixotic, especially when one of the actors whose script you’re trying to interpret is a sociopath.
In reading this book and observing the medical and political machinations of the last four years, I’ve learned that—beyond the Constitution—so much socio-physico-political hygiene depends upon good will, a hope that others conduct themselves knowing our symbiosis.
So there’s a deep injustice and sadness about this book as well. As an adult, you don’t need many reminders that life isn’t “fair.” Still, Strozk’s occupational fate is tragic. We need MORE people like him, Robert Mueller, and the hundreds of nameless others who labor and sacrifice on behalf of an ideal of Justice, while knowing, like Fitzgerald, that they “beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly.”
September 22, 2024
This book is particularly interesting in the beginning where the cases are concluded and public. But the portion regarding Trump rehashes public and well-known information (especially well-known to me, having read the entire Mueller report) and hinting at additional but still secret information regarding Trump. This is more frustrating than enlightening.
Also, though I am certain Strzok tried his utmost to be fair in a bipartisan way in his investigations, he seems blind to his own soft-touch misogyny regarding Hillary Clinton. The poor IT guy illegally deleting information just got caught in partisan cross hairs. The male leaders at the FBI are heroic. What about the woman who rose the highest in US politics? Well her hyper-competence made her dislikable and suspicious. Her email server mistake was not illegal but extremely careless and meriting termination in another government job even though ultimately her emails were safer than the hacked state department servers. And isn’t that just an ironic laugh riot? Like rain on your wedding day? No, Strzok, it’s not funny. Why don’t you all take responsibility for the horrors the FBI’s poor decision-making and underlying misogyny have visited on the entire country? You know who else grilled Hillary Clinton for her “disqualifying” extreme carelessness? Matt Lauer. Sit with that company for while.
But the book does get better when he explains the horrors of what happened to him and his family as the results of Trump's vindicativeness and undemocratic means.
2024 addendum: Even though I fully knew Trump would run again, I still just can't believe we're doing this shit again.
Also, though I am certain Strzok tried his utmost to be fair in a bipartisan way in his investigations, he seems blind to his own soft-touch misogyny regarding Hillary Clinton. The poor IT guy illegally deleting information just got caught in partisan cross hairs. The male leaders at the FBI are heroic. What about the woman who rose the highest in US politics? Well her hyper-competence made her dislikable and suspicious. Her email server mistake was not illegal but extremely careless and meriting termination in another government job even though ultimately her emails were safer than the hacked state department servers. And isn’t that just an ironic laugh riot? Like rain on your wedding day? No, Strzok, it’s not funny. Why don’t you all take responsibility for the horrors the FBI’s poor decision-making and underlying misogyny have visited on the entire country? You know who else grilled Hillary Clinton for her “disqualifying” extreme carelessness? Matt Lauer. Sit with that company for while.
But the book does get better when he explains the horrors of what happened to him and his family as the results of Trump's vindicativeness and undemocratic means.
2024 addendum: Even though I fully knew Trump would run again, I still just can't believe we're doing this shit again.
September 14, 2020
I hoped for more ... it is clear the FBI believed there was a case against Trump for his subservience to Russia, but Mueller, with all the opportunity in the world, failed to dig to the truth, which leaves Strzok with plausible but unproven allegations
September 19, 2020
I am not hiding review because of spoilers because we all lived through this history. I agree with the reader who commented he had "hoped for more." I did too. That's why I am now going to read Bob Woodward's book RAGE.
This book really is about Peter Strzok’s story
Strzok first defines his work background. He is very careful to eliminate any personal information and focusses solely on his work in counter intelligence. I was struck by how high up the food chain he was, being central to the Hilary Clinton Email Investigation and other well known investigations. He worked with Andrew McCabe, James Comey, and other familiar names,
He then goes into a very detailed account of the Clinton Email Investigation. I suspect it’s useful for two reasons: 1. We see the processes and work involved in such an investigation. They had to sift thousands of emails to find any that *might* be classified, for example. And then, if the email was classified, they had to determine if any unauthorized person got it, and if they did, did anything occur because of that knowledge. They found very few classified emails; many had been classified after the fact. They did not find any negative outcome. In fact, they remarked that Clinton’s server was actually more cyber safe than the government’s (which had been hacked). They had to fly around, interview people, make connections, etc. it was an enormous undertaking. Strzok remarks he would have loved to have such a dream team work on an actually serious problem. But because this case was so high profile, they had to do the bird dogging and ground work, even tho it took months. 2. It helps explain their methods and how they started to apply them to the Russia Election Interference investigation.
He then explains why Comey made the public statements he did about the email: how Comey’s remarks were discussed among the team, why Comey felt he should make them, and why it boxed the FBI and Comey into making his famous statements just before the election.
