Key Messages
Learn The Truth Behind The Russia Investigation: How Russia Coerces Targets, Why The Fbi Opened Crossfire Hurricane, And Trump’S Accusation Of Treason
Go behind the scenes of the FBI’s Russia probe with Compromised.
This book takes readers into the meeting room at the Bureau where top counterintelligence professionals gathered to consider the question of whether or not to open a counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump’s connections to Russia.
You’ll learn about the men who had been linked to the campaign, including Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Mike Flynn and Carter Page, as well as how Russian agents manipulate their targets and why Trump eventually accused author Peter Strzok of treason.
All of this is told in vivid detail that puts you right in the middle of one of our country’s most controversial recent investigations.
So dive in with Compromised and see what unfolded when pushing back against Russian interference became a matter of national security!
The Secret Master Of Intelligence: Uncovering Russia’S Espionage Operations
When it comes to espionage and intelligence, Russia is the undisputed master.
This point can be seen clearly by looking at the case of Don Heathfield and Elena Vavilova: two Russian spies living their lives in secret as ordinary citizens in Massachusetts.
Their lives, and those of other Russian agents operating in the US, made up what was known as Operation Ghost Stories.
It was a complex investigation run by the FBI, led by Peter Strzok.
From this investigation came valuable insight on what intelligence work really looks like.
It involves assembling dossiers on people, obtaining strategic advantage while taking into account counterintelligence measures that might compromise one’s goals—like using false information or kompromat (compromising material used to manipulate targets).
It isn’t just espionage either: Russia’s expertise in active measures—using false or distorted information to influence political outcomes—made news again when it came to light that they had interfered with the US election of 2016.
All these activities show us how advanced Russia’s skill at being covert is and why it pays to be aware when dealing with them.
The Fbi’S Midyear Exam Investigated Hillary Clinton’S Use Of A Private Email Server And The Circumstances That Led To Its Containing Classified Information
The FBI’s Midyear Exam was an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server for her State Department correspondence.
This was opened on July 10th, 2015, four days after the inspector general first noticed classified information in the emails.
To find out what had happened, the FBI had to conduct a thorough investigation.
This included locating all of Clinton’s servers, figuring out which of her emails contained classified information and assessing whether any unauthorized individuals had gotten access to that same information.
The process was very complicated and required agents to be sent around the world for interviews with various parties involved in order to determine who had included secret information in their emails and why.
Months later, the team finally began making progress and were able to get a better understanding of whether or not charges should be brought against Clinton or not.
It was ultimately decided that no criminal charges would be pursued based on their findings.
High Bar Of Prosecution Stands In The Way Of Fbi’S Recommendation To Charge Hillary Clinton – Until Russia Intervenes With A Frustrating Delay
The FBI conducted an investigation into Hillary Clinton after concerns arose about the improper handling of classified information.
After careful consideration, the FBI decided not to recommend a prosecution against her.
Throughout their investigation, the Midyear team looked into all possible scenarios and eventually decided there wasn’t enough evidence to move forward with any criminal charges.
This is because they found no evidence of malicious intent; it was more a case of “extreme carelessness” when it came to her use of private emails.
On top of that, The Department of Justice places a high bar for prosecuting mishandling cases.
This, combined with the lack of criminal intent on Clinton’s part, led to the decision not to pursue any kind of prosecution against her.
How The Russians Used Cyberattacks And Social Media Manipulation To Weaken The Us And Help Elect Donald Trump
In April 2016, a staffer from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee received an email appearing to be from Google, requesting his/her password reset and prompting them to click on a link.
In reality, the notification was sent by a member of Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency intending to harvest the unsuspecting password recipient’s information.
This marked the beginning of Russia’s cyberattack campaign against the United States in order to weaken its power and help Donald Trump secure his presidential victory.
The Russians created multiple accounts designed for different kinds of interference and misinformation campaigns.
