Compromised (book)

2020 non-fiction book by Peter Strzok

Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump

First edition cover

Author| Peter Strzok
Cover artist| Brian Moore
Language| English
Subject| Investigates the administration of Donald J. Trump as a source of Russian intelligence
Genre| Nonfiction
Publisher| Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication date

| September 8, 2020
Publication place| USA
Media type| Print (hardback)
Pages| 350
ISBN| 978-0-358-23706-8
Trump–Russia relations

Business interactions

* Bayrock Group
* Business projects of Donald Trump in Russia
* Trump Tower Moscow

Russian election interference

* 2016 US election leaks
* 2025 Putin–Trump call
* Associates' links with Russian officials
* Cambridge Analytica
* Classified information disclosures
* Clinton emails
* Cyberwarfare by Russia
* Data seizure
* DCLeaks
* Democratic National Committee cyber attacks
* Democratic National Committee v. Russian Federation
* Dismissal of James Comey
* Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal
* Foreign electoral intervention
* Foreign policy of Donald Trump (2015–16)
* Internet Research Agency
* Podesta emails
* Russia–United States relations
* Russian espionage in the United States
* Russian interference (2016)
* Russian interference (2018)
* Russian interference (2020)
* Social media
* Timelines
* Trump Tower meeting
* WikiLeaks

Investigations and reports

* Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections
* Barr letter
* Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
* Criminal charges
* Crossfire Hurricane
* Durham investigation
* Intelligence and Security Committee Russia report
* Kremlin papers
* Mueller report
* Mueller special counsel investigation
* Nunes memo
* Reactions to the Mueller special counsel investigation
* Senate report
* Steele dossier
* Topics of the Mueller special counsel investigation
* Trials of Paul Manafort

People

* Aras Agalarov
* Emin Agalarov
* Rinat Akhmetshin
* Julian Assange / WikiLeaks
* Maria Butina
* Michael Cohen
* Jerome Corsi
* Oleg Deripaska
* Michael Flynn
* Rick Gates
* Rudy Giuliani
* Rob Goldstone
* Guccifer 2.0
* Ike Kaveladze
* Elena Khusyaynova
* Konstantin Kilimnik
* Jared Kushner
* Paul Manafort
* Carter Page
* George Papadopoulos
* Dmitry Peskov
* Vladimir Putin
* Felix Sater
* Donald Trump
* Donald Trump Jr
* Eric Trump
* Ivanka Trump
* Natalia Veselnitskaya
* Alex van der Zwaan

Deception and conspiracy theories

* Allegations of Obama spying on Trump
* Alternative facts
* Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election
* Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory
* Conspiracy theories related to the Trump–Ukraine scandal
* Deep state
* Fake news
* False or misleading statements by Donald Trump
* Firehose of falsehood
* Italygate conspiracy theory
* List of conspiracy theories promoted by Donald Trump
* QAnon
* Russia investigation origins counter-narrative
* Spygate (conspiracy theory)
* Stop the Steal
* Trumpism
* Trump–Ukraine scandal
* Trump's election lies
* Trump Tower wiretapping allegations

Literature

* A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership
* Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Trump Win
* Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump
* Crime In Progress
* Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President — What We Don't, Can't, and Do Know
* Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence
* Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth
* The Plot to Destroy Democracy: How Putin and His Spies are Undermining America and Dismantling the West
* The Plot to Hack America: How Putin's Cyberspies and WikiLeaks Tried to Steal the 2016 Election
* Proof of Conspiracy: How Trump's International Collusion is Threatening American Democracy
* Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump
* The Threat: How the FBI Protects America In the Age of Terror and Trump
* Trump: The Kremlin Candidate?