In a sense, because we lived through this history, we kind of know this. But I did not realize Comey had worked so closely with a team over his communications and how much discussion was held to decide if to say anything and what to say.
We also learn why the FBI (especially Comey) did not realize what a bombshell his comments would make and how they would influence the election. So we learn more about why organizations in silos can prevent a more nuanced understanding and overview.
I will be interested to see if the rest of the book digs into the Russian Election Interference and Trump’s involvement in more detail than we understand now.
I do kind of see why they were blindsided by Clinton’s presidential loss, as well as by not comprehending the enormous impact Comey’s remarks would make.
The rest of the book goes into the Mueller investigation up until Peter Strzok’s emails are exposed. And the fallout from that.
Again, he describes the scale of the investigation as well as the talent enlisted to work on it. Hundreds of people from all over the FBI were involved. He describes the thoroughness of their investigations and touches on some of the activities the investigators did to learn things, such as interviews, emails, etc.
He covers the investigations into Flynn, Cohen, and others. He does not touch on counterespionage (and we know that investigation “disappeared” into the bowels of some government organization). We also know the Mueller organization did not follow the money although that is a known tried and true approach to investigation. Strzok does not comment on the decisions regarding those parameters of the investigation.
He also covers some of the firings within the intelligence community; Comey, in particular, as well as McCabe. I do not get a sense of who McCabe is in this book, but Strzok has deep appreciation for Comey. He does not touch on Sally Yates.
He also covers how the media and the public are hearing about the Mueller investigation and how Trump was putting his thumb on the truth, misconstruing the effort.
He does harbor suspicion about Rosenstein who comes across as very opaque in his approach. What we will learn, from what I have heard, in Bob Woodward’s book, RAGE, is the Rosenstein severely constrained the scope of the Mueller investigation. That’s not touched on here.
Interesting quote on Rosenstein:
“I didn’t know what to make of Rosenstein, and still don’t. At one point Comey described him as “a survivor.” Rosenstein was clearly deeply concerned about Trump’s actions, yet had affirmatively participated in enabling them. He was mistrustful of the Bureau’s motivations, yet later appeared to keep the special counsel in place until he ended his work. Above all, in the many months to come he had multiple meetings with Trump during the height of the president’s rage over the continued investigations, yet still emerged with his job intact and ultimately put himself and he reputation behind DOJ’s [Barr] deceitful announcement of the findings of the Mueller Report.”
And finally, without detailing the content of Strzok’s famous emails, we hear how broad the investigation went into the email and of course the ultimate fallout of Strzok losing his job.
A big theme was the lack of leadership support inside the intelligence community. Strzok’s boss basically threw him under the bus. There were many instances where there appeared to be a failure of leadership strength within the intelligence community. I find that enormously concerning as it suggests how vulnerable this organization is to a bad actor in the presidency.
But another aspect of that behavior was the pervasive, insidious viciousness of Trump and the Republicans. It is an extremely disheartening story about how this presidency did anything he could to cover up the Russian influence, and is doing it still, including a threat to fire FBI director Christopher Wray over his recent statements to congress about Russian meddling in the 2020 election.
This book really is about Peter Strzok’s story
Strzok first defines his work background. He is very careful to eliminate any personal information and focusses solely on his work in counter intelligence. I was struck by how high up the food chain he was, being central to the Hilary Clinton Email Investigation and other well known investigations. He worked with Andrew McCabe, James Comey, and other familiar names,
He then goes into a very detailed account of the Clinton Email Investigation. I suspect it’s useful for two reasons: 1. We see the processes and work involved in such an investigation. They had to sift thousands of emails to find any that *might* be classified, for example. And then, if the email was classified, they had to determine if any unauthorized person got it, and if they did, did anything occur because of that knowledge. They found very few classified emails; many had been classified after the fact. They did not find any negative outcome. In fact, they remarked that Clinton’s server was actually more cyber safe than the government’s (which had been hacked). They had to fly around, interview people, make connections, etc. it was an enormous undertaking. Strzok remarks he would have loved to have such a dream team work on an actually serious problem. But because this case was so high profile, they had to do the bird dogging and ground work, even tho it took months. 2. It helps explain their methods and how they started to apply them to the Russia Election Interference investigation.
He then explains why Comey made the public statements he did about the email: how Comey’s remarks were discussed among the team, why Comey felt he should make them, and why it boxed the FBI and Comey into making his famous statements just before the election.
In a sense, because we lived through this history, we kind of know this. But I did not realize Comey had worked so closely with a team over his communications and how much discussion was held to decide if to say anything and what to say.
We also learn why the FBI (especially Comey) did not realize what a bombshell his comments would make and how they would influence the election. So we learn more about why organizations in silos can prevent a more nuanced understanding and overview.