For example, the @Ten_GOP account pretended to be an official Tennessee Republicans Twitter account, when in fact it was managed by Russian hackers from the Internet Research Agency whose goal was to spread division and chaos via social media posts about topics such as Trump rally crowd sizes and conspiracy theories about President Obama.
In addition, they set up DCLeaks.com with stolen emails from both Democratic and Republican organizations as well as records from George Soros’s Open Society Foundation in order to cast doubt on Hillary Clinton’s candidacy for president while also reaching a wider audience with their message—all with their ultimate aim of helping Donald Trump become elected president of the United States.
Crossfire Hurricane: Uncovering Suspicious Connections Between Russia And The Trump Campaign
It became clear through the Crossfire Hurricane investigation that there were suspicious ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.
This was revealed when FBI agents received intelligence regarding Trump’s adviser George Papadopoulos.
Papadopoulos had spoken with Australian high commissioner Alexander Downer and divulged that he had connections with the Russian government and that they allegedly had damaging information about Secretary of State Clinton and President Obama; he said they offered to assist the Trump campaign by doing a coordinated release of this information.
It was later discovered that it was Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor, who supplied all this information to Papadopoulos.
To locate the person at the center of this allegation and gain further clarity on what happened, the FBI began compiling a matrix which included every element of their proposal, as well as individuals who could be involved.
The Midyear team concluded their shortlist of those involved in less than a week: Papadopoulos himself, Paul Manafort – one of Trump’s campaign managers; Carter Page – serving on Trump’s foreign policy team; and former US Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn – taking on the role of Trump’s senior advisor on national security matters.
It is clear from this that Crossfire Hurricane revealed evidence indicating untoward connections between Russia and then-candidate Donald Trump before his election in 2016 – enough for an entire investigation eight months ahead of time!
The Fbi’S Difficult Decision: Whether Or Not To Notify Congress Of The Reopening Of The Midyear Exam Investigation
The FBI had to reopen the investigation into Midyear Exam just a month before the 2016 election.
This was due to an unexpected discovery made on the laptop of former congressman Anthony Weiner – hundreds of thousands of emails related to the closed Midyear investigation.
There was no consensus within the team on whether or not Congress should be informed about this revelation, as it would draw public attention back to the investigation and potentially provide ammo for Donald Trump in his bid for president.
In addition, such an announcement so close to Election Day could potentially influence how people voted.
Nonetheless, FBI director Comey decided that it was more important not to appear as if they were covering something up and he declared reopening of Midyear Exam one month before election day.
Fortunately, against all odds and expectations, the review was finished before Election Day, putting a stop to any further investigations.
The Ica: Unveiling A National Security Breach That Could Compromise An Incoming Administration
The Obama administration conducted a highly confidential, comprehensive analysis of Russia’s actions during the 2016 elections after Election Day, known as the ICA.
This analysis concluded definitively that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.
In response to this conclusion, the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia with hopes of deterring them from subsequent interference.
However, they were met with unexpected silence: neither voicing agreement or disagreement.
It soon became clear why when it was discovered that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, acting without prior authorization, had called Russian Ambassador Kislyak and asked him to not impose any countermeasures against Obama’s sanctions – a potential violation of law regarding unauthorized negotiations with foreign countries.
This effectively compromised the incoming administration in multiple ways, giving Russia potential kompromat over Flynn and possibly even over Trump himself – leaving Flynn vulnerable to Russian coercion.
The Significance Of The Steele Dossier: Leverage For Putin Through Kompromat
The Steele dossier contained allegations against President Trump that gave the Russians an endless stream of kompromat.
The intelligence community knew this, which is why the FBI included it in their applications for a FISA warrant and gave it as an appendix to their ICA report, even though it could not be confirmed beyond reasonable doubt.
When Comey briefed Trump on the allegations, his reaction was unexpected.
He did not express any anger or confirmation of the content; he merely asked which year the alleged Ritz-Carlton event occurred.
This led many to infer that if these allegations were true, then Putin would have leverage over him because Trump would be required to lie when pressed about details related to the incident.
Kompromat is a powerful weapon used by foreign powers against individuals like Trump who hold positions of power.
The Steele dossier provided Putin with allegations that could potentially turn into kompromat if they were proven true, so it was highly important information for Intelligence officials to be aware of and include in reports made public or presented to the president himself.
The Warning Signs: How President Trump’S Intervention Led To General Flynn’S Downfall
When news about Flynn’s phone call to Kislyak broke, Vice President-elect Pence publicly stated that the conversations had nothing to do with sanctions imposed by the Obama administration.
The FBI was suspicious of this statement and sought to understand what was really going on.
To that end, FBI agent Strzok and another agent were instructed to interview Flynn at the White House.
During their meeting, Flynn repeatedly lied about things they knew he was lying about, yet he showed no body language consistent with a liar.
It soon became apparent that President Trump was attempting to help General Flynn conceal his criminal actions by asking Comey privately “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.
He is a good guy.
I hope you can let this go.” Comey then briefedStrzok and other agents about his interactions with Trump and provided them with classified memos documenting their exchanges.
The Fbi Opened An Investigation Into Trump After His Actions Impeding The Russia Probe
The FBI had long been considering the possibility of opening an investigation into President Trump for his alleged connections to Russia.
However, they held off due to its potentially dangerous implications and the fact that their original Russia probe was already moving forward.
But when Trump fired FBI director James Comey and made it known that he felt relieved of the “great pressure” related to his potential ties with Russia, this posed a serious problem.
It became increasingly clear that Trump was attempting to obstruct justice and impede the progress of the investigations into Russian interference in US elections – enabling them to benefit from his actions.
In light of this evidence, the FBI finally decided to open an independent investigation into President Trump on May 16th, 2017.
This marked a significant milestone: one which could potentially have drastic repercussions for both our country and those implicated.
The decision wasn’t taken lightly – but it had become obvious that there were too many suspicious allegations concerning Trump’s behavior surrounding the Russia probe for them to ignore any longer.
Two days after this announcement, however, special counsel Robert S.
Mueller III was appointed, who would take over as an independent third party from here on out.
Trump’S Intimidation Tactics Reveal The True Nature Of His Regime
Throughout the spring and summer of 2017, Donald Trump relentlessly used Twitter to spread conspiracy theories about the Mueller investigation and attack the FBI.
He publicly decried the special counsel investigation as a witch hunt, despite the vast amount of investigative work being undertaken by Mueller and his team.
This was 500 witness interviews; more than 2,800 subpoenas; almost 500 search warrants; over 200 orders for communication records; and nearly 50 pen registers.
Trump also attempted to pressure White House counsel Don McGahn into firing Mueller.
All of Trump’s efforts were in an attempt to undermine the investigation at any turn.
Eventually, FBI agent Peter Strzok became one of Trump’s targets.
For no reason other than Strzok’s disapproval of him, Trump accused the lifelong public servant and military veteran of committed treason – a crime punishable by death.
Strzok points out that this sort of behavior is what we see from authoritarian regimes: assassinating characters and openly intimidating citizens who disagree with them.
And he believes that if America is ever going to judge Trump for who he truly is – a compromised man – we must do so now before it’s too late.
Wrap Up
In Compromised, the main message is that partisan media has created false narratives and conspiracy theories about the FBI’s Midyear Exam and Crossfire Hurricane investigations.
The inspector general concluded that none of Peter Strzok’s actions during either investigation were based on political bias.
However, despite this evidence, the White House continues to spread inaccurate information in order to undermine America’s democratic institutions and harm intelligence officers who have dedicated their lives to protecting our nation.
This clear distortion of facts has given the Trump administration an advantage with our Russian adversaries.
In essence, what we are left with is a final summary that accuses the White House of intentionally sabotaging democracy for personal gain.
