Epstein Secrets

officials—and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin—and associates of President-elect Trump,

tish and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials—and others close to Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin—and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.

st view that Trump’s election imperiled Democratic norms. This 13,500-word story—handily connecting the dots of Russia’s geopolitical mortification, Putin’s ambition, the country’s cyber talents, Trump’s own nascent authoritarianism, and the U.S. intelligence community’s suspicions about Putin and Russi

good ink in the Zimes, the president saw Haberman as “mean and horrible.” And yet, on a near-weekly basis, he and Hicks plotted when next to have the Zimes come in. OOK Ok Kushner had his personal press operation and Bannon had his. The leaking culture had become so open and overt—most of the time ever

agendas and weak spots among cable anchors and producers and Times and Post reporters. Often the focus of this otherworldly ambition was directed at Zimes reporter Maggie Haberman. Haberman’s front-page beat at the paper, which might be called the “weirdness of Donald Trump” beat, involved producing viv

k “What has he gotten himself into with the Russians?” pressed Ailes. “Mostly,” said Bannon, “he went to Russia and he thought he was going to meet Putin. But Putin couldn’t give a shit about him. So he’s kept trying.” “He’s Donald,” said Ailes. “It’s a magnificent thing,” said Bannon, who had taken

ty to connect the dots. Even if he hadn’t personally conspired with the Russians to fix the election, his efforts to curry favor with, of all people, Vladimir Putin had no doubt left a HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019901 trail of alarming words and deeds likely to have enormous political costs. Shortly after the election,

, his efforts to curry favor with, of all people, Vladimir Putin had no doubt left a HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_019901

the disloyalty of his staff. The initial subject of his ire was the New York Times and its reporter Maggie Haberman, whom he called “a nut job.” The Zimes’s Gail Collins, who had written a column unfavorably comparing Trump to Vice President Pence, was “a moron.” But then, continuing under the rubric of

-17, 232-34, 261-62 Scaramucci and, 270-72, 282-85 Prince, Erik, 265, 267 Private Eye magazine, 74 Producers, The (film), 15-16 Pruitt, Scott, 21 Putin, Vladimir, 7, 8, 24, 37-38, 99-102, 153, 155 Qatar, 230-31 Raffel, Josh, 142, 207, 258-59, 279 Reagan, Ronald, 26, 27, 34, 58, 90, 126—27, 144, 20

2-34, 261-62 Scaramucci and, 270-72, 282-85 Prince, Erik, 265, 267 Private Eye magazine, 74 Producers, The (film), 15-16 Pruitt, Scott, 21 Putin, Vladimir, 7, 8, 24, 37-38, 99-102, 153, 155 Qatar, 230-31 Raffel, Josh, 142, 207, 258-59, 279 Reagan, Ronald, 26, 27, 34, 58, 90, 126—27, 144, 201, 222 Rem

Circa. The lawyers, and spokesperson Mark Corallo, had been working to manage this news. But while in Hamburg, the president’s staff learned that the Zimes was HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_020078 developing a story that had far more details about the meeting—dquite possibly supplied by the Kushner side—which it wou

two most combustible elements of a cover-up. In Washington, Kasowitz and the legal team’s spokesperson, Mark Corallo, weren’t informed of either the Zimes article or the plan for how to respond to it until Don Jr.’s initial statement went out just before the story broke that Saturday. Over the course o