I will be interested to see if the rest of the book digs into the Russian Election Interference and Trump’s involvement in more detail than we understand now.
I do kind of see why they were blindsided by Clinton’s presidential loss, as well as by not comprehending the enormous impact Comey’s remarks would make.
The rest of the book goes into the Mueller investigation up until Peter Strzok’s emails are exposed. And the fallout from that.
Again, he describes the scale of the investigation as well as the talent enlisted to work on it. Hundreds of people from all over the FBI were involved. He describes the thoroughness of their investigations and touches on some of the activities the investigators did to learn things, such as interviews, emails, etc.
He covers the investigations into Flynn, Cohen, and others. He does not touch on counterespionage (and we know that investigation “disappeared” into the bowels of some government organization). We also know the Mueller organization did not follow the money although that is a known tried and true approach to investigation. Strzok does not comment on the decisions regarding those parameters of the investigation.
He also covers some of the firings within the intelligence community; Comey, in particular, as well as McCabe. I do not get a sense of who McCabe is in this book, but Strzok has deep appreciation for Comey. He does not touch on Sally Yates.
He also covers how the media and the public are hearing about the Mueller investigation and how Trump was putting his thumb on the truth, misconstruing the effort.
He does harbor suspicion about Rosenstein who comes across as very opaque in his approach. What we will learn, from what I have heard, in Bob Woodward’s book, RAGE, is the Rosenstein severely constrained the scope of the Mueller investigation. That’s not touched on here.
Interesting quote on Rosenstein:
“I didn’t know what to make of Rosenstein, and still don’t. At one point Comey described him as “a survivor.” Rosenstein was clearly deeply concerned about Trump’s actions, yet had affirmatively participated in enabling them. He was mistrustful of the Bureau’s motivations, yet later appeared to keep the special counsel in place until he ended his work. Above all, in the many months to come he had multiple meetings with Trump during the height of the president’s rage over the continued investigations, yet still emerged with his job intact and ultimately put himself and he reputation behind DOJ’s [Barr] deceitful announcement of the findings of the Mueller Report.”
And finally, without detailing the content of Strzok’s famous emails, we hear how broad the investigation went into the email and of course the ultimate fallout of Strzok losing his job.
A big theme was the lack of leadership support inside the intelligence community. Strzok’s boss basically threw him under the bus. There were many instances where there appeared to be a failure of leadership strength within the intelligence community. I find that enormously concerning as it suggests how vulnerable this organization is to a bad actor in the presidency.
But another aspect of that behavior was the pervasive, insidious viciousness of Trump and the Republicans. It is an extremely disheartening story about how this presidency did anything he could to cover up the Russian influence, and is doing it still, including a threat to fire FBI director Christopher Wray over his recent statements to congress about Russian meddling in the 2020 election.
September 14, 2020
This is a well written inside look at the beginnings of the Russia scandal. It spells out the details which the President of the United States in concert with the Attorney General and the GOP have successfully lied about, obstructed and thwarted. This is the best political book I’ve ever read. America is in grave danger from its own President, a complicit AG and their accomplices in the GOP. I despair for the future of our country.
October 14, 2020
This is the book to read BEFORE Andrew Weissmann's book on the Mueller investigation/Special Counsel's report. Peter Strzok started the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into Donald Trump and his political cronies and he overlapped at the beginning of the Special Counsel's investigation with Andrew Weissmann.
I chose to label it autobiography because a great deal of the book starts with how he got into public service as a lawyer about 22 years before he was fired because of trump's pressure. He acknowledges that he was careless in sending texts that were/seemed political in nature on his public devices and for having an affair that hurt his wife and children. But the bulk of the book is about his role in investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private server. (He also points out that her private server was safer than the State Department servers!)
I just commented on Clinton and many others using their private and work servers without too much discrimination. The other thing he mentions is the outdated nature of government computers and servers. I remember the tirade in the historic book Computer Power and Human Reason by Joseph Weizenbaum about the early days of computer use in government and how uncoordinated hackers (programmers) would work at night fixing bugs but not knowing the underlying programming they were "fixing" at levels that might cause even worse problems. And then there were the warning from Vice President Al Gore about how outdated the computers were when he and President Clinton came in office. And these problems continue and this situation is part of our national security threats.
I gave this book 5 stars because it charts an insider's view of the Mueller investigations and what proceeded them. It also charts the dangers that trump and his followers present to our nation. I SHOULD take a full star away because there is no index to this book so that readers can look up people and events. It also does not have footnotes but I didn't miss them much for this book. It seems well edited and either Strzok is a good writer from the get-go or he had great editors at Harcourt Brace.