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Compromised: Counterintelligence and the Threat of Donald J. Trump is a 2020 non-fiction book authored by former FBI agent Peter Strzok.[1][2] As Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI counterintelligence division, Strzok led the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation of alleged Russian influence upon President Donald Trump and Trump's 2016 campaign. Strzok's book recaps the full arc of the investigation[3] and portrays Trump as profoundly corrupt and a serious threat to national security.[4]

## Author's background

[edit]

Peter Strzok had been a lead agent in the FBI's "Operation Ghost Stories" against Andrey Bezrukov and Yelena Vavilova, a Russian spy couple who were part of the Illegals Program, a network of Russian sleeper agents who were arrested in 2010.[5] By July 2015, he was serving as the section chief of the Counterespionage Section, a subordinate section of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.[6] In addition to leading the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane investigation, Strzok also served on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigative team until the Justice Department inspector general flagged critical text messages about President Trump Strzok had sent and received during the 2016 campaign. Probably most damaging was a text he sent to co-worker Lisa Page, with whom he was conducting an extramarital affair. He sent Page the following text regarding a possible Trump election, "No. No he won't. We'll stop it."[7] The text soon went public.[8]

Many believed the President and fellow Republicans overreacted to Strzok's blunder, as Trump once recklessly alleged Strzok and others in the FBI had plotted against his campaign and had even committed treason, though treason can be committed only by aiding an enemy of the United States such as Russia, not by offending a private American citizen, including the President.[8] Strzok filed a suit in August 2019 against the Bureau claiming they caved against "unrelenting pressure" from the Trump administration, and that he was "unfairly punished" for expressing his political opinions.[9]

## Premise

[edit]

Strzok's study of Trump's life, and his knowledge and observations as a leading counterintelligence agent in the FBI, led him to believe Trump was and is "compromised" and thus, wittingly or unwittingly, indebted to Putin. He describes the many things (kompromat) Trump did and said before and during his presidency that made him vulnerable to blackmail and pressure from foreign adversaries. Strzok posits the question: "When a president appears to favor personal and Russian interests over those of our nation, has he become a national security threat?"[10] He mentions one very public example related to Trump's business projects in Russia that created the necessary conditions for Trump to be compromised:[11]

> As candidate and again as president, Trump lied about his business ties with Russia. "The moment Trump said publicly, 'I have no business dealings with Russia,' he knew he was lying. Putin knew he was lying, and the FBI had reason to believe he was lying. But American citizens didn't know that." Strzok emphasizes, "In this moment Trump became compromised."

## Reception

[edit]

Carlos Lozada of The Washington Post gave a favorable review, of a "compelling tale" but criticized the strength of Strzok's bias against Trump in some instances. Strzok considers Trump a liar who presided over a "heap of perfidy and treachery", a leader "gleefully wreaking havoc on America's political institutions and norms." But Lozada noted importantly that Strzok's description of Trump's being "compromised", did "not mean that the president received regular orders from Russia" or that he did Putin's bidding at Putin's immediate request. Strzok posited that the "compromised liar need not be told what to do ... It all unspools without anyone's ever having to say a word." Trump's extramarital affairs, his issues with his charitable Trump foundation, and his own questionable financial background, particularly the strong suspicion of tax evasion, also compromise him "badly and in a myriad of ways", Strzok contends. And, in turn, a compromised president pursued policies and adopted positions that Strzok sees as "highly suspicious, highly consistent, and highly advantageous to America's historic adversary (Russia)." Strzok, according to Lozada, still considered Trump's criminality as a grey area, however this view may be open to debate. When asked by Robert Mueller if Trump's behavior warranted a conspiracy, Lozada noted Strzok replied "I was skeptical that all the different threads amounted to anything more than bumbling incompetence." Strzok wrote "In my view they (Trump's staff) were most likely a collection of grifters pursuing individual personal interests."[11]

Nicholas Fandos of The New York Times praised the book, and wrote "A former Army officer, Mr. Strzok . . . rose quickly through [the FBI's] ranks, earning a reputation within the bureau as one of its most savvy and reliable counterintelligence agents."[12]

James Traub of The Atlantic strongly praised Strzok's sense of duty in conducting his counterintelligence investigation of Trump. Traub criticized congressional Republicans for attempting to use Strzok's extramarital affair with Lisa Page and poorly timed text as a way of destroying his credibility, while overlooking the relevance and importance of his investigation and service to his country. When asked by Texas Congressman Ted Poe in a congressional oversight hearing how he could conduct an honest and unbiased investigation after texting that he would stop Trump from winning the election, Strzok replied "A judge asks jurors, 'Are you able to set aside your personal opinions and render a judgment based on the facts?' and I and the men and women of the FBI every day take our personal beliefs and set them aside in vigorous pursuit of the truth wherever it lies." Poe replied to Strzok, "I don't believe you".[7]

