The Permanent Coup: How Enemies Foreign and Domestic Targeted the American President

by Lee Smith

The impeachment of Donald Trump-and the unsuccessful attempt to remove him from office-is a continuation of the four-year-long plot against the president.



Beginning in late 2015, political operatives, intelligence officials, and the press pushed a conspiracy theory about Trump-he was a Russian asset and spied on his campaign and his presidency in order to undo an election.



Because the ultimate goal of the anti-Trump operation is not simply to topple the president but rather to change the character and constitution of the country, the Deep State's machinations didn't stop even after Trump was cleared of charges of colluding with Moscow. Their efforts became even more fierce, more desperate, and more divisive, threatening to scar America permanently.



In their zeal to bring down President Trump, Deep State conspirators had unwittingly revealed the origins of the anti-Trump operation and exposed corruption at the very highest levels of the Democratic party-including former Vice President Biden and his boss, Barack Obama.



Lee Smith brings to this story the same incisive reporting and commentary that distinguished his runaway bestseller, The Plot Against the President. His investigation, identifying crimes and abuses committed by senior US officials, was later confirmed by a major Department of Justice report.



For The Impeachment Plot, Smith again enjoys unrivaled and exclusive access to the main players defending America and uncovering Deep State crimes-including Congressman Devin Nunes and the president's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Government

249 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2020

About the author

Lee Smith is a veteran journalist whose work appears in Real Clear Investigations, the Federalist, and Tablet. He’s worked in media for thirty years, writing about national politics, foreign policy, and the press. Smith reported from the Middle East for a decade after the 9/11 attacks and wrote the critically acclaimed The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations. A Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, Smith is a frequent guest on television and radio, national and international, including Fox News, CNN, and France 24. Smith was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and was raised in New York City. He now lives in Washington, DC.

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Amora · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting sequel to Lee Smith’s first book. Instead of focusing in the United States, Smith focuses on Ukraine and the drama that occurred there that ultimately led to the impeachment trial, including why Hunter Biden took a board position in Burisma. There’s a lot of new reporting that has come out that warranted a second book being written. I highly advise reading the first book before checking out this one.

[L.A. Starks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readers will either find this book of interest or not, depending on one's interest in U.S. politics and one's political views.

For those that do find it of interest:
Smith does a great job of compiling the timeline of events and doesn't hesitate to name names, including the ring-leader, which explains the long travails of Michael Flynn.

[Terry Mckee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reporting!

I have followed Obamagate from the beginning but this book walks you through it all. We can only hope that the current government finds a way to stop the treasonous Obama. Our country is at stake. All should read this book if you don’t want to lose your freedom.

[vin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great look at how the deep state, including media and military, and corrupt elected officials did the bidding of Obama and Biden to sabotage the Trump administration. An attempted coup took place in 2016 and its still being pushed by men and women who hate the idea of an America First foreign policy and a domestic policy focused on the American middle class.

[Richard Brenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Democratic Lies Exposed

Well researched. Well written. This is the reason you should never vote democrat. The lies and deception of this political party is beyond belief. Trump 2020 MAGA

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very detailed look at one side of the argument over whether or not President Trump colluded with the Russians to win the 2016 election. Those who look at the charges as manufactured will find vindication in this book. Those who believe that there was indeed collusion will look at this book as more lies. Sadly, this is the world in which we now live.

[Forrest · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible, insightful, highly detailed and well-researched book. His research is based on endless interviews with former Obama administration officials and current officials within the Trump administration. Several months leading up to Trump's 2016 victory, and especially after, the president has been subject to endless character assassination from the media, lies and slander by media lackeys, and corruption at the highest levels of the Obama administration particularly the once-great DOJ, CIA, FBI, defiled by Obama and his cronies.

This book details the endless false and nefarious Democrat accusations and investigations from the Russian collusion hoax to the obstruction of justice hoax as well as the lies and false and debunked "evidence" that led to the Mueller investigation and impeachment.

It's sickening to see how the web of corporate controlled media have allied together to push one false narrative after another against Trump while hiding the true crimes, corruption, and abuse of power at the hands of Obama, Clinton, congress and all their cronies. From everyday citizens to the rich and powerful, the media has the power of the pulpit. They drive the narrative believed by most of America.