I chose to label it autobiography because a great deal of the book starts with how he got into public service as a lawyer about 22 years before he was fired because of trump's pressure. He acknowledges that he was careless in sending texts that were/seemed political in nature on his public devices and for having an affair that hurt his wife and children. But the bulk of the book is about his role in investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private server. (He also points out that her private server was safer than the State Department servers!)
I just commented on Clinton and many others using their private and work servers without too much discrimination. The other thing he mentions is the outdated nature of government computers and servers. I remember the tirade in the historic book Computer Power and Human Reason by Joseph Weizenbaum about the early days of computer use in government and how uncoordinated hackers (programmers) would work at night fixing bugs but not knowing the underlying programming they were "fixing" at levels that might cause even worse problems. And then there were the warning from Vice President Al Gore about how outdated the computers were when he and President Clinton came in office. And these problems continue and this situation is part of our national security threats.
I gave this book 5 stars because it charts an insider's view of the Mueller investigations and what proceeded them. It also charts the dangers that trump and his followers present to our nation. I SHOULD take a full star away because there is no index to this book so that readers can look up people and events. It also does not have footnotes but I didn't miss them much for this book. It seems well edited and either Strzok is a good writer from the get-go or he had great editors at Harcourt Brace.
December 25, 2020
Excellent Personal Account of Trump’s FBI
This is a sad, account on how an FBI agent with excellent credentials was vilified and eventually fired by the FBI under the pressure of Trump. He describes the origins of Crossfire Hurricane in which an investigation was initiated to see if Trump was a Russian asset. As Trump gains more power in the presidency and democratic norms fall away, Peter’s texts with another FBI Agent become an issue and though under normal times, they wouldn’t have been an issue, in Trump’s America, they become a reason to fire him. He explains how people in the government begin to cower and fear Trump’s power and it becomes more authoritarian.
This is a sad, account on how an FBI agent with excellent credentials was vilified and eventually fired by the FBI under the pressure of Trump. He describes the origins of Crossfire Hurricane in which an investigation was initiated to see if Trump was a Russian asset. As Trump gains more power in the presidency and democratic norms fall away, Peter’s texts with another FBI Agent become an issue and though under normal times, they wouldn’t have been an issue, in Trump’s America, they become a reason to fire him. He explains how people in the government begin to cower and fear Trump’s power and it becomes more authoritarian.
March 31, 2021
Another rehash of the Trump saga, from the perspective of a top Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who was intimately involved. He admits to his humanity yet leaves a firm impression he was working very hard to honor the traditions and precision of his agency. He makes an honest revelation of how being human affects even the most ardent attempt to be perfect, throughout his agency and those with whom it interacted. This was refreshing and welcome as a reader of these books. Brennan and Weismann did the same thing in their books.
The unavoidable truth is that law enforcement and information gathering is necessary to reduce the control of power and greed in human affairs. Strozk did not hesitate to remind readers of the importance of the rule of law.
This country was founded upon the idea the common people, rather than the aristocracy, should make and live by fair, equally applied rules. By even a superficial look at history it is apparent the aristocracy was in full force and effect in 1776 and has been ever since. Progress toward true equality is slow, with some back-stepping (the last four years) at times. A recent article from The New Yorker, about the pending Voting Rights Bill, unmasked the truth in this 21st Century. Those who duped people into supporting Trumpism are still at it. Their own research revealed even conservatives are in favor of free, fair and full elections. The proposal to overcome this was the solution for them must come "under the dome" (actual words used). In other words the Senators the aristocrats elect will have to be their puppets even though the public supports voting rights. We need laws to keep things from being done "under the dome". When laws are enacted we need a whole bunch of Peter Strzoks.
The unavoidable truth is that law enforcement and information gathering is necessary to reduce the control of power and greed in human affairs. Strozk did not hesitate to remind readers of the importance of the rule of law.
This country was founded upon the idea the common people, rather than the aristocracy, should make and live by fair, equally applied rules. By even a superficial look at history it is apparent the aristocracy was in full force and effect in 1776 and has been ever since. Progress toward true equality is slow, with some back-stepping (the last four years) at times. A recent article from The New Yorker, about the pending Voting Rights Bill, unmasked the truth in this 21st Century. Those who duped people into supporting Trumpism are still at it. Their own research revealed even conservatives are in favor of free, fair and full elections. The proposal to overcome this was the solution for them must come "under the dome" (actual words used). In other words the Senators the aristocrats elect will have to be their puppets even though the public supports voting rights. We need laws to keep things from being done "under the dome". When laws are enacted we need a whole bunch of Peter Strzoks.
December 26, 2020
For my own sanity I've managed to avoid bingeing on Trump books: there's only so much horror and disgust I can take in without shutting down or punching my fist through a window. But Peter Strzok's Compromised went to the top of my must-read list as soon as it came out. Yes, I was impressed by his 2018 congressional testimony, but the big draw was that as an FBI counterintelligence operative Strzok worked in a world I knew little about but was intrigued by. His book did not disappoint.