Lloyd Green of the Guardian, who did opposition research for the political campaign of George H. W. Bush in 1988, also considered the book "compelling reading", but fundamentally disagreed with Strzok's assertion that Trump's "willingness to accept political assistance from an opponent like Russia – and it follows, his willingness to subvert everything that America stands for." He notes that Strzok believed "Our investigations revealed Donald Trump's willingness to further the malign interests of one of our most formidable adversaries, apparently for his own personal gain." Green doles out some criticism of the FBI investigation of Michael Flynn as Strzok appears somewhat contradictory in his evaluation of Flynn as cooperative in demeanor but "repeatedly and inexplicably" lying on other issues. Green most strongly criticized Strzok for his glossing over his extensive and ultimately destructive relationship with Lisa Page, as they were believed to have sent over 20,000 emails to each other, including those used to show he had a bias against Trump.[13]

## See also

[edit]

* Russia portal
* United States portal

* Hillary Clinton email controversy
* The Case for Impeachment
* Dezinformatsia: Active Measures in Soviet Strategy
* Disinformation
* The KGB and Soviet Disinformation
* Steele dossier
* Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections and Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections (July 2016–election day)
* Trump: The Kremlin Candidate?
* Trump–Ukraine scandal

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction". The New York Times. September 27, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
2. ^ "Washington Post hardcover bestsellers". The Washington Post. September 16, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
3. ^ Bertrand, Natasha. "Peter Strzok would like to clear a few things up", Politico (5 Sep 2020): Strzok "led the FBI's Russia investigation, dubbed Crossfire Hurricane….Strzok's new book, obtained by POLITICO ahead of its release next week, recaps the full arc of Crossfire Hurricane…."
4. ^ Goldman, Adam (September 5, 2020). "Ex-F.B.I. Agent in Russia Inquiry Says Trump Is a National Security Threat". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
5. ^ "GOP stunt to smear counter-intel expert Strzok ripe for backfire". MSNBC. July 11, 2018.
6. ^ Jarrett, Laura; Perez, Evan (December 4, 2017). "FBI agent dismissed from Mueller probe changed Comey description of Clinton". CNN. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
7. ^ a b "Traub, James, "The Peter Strzok Hearing and the Death of Shame/Decency Loses Its Moral Force"". Atlantic article on Strzok's congressional testimony. The Atlantic Magazine. July 18, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
8. ^ a b "Spocchia, Geno, "Ex-FBI agent regularly targeted by Trump bringing out book about president's links to Russia"". Independent article on Book. Independent. July 28, 2020. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
9. ^ Tucker, Eric, "Former FBI agent sues over firing due to anti-Trump texts", Albuquerque Journal, pg. A6, August 7, 2020.
10. ^ "Ex-FBI agent Strzok due out with book about Trump, Russia", Associated Press via NBC News (28 Jul 2020).
11. ^ a b Lozada, Carlos (September 5, 2020). "Review - He investigated Clinton and Trump. Then the Justice Department turned on him". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
12. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (July 12, 2018). "F.B.I. Agent Defends Actions in Russia Inquiry in Contentious House Testimony". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
13. ^ Green, Lloyd (September 20, 2020). "Compromised review: Peter Strzok on Trump, Russia and the FBI". The Guardian. Retrieved July 23, 2023.