The United States of America as we know it is being thrown to the wolves. The corrupt deep state have achieved just what they wanted, Trump's ouster. With the help of media lies and the control of information by media and tech giants, the very same corrupt Obama deep state will be re-installed and strengthened, just with a new face and a new name. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that this time it is too late to save America.

The author is Puerto Rican by birth and a long-time journalist who currently works for The Federalist and spent 10 years in the Middle East following 9/11.

[Xenophon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Permanent Coup cannot be properly read without mentioning Smith's other recent book, "The Plot Against the President." It's apparent this companion piece was written to tie up some loose ends with information revealed in 2019 and 2020, use some notes that didn't make the cut in TPATP, and further contextualize the events described in the other book.

This is, as it were, an executive summary plus. And my chief complaint about his last book was rectified by this one- a timeline is provided at the beginning, giving the reader a decent overview of the events and players described in the main text.

It's exhausting to read, but five years of loosely connected news makes a lot more sense now than it used to.

I will not say more than that. Smith's books are enough of an info dump. Take the red pill and he will indeed show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.

This is something of a gonzo review. The book probably deserves a four star rating, but I found it to be an exhausting read. Smith- if you come across this while working on your next project, please share more of your insightful asides. They seemed more frequent in TPATP and they really leavened the text.

Also, I hope to God you are writing about the 2020 election and January 6th. The world needs your bareknuckel reporting on these two important events. Combine the best elements of this book and the last, and I guarantee it will be a perfect, five-star, book for its category.

[Amy Sawyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I reviewed other reviews first and was not disappointed.

I love it when shills don’t bother to read and prefer ideology over facts. 🙄🤦‍♀️

EVERYONE should be greatly disturbed by the ignoble playbook used to undermine an election: (1) create a fake dossier, (2) give it your peddling influence firm, (3) who then “leaks” it to the press, so (4) the FBI can use the press reports to substantiate their request for a FISA by pretending the press accounts and the dossier aren’t from the same source. Nixon’s crime looks ridiculously amateur compared this.

Corruption is never justifiable. Never. Want to resist? Then do it at the polls, legally.

And after reading this, I have a whole new respect for Devin Nunes.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well-researched and eye-opening book. Anyone who still believes Obama was a decent, well-meaning person needs to read this book.

Quotes:
“Russiagate was a purposeful extension of the Obama administration’s Iran deal media campaign and of the secret espionage operation targeting those opposed to Obama’s efforts to realign American interests with those of a terror state that embodies the most corrosive forms of anti-Semitism.” -p. 85

“It was the same process used during the Russiagate operation: A report based on a fraudulent document is leaked to the press, which publishes it, and intelligence officials cite it as a pretext to justify starting an investigation.” -p. 149

“Obama had purposefully interfered with the peaceful transition of power. His former DNI confirmed it. ‘If it weren’t for President Obama,’ said James Clapper, ‘we might not have done the intelligence community assessment that we did that set off a whole sequence of events which are still unfolding today, notably, special counsel Mueller’s investigation.’” -p. 199

The left benefitted from the 2020 riots: “The point of the protests and the coup of which they were a central component was plain: If you want peace and stability, restore the Party of Obama and let him complete his work, the transformation of America. Choose Trump and you choose war.” -p. 208

Book Summary: “Because the ultimate goal of the anti-Trump operation is not simply to topple the president but rather to change the character and constitution of the country, the Deep State’s machinations didn’t stop even after Trump was cleared of charges of “colluding” with Moscow. Their efforts became even more fierce, more desperate, and more divisive, threatening to scar America permanently. In their zeal to bring down President Trump, Deep State conspirators had unwittingly revealed the origins of the anti-Trump operation and exposed corruption at the very highest levels of the Democratic party — including former Vice President Biden and his boss, Barack Obama. Lee Smith’s investigation, identifying crimes and abuses committed by senior US officials, was later confirmed by a major Department of Justice report.”