I came of political age in the Vietnam era, when J. Edgar Hoover was still in charge of the FBI and McCarthyism remained rampant in the U.S., nowhere more so than in Hoover's FBI. They persecuted as commies or commie sympathizers anyone they considered un-American, including civil rights activists, union organizers, and liberal public officials. I developed a gut-deep hatred of the FBI. In 2016 I blamed them (not unfairly) for helping undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign and thus delivering the country into the hands of Trump.
Then things got weird. When Trump fired FBI director James Comey, Comey was clearly in the right. I admired the guy for taking such detailed notes, and for facilitating a leak of what happened at that one-on-one meeting. Pretty soon 45 was trashing the FBI and other intelligence-related agencies for contradicting him about Russian interference in the 2016 election, including overtures made to the Trump campaign. On the theory that my enemy's enemy is, if not quite my friend, then at least on my side, I wanted to learn more about the inner workings of the FBI, its counterintelligence work, and how those on the inside were coping with blatant, possibly unprecedented political pressure.
Because his father was stationed abroad, first with the military and later in international development, Strzok did much of his growing up in turbulent places: Iran on the brink of the 1979 revolution, Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta), Haiti. "By the time I entered college," he writes, "I had lived through four revolutions on three continents." It taught him a few things about how dictators operate, and what happens when the rule of law breaks down. He went through college on an ROTC scholarship, and when his military commitment was done he was determined to go into public service. He applied for and was hired as an FBI counterterrorism analyst; funding for the FBI's counterterrorism operations had been expanded in the wake of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Thus began his two-decade career in FBI counterintelligence.
The last thing Strzok ever expected was that a U.S. president and his associates would become the subject of a counterintel investigation. Before he gets to that part, he does a fine job of showing what counterintelligence work looks like in the real world, and by extension the kind of agent required to do it well. With "Midyear Exam" -- the investigation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails -- the ground starts to buckle and shift, thanks in part to voracious media attention and the presidential campaign that was just getting under way. With "Crossfire Hurricane," which began as an investigation of the connections between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives, we journey deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, hearing ever more vividly the cornered monster at the far end. (When the investigation was named, no one had any idea how wildly appropriate the name would be.)
We know from the headlines how events developed and how they turned out, but Peter Strzok evokes so clearly, step by step, what it looked like from the inside, and how hard it was to believe it was really happening. In the process we gain a deeper understanding of the vast damage Trump and his enablers have done, not just to the FBI but to every agency of the federal government. I am grateful to Strzok for his ability to tell his story so well, and for his willingness to do so. Among other things, he makes it clear that the Republicans who accuse him of "liberal bias" haven't read the book and don't know what "liberal bias" looks like.
He does not, it should be noted, go into detail about the aspects of his personal life that made it into the headlines, i.e., that he and Lisa Page were more than just friends and colleagues. He does allude to the "terrible personal decisions" he's made, and I rather like the line he attributes to his wife: "You deserve to be divorced, not fired." I agree with his choices on this. It's up to him and his family to work this out. The country, including the incoming Biden-Harris administration, has much more pressing matters to attend to.
I came of political age in the Vietnam era, when J. Edgar Hoover was still in charge of the FBI and McCarthyism remained rampant in the U.S., nowhere more so than in Hoover's FBI. They persecuted as commies or commie sympathizers anyone they considered un-American, including civil rights activists, union organizers, and liberal public officials. I developed a gut-deep hatred of the FBI. In 2016 I blamed them (not unfairly) for helping undermine Hillary Clinton's campaign and thus delivering the country into the hands of Trump.
Then things got weird. When Trump fired FBI director James Comey, Comey was clearly in the right. I admired the guy for taking such detailed notes, and for facilitating a leak of what happened at that one-on-one meeting. Pretty soon 45 was trashing the FBI and other intelligence-related agencies for contradicting him about Russian interference in the 2016 election, including overtures made to the Trump campaign. On the theory that my enemy's enemy is, if not quite my friend, then at least on my side, I wanted to learn more about the inner workings of the FBI, its counterintelligence work, and how those on the inside were coping with blatant, possibly unprecedented political pressure.
Because his father was stationed abroad, first with the military and later in international development, Strzok did much of his growing up in turbulent places: Iran on the brink of the 1979 revolution, Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta), Haiti. "By the time I entered college," he writes, "I had lived through four revolutions on three continents." It taught him a few things about how dictators operate, and what happens when the rule of law breaks down. He went through college on an ROTC scholarship, and when his military commitment was done he was determined to go into public service. He applied for and was hired as an FBI counterterrorism analyst; funding for the FBI's counterterrorism operations had been expanded in the wake of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Thus began his two-decade career in FBI counterintelligence.
