Terry's Book Review
Nov 1, 2023
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| I found it to be Fascinating. Frightening. |
I eagerly grabbed that book when it first came out because his name had stuck in my mind following an Op-Ed he had written for the Boston Globe in April of that same year in which he was one of the first to publicly demand answers from the 9/11 Commission on who had given permission for Saudi nationals to leave the United States immediately after the attacks.
And so I was equally eager in 2019 to grab the latest investigative work by this highly respected journalist. Once again I was motivated by a particular event that had occurred in the current presidential administration that kept nagging at me, and it was this:
Immediately after entering the White House in 2017 (following the 2016 election that Trump won thanks to Russian interference
) was it not curious the first foreign dignitary invited to the Trump White House was the -- [insert drumroll] -- Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov! A man that our intelligence agencies have confirmed for years is a spy with direct ties to the Russian central intelligence agency (SVR).
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| Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (l.) and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak (r.) |
Immediately I thought to myself, "Ah yes, payback time!" No doubt in my mind. "Mr. Trump," says Lavrov in this little private tête-à-tête, "how are you liking your new digs? Now, please remember it was we who brought you here. What do you have for us in return?"
A week later my suspicions are confirmed in The Washington Post [Trump Revealed Highly Classified Information to Russian Foreign Minister, May 15, 2017.] Clearly the giving away of our national secrets was happening from the very beginning of Trump's presidency ... so I never understood the surprise by folks that he snuck out boxes and boxes of classified material upon his departure. Of course Trump would do that!
Of course Donald Trump would do that! is exactly what Mr. Unger confirms in exploring the decades-long links between the Russian mafia, Vladimir Putin, and the Trump Organization -- including Trump's surprising announcement at Trump Tower that he was running for President! Of course Donald Trump would do that!
Unger identifies no fewer than 59 Russians (the majority are on the U.S. list of oligarchs banned from entering the U.S.) who are long-term business associates of Donald Trump. T
he implication is clear to even the most obtuse reader: Trump is in Putin's pocket as are those financiers / oligarchs in Russia who have grown immensely rich through their associations with Russia's putative dictator.
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| Trump, Putin; 2018. |
Do you recall that a year after the behind-closed-doors tête-à-tête Trump had with Lavrov, there was the sensationalized Trump-Putin kiss-fest in Helsinki in 2018 that, again, led to a behind-closed-doors tête-à-tête. The meeting came just three days after indictments, handed down by special counsel Robert Mueller, charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking into Democrat's computer networks and emails during the 2016 presidential race. A reporter at the 2018 news conference following the private meeting between the two asked Trump if he had brought up the "role Russia had played in our recent presidential election?" (which I thought was the perfect way to word this question)
After both men gave the other an odd glance, Trump and even Putin nodded that Trump had done so in the meeting. Putin insisted that Russia would never do such a thing. Trump uttered Putin was "extremely strong and powerful in his denial."
Of course Donald Trump would say that! once again I thought to myself. After all, we know now how very much in love Donald Trump is with extremely strong and powerful men.
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| Trump with dictator Kim Jong Un of North Korea; 2019 |
Remember his affection for this guy on the right?
I regret very much this book I purchased in 2019 sat on my shelf so long before getting around to reading it. It was such an eye-opener, making so much of what I suspected through the Trump years so tragically crystal clear.
If you would like a clear and concise understanding of Trump's long-existing, extensive ties to Russia and the criminal underworld, I highly recommend Unger's House of Trump, House of Putin.
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| Trump praising Felix Sater (r.), a Russian émigré to the U.S., twice-convicted felon with known Mafia associations |
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| Trump giving a thumbs-up while posing with Philadelphia mob boss Joey Merlino |
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| Not only did the New York playboy openly associate at the Studio 54 disco with New York mobsters in the 1980s, in the 1990s he aligned himself at his disastrous Atlantic City casinos with that city's organized crime figures like Robert LiButti. |
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