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Obsession: Inside the Washington Establishment's War on Trump
From the moment Donald Trump was elected, the Democrats have waged a relentless battle to remove him from office, culminating—for now—in the failed impeachment of 2020. Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner, and a Fox News Contributor, provides the inside story of how and why the Democrats failed—and why their obsession with removing the president threatens American democracy.
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2020
205 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 30, 2020
Byron York is a genuine journalist (rare) that gives a full account of the last 4 years. Still stinging and humiliated by the 2016 loss to Trump, they set out to find a crime, any crime to kick him out office. As he goes through all the investigations, the Mueller special council and finally the impeachment trial you can began to feel the Democrats frustration. They controlled the hearings and eliminated the Rep. from most of the secret testimonies. Desperately looking for a crime, even fabricating some ... they came up short every time!! As we know the Government has no urgency in time and has unlimited resources to work with ! The American people suffered because the time and money spent could have been utilized much better. Individuals caught up in the investigations were made to spend their own money for lawyers and such while the government played on! This was all documented like a transcript so no fiction here.....a disturbing read and at times labor intensive but gave you a better understanding of what really took place!
April 20, 2021
Very well written and interesting book. Every page made me angry all over again.
November 14, 2020
Excellent book detailing the extent of the move to get rid of Trump
September 11, 2020
Great read and fact based
This book provided a good review and facts of some information I didn't know about. I did see lot of the public hearings on TV and this book reminded me of those hearings. I thought at the time, listening and watching the hearings, if these Democrats are attorneys, they are not very good. The Democrat strategy was information I didn't quite understand, Mr. York gave me that insight. Thank you Mr. York for a good fact based presentation.
This book provided a good review and facts of some information I didn't know about. I did see lot of the public hearings on TV and this book reminded me of those hearings. I thought at the time, listening and watching the hearings, if these Democrats are attorneys, they are not very good. The Democrat strategy was information I didn't quite understand, Mr. York gave me that insight. Thank you Mr. York for a good fact based presentation.
December 28, 2024
If you're bored and want to hear how the Dims committed lawfare against POTUS Trump through his entire 1st term in excruciating detail... this Is you book. Anyone who's even vaguely studied on how Dims work to weasel their way into rewriting any law to target their political opponents won't need any of this rehash. It's like every other Conservative talk show who plays us 90% of their air time the Dims making assertions of dastard deeds committed by what just happens to be the most (apparently) innocent of political opponents! What I'd like a true insider to tell me is... why does our Deep State (both the Dims and the RINOs) Hate POTUS DJ Trump. How could the know they couldn't make a Deal with him? Why would they try to Stop him from Making America Great Again... If I worked for the Government of America, Why the heck would I not want to make it Great Again? Can you imagine the campaign slogan which said we want to keep America a Shithole? York does give us a clue, it's about an accusation Trump made before running about Obummer. Well, talk about short fuses if this was all just personal animus by a former political opposition... after all, Obummer did have 2 terms, right? Isn't that ALL Anyone gets?????
October 4, 2025
Some might think this is a partisan look at the anti-trump lawfare of Washington D.C. However, York is one of those rare reporters who writes his observations from a fairly balanced perspective. He also interviews several sources. Most of this I followed closely at the time, good to see it all recounted here along with some information I didn't know. Interesting to see this coming out in the news again, as Comey and Russiagate are showing up back in the spotlight. Unfortunate that the Democrats opened the pandora's box of politicized prosecution. Republicans seem to have no choice but to fight back using these same strategies. I wish it wasn't so and that more moderate leaders prevailed. Unfortunately our media seem to believe politics is entertainment.
November 18, 2020
Illuminating account
Excellent summary of a sorry effort by elected, seemingly rational individuals to personalize and internalize their distaste for the President and waste precious time to undo the 2016 presidential election instead of working with him to solve real problems facing all Americans.
Excellent summary of a sorry effort by elected, seemingly rational individuals to personalize and internalize their distaste for the President and waste precious time to undo the 2016 presidential election instead of working with him to solve real problems facing all Americans.
September 12, 2020
Excellent narra
Tube of our last t
Wo yrs!!
Tube of our last t
Wo yrs!!
September 16, 2020
It was like reliving it but with more details
This was a great book. I couldn't put it down. It's amazing that the Democrats get away with the way they treat Republicans.
This was a great book. I couldn't put it down. It's amazing that the Democrats get away with the way they treat Republicans.
October 17, 2020
There's rarely a reason to read a political book about a presidential administration produced while that president is in office. Former staffers write a couple of hundred pages to say, "If only they'd have listed to me!" Others let Bob Woodward quote them, by name or otherwise, saying the same thing. Or they're about things that just happened a couple of years ago and can still be looked up.
Donald Trump's presidency provides even more incentive to avoid books supposedly detailing its inner workings, adding only to the wonder the reader must feel: If he was indeed so awful, why did you agree to work for him? It's not like he was secretly vain, pompous, boastful, etc...
Byron York's Obsession fulfills one of the few real needs for books about the Trump administration: A clear look at what the hell happened with one or another particular feature of it. York, a reporter for The Washington Examiner, traces some features of the buildup to the impeachment investigation and probe from late 2019 and early 2020 and their relationship with what's usually called "the Russia probe" connected to the investigation by Robert Mueller.
Large amounts of the book come from York's reporting on Mueller, impeachment and related matters at the time, as well as later interviews to add perspective. Since the Examiner is a conservative-leaning news outlet and York is a former staffer at National Review, one might be tempted to dismiss Obsession as a an exercise in Trump apologia. And frankly, Regnery Publishing's subtitle "Inside the Washington Establishment's Never-Ending War on Trump" doesn't help. But York outlines clearly the way some of the president's own deficiencies -- hubris, narcissism, unwillingness to believe someone else might know something he didn't -- contributed to his problems. Interviews with former staff, members of the legal team, campaign and transition team officials make clear that all too often, the president did not know what he was doing and should have listened to others who did.