The last thing Strzok ever expected was that a U.S. president and his associates would become the subject of a counterintel investigation. Before he gets to that part, he does a fine job of showing what counterintelligence work looks like in the real world, and by extension the kind of agent required to do it well. With "Midyear Exam" -- the investigation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails -- the ground starts to buckle and shift, thanks in part to voracious media attention and the presidential campaign that was just getting under way. With "Crossfire Hurricane," which began as an investigation of the connections between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives, we journey deeper and deeper into the labyrinth, hearing ever more vividly the cornered monster at the far end. (When the investigation was named, no one had any idea how wildly appropriate the name would be.)
We know from the headlines how events developed and how they turned out, but Peter Strzok evokes so clearly, step by step, what it looked like from the inside, and how hard it was to believe it was really happening. In the process we gain a deeper understanding of the vast damage Trump and his enablers have done, not just to the FBI but to every agency of the federal government. I am grateful to Strzok for his ability to tell his story so well, and for his willingness to do so. Among other things, he makes it clear that the Republicans who accuse him of "liberal bias" haven't read the book and don't know what "liberal bias" looks like.
He does not, it should be noted, go into detail about the aspects of his personal life that made it into the headlines, i.e., that he and Lisa Page were more than just friends and colleagues. He does allude to the "terrible personal decisions" he's made, and I rather like the line he attributes to his wife: "You deserve to be divorced, not fired." I agree with his choices on this. It's up to him and his family to work this out. The country, including the incoming Biden-Harris administration, has much more pressing matters to attend to.
October 6, 2020
I am surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Granted, there are major parts that will keep me up at night, but you can tell this book was written by a person who not only loved his job, he truly loves his country. The thing I appreciate most about the book, is how Mr Strzok makes the workings of the FBI & the DOJ accessible to the lay person. And we all know about 45s Twitter propensities, but here we get an inside look at the real world damage those tweets do. (I cannot imagine finding out I was on a list of a pipe bombing mad man.)
After reading this book, my hope is that people like Mr Strzok, who this administration has driven out of public service, will once again find a place to come home to.
After reading this book, my hope is that people like Mr Strzok, who this administration has driven out of public service, will once again find a place to come home to.
June 10, 2025
Incredibly important series of events to document, especially given Strzok’s supervision of the investigations into Russian election interference & Clinton’s emails, as well as his position as FBI Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence. Strzok lays out the timeline masterfully, allowing the reader to draw natural conclusions. He provides an even balance of insight into foreign counterintelligence + national security concerns and the rattling of the domestic infrastructure equipped to counter such issues.
May 31, 2021
I am glad I took the time to read this, even though some of the Trump investigation history feels like a rehash for those who have followed every detail. I still SMH over how many lives Trump has destroyed, with little disregard for the innocent victims of his vile tweets and attacks; like the wives and the children now in the cross hairs too.
Takeaway once again: Everything Trump touches dies.
Takeaway once again: Everything Trump touches dies.
September 16, 2020
Peter Strzok was a political casualty of an unethical president. Strzok had a distinguished career in the FBI until Trump used him to further the fantasy that the FBI was out to destroy him. Strzok and the FBI were attacked in so many ways, that he felt he needed to write this book to set the record straight and to feel some catharsis in the process. He writes in a style (particularly toward the beginning of the book) that was absolutely gripping. Past the early chapters, he had to correct lies and misstatements from the president and GOP, and he therefore ended up shifting to writing that was more defensive than compelling. And in defending himself and his colleagues, he provided detailed discussion about FBI motivations and philosophy to ensure that we, the readers, understood just how egregious Trump's actions were (and are). As necessary as this was for him as a writer, I couldn't help recalling the phrase "if you're explaining, you're losing". I believe Strzok told the truth, but he was squashed for it. Americans need to understand the danger that Trump poses to the country, and Strzok did his best to convey that. This is quite a sad story.
October 15, 2020
A must read...
An excellent, well written, eye-opening, and crucial historical account in a period of the most unfit, toxic and vindictive American presidents ever to lead our nation.
An excellent, well written, eye-opening, and crucial historical account in a period of the most unfit, toxic and vindictive American presidents ever to lead our nation.
April 19, 2021
This has it all - politics, patriotism, and stories straight out of a spy novel. Strozk’s voice is very compelling and convincing, and it was so frustrating to read how he was treated.
December 27, 2024
An unreal read. I finished this book just after Christmas and jesus, talk about having your holiday spirit slashed. I encourage everyone in North America and/or those who value democracy to see the threat that Donald Trump and his cronies pose to the free world.