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the most infuriating and frustrating book I have read in a very long while. It's very straighforwardly and simply written and so makes it very clear exactly how the whole Russiahoax was an intentional set-up and knock-down by the Obama administration and Democrat media/intelligence industrial complex of Trump the candidate and president (along with anyone under his umbrella), and yet no one responsible for the hoax has been (or will ever likely be) charged with and held accountable for their crimes.

What they did to Gen. Flynn is especially infuriating, since he was the one who was set to pull the plug and actually drain the DC swamp (beginning with the CIA!), and still to this day these people (Clinton, Obama, Biden, Comey, Mueller, Clapper, Brennan, Rice, Power, Yates, Lynch, McCabe, Strzok and Page) are walking around free with their heads held high.

This is the seventh book I've read on the whole Russiahoax conspiracy (Bongino's three, Garrett's two and McCarthy's one - all good), so this information isn't new to me, but it is the clearest and most direct in showing exactly how it was an effective deep state coup. It may be old news but it still needs to be read, as even a simple internet search shows that almost eight years later the mainstream narrative is still that the Russians actually did influence the 2016 election (colluding with Trump) and that Obama and his team never spied on Trump or interfered with his presidency. In other words, a large chunk of Americans still think (or at least are still being told) the idea of a hoax is just a MAGA hoax.

[Jim Wesberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am somewhat disappointed by this book as I had hoped for more info on the Biden family corruption in the Ukraine, China and Iran et al. The book came to my attention through the publication of the first of a two part extract on "Just the News" that was just what I was looking for so I ordered the e-book immediately and started reading it even before part two was published. It too was great and I expected more of the same in the rest of the book. It did not come. Most of the rest related information that had long been revealed in the media I read and gave nothing much new.
Notwithstanding, the book provides some interesting information, but limited to the Ukraine and is worth reading, unless you have separately followed the Biden family corruption in detail. I believe that there is a lot more to be forthcoming on this and had hoped for more in the book.

[Grant · Rating 1 out of 5]

One big grift that tries to rewrite history. Yes Hunter Biden's role in Ukraine is dodgy as fuck and Alexander Downer did assist in the salacious side of the Russia-gate nonsense but apart from that this book is nonsense.

[cool breeze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lee Smith’s previous book, The Plot Against the President: The True Story of How Congressman Devin Nunes Uncovered the Biggest Political Scandal in U.S. History was published in October 2019. I read it in March 2020 and thought it was first rate. This follow-up book was published 10 months later in August 2020. Although my memory may be slightly faded, I think this book goes over a lot of the same ground. It does update it with an additional 10 months’ worth of events, notably the coronavirus pandemic that originated in CCP-controlled China. It also covers the Antifa/BLM riots (which were exempted from pandemic restrictions), and the Democrats’ corrupt dealings in the Ukraine (especially the Bidens), China and Iran. However, it does not really get into the 2020 election or its aftermath, which remained in the future at the time it was written.

So, there is considerable overlap. I don’t think it is really worth reading both books for most people. The earlier book is a more gripping read, as it follows the story of Congressman Devin Nunes’ efforts to expose the conspiracy, but it is very incomplete without the events of 2020. The second book is a drier recitation of a more complete set of facts. It is more up to date, although still somewhat incomplete. Smith’s future third effort at telling this story will probably eventually be the one to read. For the time being, I would recommend reading this book over the earlier book to anyone who doesn't have enough time to read both. This is particularly true for those who already understood that flunky underlings like Biden, Comey, Brennan and McCabe were just deniable cutouts for Obama's deliberate direction of the coup. Whether there were others, like Soros, pulling Obama's puppet strings is beyond the scope of the book.

Smith does do a good job at laying out all the currently-known events, facts and players in the Deep State coup against the Americans who elected President Trump at least once because they broadly support the policies he supports. It is infuriating and depressing. He lays the blame squarely where it belongs, on Obama and his minions, including Biden, Harris, the FBI, CIA and DOJ, and their continuing efforts to “fundamentally transform” America into a banana republic ruled permanently by their cabal of self-appointed Deep State “elites”.

[Elianastar · Rating 5 out of 5]

After you finish this…

… get Kash Patel’s “Government Gangsters”! Materials “work together,” covering similar time frames and events, support and build on the other’s research and experiences providing a fuller more complete picture of related events, filling in holes and adding subtext to the other.