On the other hand, his opponents seemed little better. Obsession's title is probably aimed at them and the way that several of the leading figures against Trump made it clear early on that they would take whatever steps and grab hold of whatever pretext presented itself to not just work against him and his policies but destroy his ability to even attempt them. Impeachment is an excellent example. Was there ever a chance that House Democrats could produce evidence that would make Senate Republicans remove a president of their own party from office? Perhaps slightly, at the beginning, but the secrecy, missteps and bungling of Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler in their respective areas snuffed it out. It could not succeed yet extensive and expensive efforts were still poured into it, occupying both Congress and the administration while the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to take shape in China.
York offers another example, perhaps even more telling, in his second chapter. On January 6 following a presidential election, members of Congress are sworn in for their new terms and they help certify the results of the Electoral College. Since those votes have already been sent to different federal and state officials, the certification is almost always ceremonial. But not in 2017. With then Vice-President Joe Biden presiding, Democratic Representatives rose time and time again to debate the results of the election. Well of course, one might say. There was considerable room to do so. But none of the complaints were co-signed by a Senator as they needed to be in order to be heard. In other words, none of the Representatives who rose to speak intended to legitimately object to the totals. They only want to say they were objecting, rather than directing energy and effort toward things the president might want to do that they could stop.
Reading Obsession, we watch the Democratic leadership and others opposed to the president who try to bend any process at hand to the end of removing him from office, whether it has any chance of success of not and no matter what happened to that process through their efforts. It calls to mind the possibly apocryphal Vietnam-era quote about destroying a village in order to save it.
Like most books written from a point of view, Obsession tends to emphasize things that support the point and elide some of those that don't. But it still prompts a question. President Trump is cast by his opponents as a man of little character, unfit for the office he holds.They predicted before he was elected and have pointed out since then that his bad character and lack of discipline and competence would damage our political culture and possibly our republic. Whether those qualities have done so to the degree claimed may still need to be resolved, but that he has seems clear.
As Obsession explains, though, what isn't clear is why the people who swear they oppose him have helped him do so.
Original available here.
Donald Trump's presidency provides even more incentive to avoid books supposedly detailing its inner workings, adding only to the wonder the reader must feel: If he was indeed so awful, why did you agree to work for him? It's not like he was secretly vain, pompous, boastful, etc...
Byron York's Obsession fulfills one of the few real needs for books about the Trump administration: A clear look at what the hell happened with one or another particular feature of it. York, a reporter for The Washington Examiner, traces some features of the buildup to the impeachment investigation and probe from late 2019 and early 2020 and their relationship with what's usually called "the Russia probe" connected to the investigation by Robert Mueller.
Large amounts of the book come from York's reporting on Mueller, impeachment and related matters at the time, as well as later interviews to add perspective. Since the Examiner is a conservative-leaning news outlet and York is a former staffer at National Review, one might be tempted to dismiss Obsession as a an exercise in Trump apologia. And frankly, Regnery Publishing's subtitle "Inside the Washington Establishment's Never-Ending War on Trump" doesn't help. But York outlines clearly the way some of the president's own deficiencies -- hubris, narcissism, unwillingness to believe someone else might know something he didn't -- contributed to his problems. Interviews with former staff, members of the legal team, campaign and transition team officials make clear that all too often, the president did not know what he was doing and should have listened to others who did.
On the other hand, his opponents seemed little better. Obsession's title is probably aimed at them and the way that several of the leading figures against Trump made it clear early on that they would take whatever steps and grab hold of whatever pretext presented itself to not just work against him and his policies but destroy his ability to even attempt them. Impeachment is an excellent example. Was there ever a chance that House Democrats could produce evidence that would make Senate Republicans remove a president of their own party from office? Perhaps slightly, at the beginning, but the secrecy, missteps and bungling of Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler in their respective areas snuffed it out. It could not succeed yet extensive and expensive efforts were still poured into it, occupying both Congress and the administration while the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to take shape in China.
York offers another example, perhaps even more telling, in his second chapter. On January 6 following a presidential election, members of Congress are sworn in for their new terms and they help certify the results of the Electoral College. Since those votes have already been sent to different federal and state officials, the certification is almost always ceremonial. But not in 2017. With then Vice-President Joe Biden presiding, Democratic Representatives rose time and time again to debate the results of the election. Well of course, one might say. There was considerable room to do so. But none of the complaints were co-signed by a Senator as they needed to be in order to be heard. In other words, none of the Representatives who rose to speak intended to legitimately object to the totals. They only want to say they were objecting, rather than directing energy and effort toward things the president might want to do that they could stop.
Reading Obsession, we watch the Democratic leadership and others opposed to the president who try to bend any process at hand to the end of removing him from office, whether it has any chance of success of not and no matter what happened to that process through their efforts. It calls to mind the possibly apocryphal Vietnam-era quote about destroying a village in order to save it.
Like most books written from a point of view, Obsession tends to emphasize things that support the point and elide some of those that don't. But it still prompts a question. President Trump is cast by his opponents as a man of little character, unfit for the office he holds.They predicted before he was elected and have pointed out since then that his bad character and lack of discipline and competence would damage our political culture and possibly our republic. Whether those qualities have done so to the degree claimed may still need to be resolved, but that he has seems clear.
As Obsession explains, though, what isn't clear is why the people who swear they oppose him have helped him do so.
Original available here.
November 12, 2020
NPR for the last for years but a book
September 18, 2021
“Orange Man Bad”
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews