Compromised Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus Compromised

Einleitung anhören

00:00

Zusammenfassung von Compromised

Name: Compromised
Rating: 3.9 (37 reviews)
Author: Peter Strzok

Peter Strzok

Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump

3.9 (37 Bewertungen)

33 Min.

Kurz zusammengefasst

"Compromised" by Peter Strzok is a memoir that gives an inside look into the political infighting surrounding the FBI's investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia and how it affected his personal and professional life.

Themen

US-Präsidenten Politische Porträts Politik der USA Krisen & Skandale

Inhaltsübersicht

Compromised
in 11 Kernaussagen verstehen

Audio & Text in der Blinkist App

Kernaussage 1 von 11

What’s in it for me? Go behind the scenes of the FBI’s Russia probe.

In January 2017, the FBI’s top counterintelligence professionals were gathered together in a small room at the Bureau’s headquarters. A long whiteboard stretched across one wall. Three initials –⁠ DJT –⁠ were written at the top. Listed below were the names of a matrix of individuals connected to the newly-elected president, Donald Trump. They included Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Mike Flynn, and Carter Page, among others.

Each of these men had connections to Russia. And, to varying degrees, they had used those connections to help the Trump campaign. That much the FBI knew. But a troubling question still remained: should the FBI open a counterintelligence investigation into the president himself? It wasn’t an easy question, but Trump’s behavior had grown too suspicious to ignore.

Unfortunately, that’s not the narrative that partisan media and the White House have chosen to circulate. Ever since the Russia investigations became public, Twitter feeds and news sites alike have been flooded with accusations of, witch hunts, and deep-state plots against Trump. It’s time to set the record straight about what really happened.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how Russia coerces its targets;
the real reason the FBI opened Crossfire Hurricane; and
why Trump ended up accusing the author of treason.

Russia is a master of espionage and intelligence.

By all appearances, Don Heathfield and Ann Foley were ordinary citizens. Their friends knew them as Canadian immigrants who had moved to Massachusetts so that Don could attend Harvard. The couple worked, went out, and took vacations with their two sons.

But Don and Ann had a major secret. Their real names were Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova. They were Russian intelligence agents known as illegals. They lived their daily lives as normal citizens. But all the while, they were secretly feeding information back to Russia.

Don and Ann were far from the only illegals operating within America. The FBI even had a separate investigation into these illegals known as Operation Ghost Stories. The author, Peter Strzok, was one of the case agents. It was his first time dealing with Russian intelligence and espionage. But Russia’s world-class skill at secret intelligence operations meant it wouldn’t be his last.

The key message here is: Russia is a master of espionage and intelligence.

To fully understand Russia’s intelligence operations, we should first define what exactly intelligence means in this context. According to Strzok, it refers to the secret operations a nation conducts to obtain strategic advantage. Don and Ann’s intelligence work, for example, involved meticulously assessing American citizens and identifying those who could be persuaded to help Russia.

With intelligence comes counterintelligence, the effort to thwart an adversary’s intelligence work. While all nations engage in counterintelligence, Russia is particularly skilled at a form of it known as active measures. This involves using false or distorted information to influence political or social outcomes. Later on, we’ll see how active measures played a role in the 2016 US election.

Along with active measures, the Russians also often employ coercion to manipulate their targets. They do this by collecting compromising material, called kompromat, which might disincentivize a target from acting a certain way. Kompromat can consist of anything that a target might not wish to become public knowledge, like sexual advances or bribes. Once Russia obtains kompromat on an individual, he becomes dependent on Russia to keep his secret. The intelligence community would say that that person is compromised.

Unfortunately, the term kompromat is one all Americans should now know, thanks to the actions of the US president, Donald Trump. But the story begins with a wholly different investigation in 2015 – one that centered around the then secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

The FBI’s Midyear Exam investigated Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

In early 2011, the African country of Libya descended into violence. In October of that year, its leader, Muammar al-Gaddafi, was deposed and killed. A year later, in September, a mob gathered outside the US consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi. They stormed the building and ultimately killed four Americans.

In the wake of this tragedy, many Republican lawmakers were outraged. They demanded to know if any responsibility lay with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. To find out, the House of Representatives voted 232 to 186 to create the Select Committee on Benghazi in May 2014.

The FBI decided not to recommend a prosecution against Hillary Clinton.

Over the course of the investigation, the Midyear team had realized a couple of things. One: there had definitely been mishandling of classified information. Two: there didn’t appear to be any evidence of behavior that the Department of Justice had previously charged for violations of criminal law.

The FBI has a high bar for opening mishandling cases. But the DOJ has an even higher bar for prosecuting them. And ultimately, the DOJ has the final say as to whether to bring criminal charges. It’s especially unlikely to prosecute cases where a person hasn’t knowingly or maliciously disclosed classified information.

The Russians used cyberattacks to weaken the US and help elect Donald Trump.

On April 6, 2016, a staffer at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee opened up an email that appeared in his inbox. It looked just like a security notification from Google, requesting the staff reset their passwords. They could do so using a link embedded in the email’s text.

In reality, the notification was anything but official. It had come from a specialized cadre within Russia’s foreign military intelligence agency. The password reset link was actually a hyperlink to a Russian website that could harvest the email password of the person holding the account. A similar link had already made a victim of Clinton campaign co-chair John Podesta. Fifty thousand of Podesta’s emails were promptly siphoned away by the Russians.

Crossfire Hurricane revealed suspicious ties between Russia and the Trump campaign.

The Clinton case finally wrapped up in July 2016. Less than a month later, Strzok and his partner found themselves on a British Airways flight to an undisclosed European capital. A new investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane, was only just beginning. Its implications and findings would shake the American public –⁠ and, indeed, the world –⁠ in ways no one could have imagined at the time.

So, what had sparked the investigation and brought Strzok overseas? Well, the FBI had gained new intelligence regarding Trump’s campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. In early spring 2016, Papadopoulos had spoken with Australian high commissioner Alexander Downer. Their conversation established that Papadopoulos had been working hard to create a rapport with the Russian government. But that wasn’t all.

The FBI was forced to reopen Midyear Exam one month before the 2016 election.

All of the individuals that made up the FBI’s matrix had demonstrated ties to Russia that made them suspicious characters. In fact, while Strzok was in Europe, Manafort was busy having a meeting with Konstantin Kilimnik, a Ukrainian linked to Russian intelligence services. He was in Manhattan to receive polling data from Manafort.

This was far from an innocuous exchange of information. The data was valuable because it revealed where key voting blocs were located. Winning over voters in those areas could provide strategic benefits. So, who exactly was benefiting? Russia and its intelligence service, of course. The data was a blessing just as Russia had begun to place ads and targeted posts on US social media to win swing votes and reshape the election.

The ICA concluded definitively that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election.

Just after November 8, Election Day, the Obama administration ordered the FBI, CIA, and NSA to conduct a comprehensive analysis of Russia’s attacks during the 2016 elections. Only a very small number of people would be privy to the study, which had a long title but eventually came to be known simply as the ICA.

A question that some have asked in the wake of the many Russia-related investigations is: why was all the information limited to such a small group of people? The answer was a sensible one. The intelligence agencies wanted to prevent their investigations from becoming public. Since they were intimately connected to some of Trump’s handlers, keeping the investigations private shielded the Trump campaign from harm.

Allegations against Trump gave the Russians an endless stream of kompromat.

After ringing in the New Year in 2017, it came time to deliver the ICA report to President Trump himself. The task of briefing the president was assigned to several high-ranking intelligence officials, including FBI director Comey. The ICA contained an enormous amount of counterintelligence information – Comey’s portion of the brief alone filled two large binders.

There was a bigger problem, however. The FBI was undecided as to whether it should include information provided by an FBI source and former British government employee named Christopher Steele. Steele’s information came to be known publicly as the “Steele dossier.” The material had been collected in service of a political client looking for derogatory information about Trump’s campaign. But it contained true information consistent with what the FBI already knew about the way Putin and the Russians were operating. Many other pieces of Steele’s material were either unconfirmed or patently false. If any of it were true, however, it would provide the Russians with plenty of kompromat.

President Trump attempted to help General Flynn conceal his criminal actions.

The media soon caught wind of Flynn’s phone call to Kislyak, and the Washington Post ran a story about it on January 12, 2017. The weekend after the story ran, vice president-elect Pence announced that he’d spoken to Flynn about his phone conversation. He stated that Flynn’s conversations had nothing to do with the Obama administration’s sanctions.

The FBI knew that statement was false. Had Flynn lied to Pence? Or worse, did Pence know the truth and wish to cover it up?

The FBI opened an investigation into Trump after his actions crippled the Russia probe.

The exchange about Flynn had, in Strzok’s mind, crossed the line. For weeks, he’d been arguing against opening an investigation into the president himself. It had always seemed highly unlikely that Trump was some sort of Manchurian candidate, a puppet for Russia. But he began to question this after learning about Trump’s apparent obstruction of the FBI investigations –⁠ an obstruction that would clearly benefit Russia.

For now, though, he kept quiet. He didn’t inform his other team members about Comey’s recent experience with the president, as Comey had requested. Telling them, after all, could have influenced the investigators’ independent assessment of the facts.

Trump relentlessly used Twitter to spread conspiracy theories and attack the FBI.

Spring and summer of 2017 was a busy period for the Mueller investigation. It required a truly staggering amount of investigative work, including 500 witness interviews; more than 2,800 subpoenas; almost 500 search warrants; over 200 orders for communication records; and nearly 50 pen registers. And then there was all the additional work needed to interpret all of that information.

Despite the extensive work being done, it wasn’t long before Trump began to attack Mueller and decry the special counsel investigation as a witch hunt. He also pressured White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller. In short, Trump was attempting –⁠ and occasionally succeeding –⁠ at undermining the investigation at every turn. Eventually, Strzok himself became a victim of Trump’s contempt.

Du möchtest die gesamte Zusammenfassung von Compromised sehen?

Kernaussagen in Compromised

Mehr Wissen in weniger Zeit

Sachbücher auf den Punkt gebracht

Kernaussagen aus Sachbüchern in ca. 15 Minuten pro Titel lesen & anhören mit den „Blinks”

Zeitsparende Empfehlungen

Titel, die dein Leben bereichern, passend zu deinen Interessen und Zielen

Podcasts in Kurzform ^Neu

Kernaussagen wichtiger Podcasts im Kurzformat mit den neuen „Shortcasts”

Worum geht es in Compromised?

Compromised (2020) is an inside account of the FBI’s handling of the now-famous Midyear Exam and Crossfire Hurricane investigations concerning Hillary Clinton and the Trump campaign, respectively. It tackles partisan media and White House accusations head-on, from the point of view of a person at the center of it all.

Bestes Zitat aus Compromised

The Midyear investigative team was just such a team

—Peter Strzok

Wer Compromised lesen sollte

Politically engaged Americans on both sides of the aisle
Those who have been exposed to conflicting narratives about the FBI
Curious followers of current events and politics

Über den Autor

Peter Strzok is a counterintelligence expert, US Army veteran, and former FBI employee whose career in intelligence lasted over 20 years. From 2015 to 2018, he served as a deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, playing key roles in the Midyear Exam and Crossfire Hurricane investigations. He’s received a number of awards throughout his career, including the Director’s Award for Excellence, the FBI’s highest honor for investigative work, in 2009.

Kategorien mit Compromised

Politik

Ähnliche Zusammenfassungen wie Compromised

The Threat

Andrew G. McCabe

How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump

J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century

Find Out What People Really Think, What They Really Want, and Who They Really Are

16 min

4.5

What Every BODY is Saying

Joe Navarro

An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People

The Ancient Greek Epic Poem About A Hero's Journey Home

22 min

4.5

Dangerous Personalities

Joe Navarro

An FBI Profiler Shows You How to Identify and Protect Yourself from Harmful Personalities

Timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy

Enjoy Your Favourite Food and Boost Your Gut Health with The Diversity Diet

18 min

4.5

Physics of the Future

Michio Kaku

How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100

27 min

4.2

Leading an Inspired Life

Jim Rohn

Timeless Wisdom and Practical Strategies to Find True Fulfillment

A Philosophical Tale About the Failures of Government Coercion

The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford

18 min

4.5

Plays Well with Others

Eric Barker

The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know about Relationships Is (Mostly) Wrong

19 min

3.9

Passive Income, Aggressive Retirement

Rachel Richards

The Secret to Freedom, Flexibility, and Financial Independence (& How to Get Started!)

A Study of Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece

The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

Workers of the world unite!

Paths, Dangers, Strategies

How Today's Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything

27 min

4.2

Podcasting Marketing Strategy

Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers

A Complete Guide to Creating, Publishing, and Monetizing a Successful Podcast

21 min

4.2

The Conquest of Happiness

Bertrand Russell

Discover Timeless Wisdom and the Secrets to Conquering Happiness

16 min

4.6

How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less

Nicholas Boothman

Make Instant, Meaningful Connections for Interviewing, Selling, Managing, Pitching

The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

20 min

4.2

Playing to Win

A.G. Lafley & Roger L. Martin

How Strategy Really Works

The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

22 min

4.5

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

Intuition or deliberation? Where you can (and can't) trust your brain

Burn Fat, Heal Inflammation, and Eat Like the High-Performing Human You Were Meant to Be

20 min

4.5

Myth America

Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer

Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies about Our Past

The Greek Epic on the End of the Trojan War and Achilles’ Wrath

19 min

4.5

Relational Intelligence

Dharius Daniels

The People Skills You Need for the Life of Purpose You Want

The Personal Crisis That Made a President

18 min

4.3

Why Nations Fail

Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson

The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

29 min

4.6

The Hidden Life of Trees

Peter Wohlleben

What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World

21 min

4.7

Continuous Discovery Habits

Teresa Torres

Discover Products that Create Customer Value and Business Value

20 min

4.2

The Better Brain

Bonnie J. Kaplan and Julia J. Rucklidge

Overcome Anxiety, Combat Depression, and Reduce ADHD and Stress with Nutrition

The Power of Self-Discipline

17 min

4.2

Humor, Seriously

Jennifer Aaker & Naomi Bagdonas

Why Humor Is a Superpower at Work and in Life (And How Anyone Can Harness It. Even You.)

Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control

22 min

4.5

The Art of War (Old Version)

Sun Tzu

Classic military strategy for politics, business, and everyday life

14 min

4.4

10 Days to Faster Reading

The Princeton Language Institute and Abby Marks Beale

Zip Through Books, Magazines, and Newspapers – Understand and Remember Everything You Read

14 min

4.4

The Great Money Reset

Jill Schlesinger

Change Your Work, Change Your Wealth, Change Your Life

17 min

3.9

The Longevity Project

Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin

Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study

Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing

Michael Townsend Williams

Calm Your Mind. Find Focus. Get Stuff Done.

Elevate Your Mind, Unlock Your Power, Heal Your Soul

How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery

22 min

3.9

❤️ für Blinkist️️️

Ines S.

Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.

Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.

Ekaterina S.

Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll

Nils S.

Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.

Julia P.

Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.