Strzok, a former FBI counterintelligence agent, details operations from within the FBI as well has highly sensitive investigations like the Midyear and Crossfire Hurricane cases. Through his recounting of the investigations, he highlights the degree of past Russian interference in 2016 on Amercian electoral systems and how the Trump administration exploited it. He shows that this threat is still very much alive. He also showcases the amount of corruption and treasonous activities that occur within the Trump camp.
Additionally, you witness the amount of damage Trump has done to intelligent patriotic people who were merely trying to do their jobs and to the lawful institutions that were put in place to prevent the ilicit activities that he actively engages in. Strzok himself loses his job at the hands of the corrupt DOJ and because of unsubstantiated attacks from Trump himself.
Strzok urges readers to understand the underlying principles that Trump represents and how we could be on an irreversible trek toward doom should he be re-elected (which he is so crap…)
Overall, great read and I highly recommend it to everyone.
Strzok, a former FBI counterintelligence agent, details operations from within the FBI as well has highly sensitive investigations like the Midyear and Crossfire Hurricane cases. Through his recounting of the investigations, he highlights the degree of past Russian interference in 2016 on Amercian electoral systems and how the Trump administration exploited it. He shows that this threat is still very much alive. He also showcases the amount of corruption and treasonous activities that occur within the Trump camp.
Additionally, you witness the amount of damage Trump has done to intelligent patriotic people who were merely trying to do their jobs and to the lawful institutions that were put in place to prevent the ilicit activities that he actively engages in. Strzok himself loses his job at the hands of the corrupt DOJ and because of unsubstantiated attacks from Trump himself.
Strzok urges readers to understand the underlying principles that Trump represents and how we could be on an irreversible trek toward doom should he be re-elected (which he is so crap…)
Overall, great read and I highly recommend it to everyone.
February 1, 2024
A sobering look into the political climate over the past decade from the perspective of someone deep in the weeds trying to maintain a sense of justice in this country. Strzok does a great job of providing a fair recount of the investigations into Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, while pointing out flaws in bureaucracy and shortcomings of the FBI. Great read before November 2024.
November 12, 2020
4.5 stars. I thought this was a very interesting book that provided insight into the FBI and their cases specifically Hillary Clinton’s case and the Russia probe. The author Peter Strzok came across as a good and ethical agent. It is a shame he is no longer part of the FBI.
August 9, 2021
Interesting perspective from inside the FBI during the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. Nothing particularly new but does help to fill a few gaps and corroborate what other texts on the subject have stated.
September 28, 2020
"Corrupt and compromised, with no moral center and no ethics and only their own self-interests to guide them, such leaders see criticism as a challenge to their legitimacy and, when challenged continuously, rage louder—ruining lives, destroying careers, and worse." Peter Strzok has a clear view of the President and lays it all out to see in this scary but important book. I decided I had to read this because I wanted a FACTUAL look at the issues of Russian influence in the 2016 Presidential Race (which is indisputable) without all the vitriol and misdirection. "Compromised" delivers on that and Mr. Strzok writes like the clearheaded and organized FBI agent he was. The book spends some time laying out Mr. Strzok's history and establishes his bonafides which is important so one accords him the proper respect he has earned as an investigator. There are some interesting bits about the real Russian spies upon with the excellent television series "The Americans" was based. Then he gets to the meat, the "investigation" into Secretary Clinton's use of a private server to handle her email, which amounts to doing something she probably should not have but is not even close to being anything criminal or actionable, and then on the Russian interference on behalf of "NAME REDACTED BECAUSE I CAN'T TYPE IT WITHOUT THROWING UP." He soon finds "Russian playbook of active measures. Overload the debate with competing theories. Create false equivalences. Raise doubts and fan suspicion. Divert attention and sow division. But at all costs, avoid the truth." Sound familiar? His faith in the system drives him forward because he knows that facts matter and things will work out. Yeah, right. As the story is leaked (gee, who did that?) he realizes that "corrupt and compromised, with no moral center and no ethics and only their own self-interests to guide them, such leaders see criticism as a challenge to their legitimacy and, when challenged continuously, rage louder—ruining lives, destroying careers, and worse." And this happens to Mr Strzok of course. "Authoritarian leaders and tin-pot dictators don’t tolerate dissent or criticism, and when they hear it, they smear their critics in outlandish terms, as traitors, as enemies of the people, as saboteurs and spies." One of the weaknesses of the book is the decision, which I totally understand, to not talk about the personal issues that put Mr. Strzok in the spotlight. But because of those issues he "aced a decision that I and countless other subjects of Trump’s ad hominem attacks would face in the months ahead: how to respond to an immature, name-calling bully while still respecting the office of the president." It is not a good decision to have to make. After many of the late night twitter storms that the "President" unleashes on him, Mr. Strzok wonders "how can the leader of the free world have time for this?" We have all wondered the same thing Peter. As things move along he again has faith the the hearings before Congress with testimony by James Comey and Mr. Strzok himself will fix things. Sigh. "Ruefully, I registered the thought that Trump’s bullying had broken the system. Instead of fulfilling the roles envisioned by our Founding Fathers, the Republican Congress had become an enforcement arm of Trump’s warped cult of personality." I can't say this is an enjoyable read and there isn't anything truly new in it, but having it all laid out methodically, meticulously, and factually is really chilling. I wish everyone could read this book and understand how prevalent the meddling was and how many links there were to the official campaign of He Who Shall Not Be Named but I know that will never happen. The Cult of Personality continues to reign. I will continue to inform myself with facts.