If you are new to politics &/or have “relied” on “usual sources” for information of what has happened politically between 2000-2021, you only have “one side” of the story. Legacy media has been working WITH US Intelligence - in point of fact actually ARE US Intelligence in many cases - as well as the Administrative State to circumvent the will of The People, saying one thing doing another, for DECADES - INCLUDING the will of those who voted differently than events would appear to have chosen, regardless whom you did or did not support.

As you read the DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE and backstory of two people who discovered harsh reality for themselves, from inside, your own naive presumptions are provided “the rest of history” not available - intentionally - by “news sources” upon which you have likely depended… which is how things continued as they have.

If you prefer to believe you “know” what happened and “who did it,” do not burst your own bubble with additional information and data. If, however, you have a sense “something” may not be right, true, accurate, that you are “missing” something, TRUST YOUR DISCERNMENT and fill in those holes with *documented verified* background data, intentionally hidden, information that may cause you to see reality as it is rather than as you have been led to believe if is.

New times are coming. Soon. Prepare for the New Republic. You won’t regret listening to that “little voice telling you things are not as I have been told they are.”

PS: neither of these books are “about Donald Trump” if that is what anyone has told you. They are both about the time leading up to & since Donald Trump was in office, but are about the OTHER PEOPLE who were actually “running” things “from the shadows” actively working to prevent him from doing what he said he would do. It is quite intriguing!

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads a lot like "Killing the Deep State: The Fight to Save President Trump" but the author is a little more biased... not a lot... but more. I mean I noticed some of the wording used implied a judgement on the author's part and not simply a recitation of the facts as the author saw them. Not too bad though.

The book tends to focus on the impeachment and trial of President Trump and the reasons for it. It was mostly to distract the President from looking too deeply into the shenanigans perpetrated by the Obama Administration and the Hillary Clinton campaign. The Clinton campaign can be excused somewhat for the terrible things they did because, after all, they were not the government. On the other hand, what the Obama Administration did could be construed as illegal and I am disheartened but not surprised that no one was arrested.

There were also some interesting and disturbing things said about Ukraine and how Candidate Biden interfered with the Ukrainian prosecution of his son, Hunter Biden. That has relevance today (2024) as the election campaign between President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump gains steam.

Overall, I didn't learn anything new. I knew most of this stuff since I was paying attention at the time, and became so sick of it all that I stopped watching the news. Now I listen to a news analysis podcast twice a week where they often point out the fallacious thinking of the many political pundits and so-called news reporters. It is a little easier listening to this crap second-hand.

I doubt I will listen to this audiobook again, unless I am studying it for reference. I just don't see why I would be doing that in the future, though.

[Shelli]

Ooo – new absurdist fiction!

[Sherrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. American's really need to stop China from taking over our industries, manufacturing and our land. Many of the Democrats are self serving and getting paid by China to allow China to take over. Trump is and always will be America first. China is NOT our friend. China imprisions their people so they can use them for slave labor. China has cheap (free) labor and blood on their hands with the products they try to push on Americans.

[Bobbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as it told the truth behind the real coup/insurrection that took place in America, and that is the one that attempted to overturn Trump's election

[D. Bryce · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT! Lee Smith does his usual thorough investigation into the facts and presents them in a clear and objective manner! An excellent book that deserves to be read by everyone in America.

Lee Smith does an excellent job of presenting the facts of the permanent attempted coup-de-tat that occurred in the United States during the presidency of Donald J. Trump and how the architect, Barack Obama continues to evade responsibility and punishment for weaponizing the administrative state to engage in partizan politics in a manner never before seen in this country.

[Jodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent journalism and reporting, something we lack in the current environment. Lots of details and difficult to follow the nefarious activities. But that’s to be expected, considering much was done in the dark. Lee Smith is well worth your time. The Permanent Coup is studied and meticulous.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference material and review of the various timelines surrounding these events. Nicely laid out and easy to follow.

[Donna Moody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Well written with clear and concise facts, recommend to anyone who doesn't believe our government is as corrupt as it is

[Lee Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

The corruption in our lawless government runs deeper than even I, a huge skeptic, imagined. The next decade or so will not be pretty.