September 22, 2020
A very thorough review of known FBI cases starting back in 2000 through to the present. So, not only an excellent, detailed description of the Russian/Trump connection but a great historical review of the past twenty years of FBI work. Excellent, page turning reading.
September 13, 2020
Well done. I love spy novels, so it was interesting to learn what happens on the inside - lots and lots of waiting until sufficient facts and information are gathered. No new revelations, but Strzok lays out the other side of the lies and disinformation shared by the Trump administration about Clinton’s emails and the Russia investigation.
February 1, 2021
This was a great read. Peter is a lot smarter and brighter than I expected. It’s pretty effortless to read this and the stories are really compelling. I felt like I really connected with his journey in the bureau and his side of the story was believable.
Honestly, the last two chapters were really tough for me to read. The system clearly failed him and it was hard to process how much damage #45 did to an (imperfect) honest and hard working public servant. It was depressing to read about how our President destroyed the life of this family after everything he had given of himself in service to the country.
My main criticism was of his explanation of what I thought was the most damning text he sent —“we’ll stop it” (referring to a trump win of the White House). It just wasn’t convincing and I felt like he didn’t really even try, which left me wondering how honest he was being about it. This was unfortunate because the rest of his “side of the story” was believable and even heartbreaking.
Worth the read.
Honestly, the last two chapters were really tough for me to read. The system clearly failed him and it was hard to process how much damage #45 did to an (imperfect) honest and hard working public servant. It was depressing to read about how our President destroyed the life of this family after everything he had given of himself in service to the country.
My main criticism was of his explanation of what I thought was the most damning text he sent —“we’ll stop it” (referring to a trump win of the White House). It just wasn’t convincing and I felt like he didn’t really even try, which left me wondering how honest he was being about it. This was unfortunate because the rest of his “side of the story” was believable and even heartbreaking.
Worth the read.
December 8, 2020
It took me a while to finish this, but not because it wasn't good. It's almost like something else was happening in November that occupied my mind.
Hm.
Anyway, this was an excellent account of the investigation of Russian interference in our elections, written by the FBI agent who was a big part of that investigation. It was very well-written and it renewed my admiration and respect for our intelligence community. These are truly dedicated public servants who take their duties seriously. I hate it that Mr. Strzok got such a raw deal after serving his country for so many years. Yet another casualty of a corrupt administration.
At the end of the book, he writes about our solution for the removal of unfit, and in this case, compromised, politicians: the ballot box. I'm sure it was deeply gratifying for him to see the outcome of the 2020 election.
Hm.
Anyway, this was an excellent account of the investigation of Russian interference in our elections, written by the FBI agent who was a big part of that investigation. It was very well-written and it renewed my admiration and respect for our intelligence community. These are truly dedicated public servants who take their duties seriously. I hate it that Mr. Strzok got such a raw deal after serving his country for so many years. Yet another casualty of a corrupt administration.
At the end of the book, he writes about our solution for the removal of unfit, and in this case, compromised, politicians: the ballot box. I'm sure it was deeply gratifying for him to see the outcome of the 2020 election.
September 19, 2020
Very easy book to follow if you have been involved with politics. Book reveals the problems of working toward a true democracy since we apparently don't have it with voter supression, Russian interference and systemic racism. Mr. Strzok made a huge mistake with his emails but you can't possibly believe that every time we change parties in the white house that all members of FBI, CIA etc
are in line the the political party in office. We are in deep trouble ... It is a shame that bipartisan politics is in the process of changing the country we love. History will reveal all the lies. Just hope we we still have the first amendment and are able to read how history will put most of us to shame for our inaction in light of such shameful occurrences. God help America !!!!
are in line the the political party in office. We are in deep trouble ... It is a shame that bipartisan politics is in the process of changing the country we love. History will reveal all the lies. Just hope we we still have the first amendment and are able to read how history will put most of us to shame for our inaction in light of such shameful occurrences. God help America !!!!
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