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Media by and about Donald Trump

See also: Media career of Donald Trump – Donald Trump in popular culture – Trump Productions – List of things named after Donald Trump

Books|

| By
Trump|

* Trump: The Art of the Deal (1987)
* Trump: Surviving at the Top (1990)
* Trump: The Art of the Comeback (1997)
* The America We Deserve (2000)
* Trump: How to Get Rich (2004)
* The Way to the Top (2004)
* Trump 101 (2006)
* Why We Want You to Be Rich (2006)
* Think Big and Kick Ass (2007)
* Trump Tower (2011)
* Time to Get Tough (2011)
* Midas Touch (2011)
* Crippled America (2015)
* Our Journey Together (2021)
* Letters to Trump (2023)
* Save America (2024)

|

About
Trump|

* Point the Finger (1989)
* Trumped! (1991)
* TrumpNation (2005)
* Never Enough (2015)
* The Conservative Case for Trump (2016)
* The Day of the Donald (2016)
* The Making of Donald Trump (2016)
* The Plot to Hack America (2016)
* Trump Revealed (2016)
* In Trump We Trust (2016)
* The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump (2017)
* The Case for Impeachment (2017)
* Insane Clown President (2017)
* Understanding Trump (2017)
* The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump (2017)
* Devil's Bargain (2017)
* Raising Trump (2017)
* Let Trump Be Trump (2017)
* Fire and Fury (2018)
* Media Madness (2018)
* The Faith of Donald J. Trump (2018)
* A Higher Loyalty (2018)
* Liars, Leakers, and Liberals (2018)
* The Briefing: Politics, the Press, and the President (2018)
* Unhinged (2018)
* Resistance Is Futile! (2018)
* Fear: Trump in the White House (2018)
* The Fifth Risk (2018)
* Impeachment: An American History (2018)
* Whose Boat Is This Boat? (2018)
* Team of Vipers (2019)
* The Threat (2019)
* Siege: Trump Under Fire (2019)
* Triggered (2019)
* A Warning (2019)
* Trump and His Generals (2019)
* A Very Stable Genius (2020)
* Hiding in Plain Sight (2020)
* Front Row at the Trump Show (2020)
* The Room Where It Happened (2020)
* Too Much and Never Enough (2020)
* Melania and Me (2020)
* Hoax (2020)
* Compromised (2020)
* Rage (2020)
* Disloyal: A Memoir (2020)
* Speaking for Myself (2020)
* Landslide (2021)
* I Alone Can Fix It (2021)
* The Reckoning (2021)
* Peril (2021)
* I'll Take Your Questions Now (2021)
* Midnight in Washington (2021)
* Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show (2021)
* A Sacred Oath (2022)
* Thank You for Your Servitude (2022)
* Breaking History (2022)
* Holding the Line (2022)
* Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America (2022)
* The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017–2021 (2022)
* The Trump Tapes (2022)
* Enough (2023)
* Network of Lies (2023)
* Tired of Winning (2023)
* At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House (2024)
* All in the Family: The Trumps and How We Got This Way (2024)
* Lucky Loser (2024)
* Melania (2024)

Radio,
TV and
film|

| By
Trump|

* The Apprentice franchise
* The Apprentice (U.S.) (2004–2010)
* The Celebrity Apprentice (2008–2017)
* The Ultimate Merger (2010–2011)
* Trumped! (2004–2008)
* Pageant Place (2007)

|

About
Trump|

* Trump: What's the Deal? (1991)
* Trump Unauthorized (2005)
* You've Been Trumped (2011)
* A Dangerous Game (2014)
* Michael Moore in TrumpLand (2016)
* Trumped (2017)
* Trump: The Kremlin Candidate? (2017)
* American Horror Story: Cult (2017)
* Dirty Money: The Confidence Man (2018)
* Trump: An American Dream (2018)
* The Fourth Estate (2018)
* Death of a Nation (2018)
* Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
* The Trump Prophecy (2018)
* America's Great Divide (2020)
* Trump Card (2020)
* The Choice 2020 (2020)
* The Comey Rule (2020)
* Totally Under Control (2020)
* The Curve (2020)
* Unprecedented (2022)
* The Apprentice (2024)
* Vindicating Trump (2024)

Satires|

* Pizza Man (1991)
* Bart to the Future (2000)
* The Art of the Deal: The Movie (2016)
* Last Week Tonight
* February 28, 2016, episode
* "Demise of the Planet of the Apes / The Celebrity Ape-rentice" (Mad)
* Our Cartoon President
* The President Show
* The Queen's Corgi
* "The Thanksgiving Special" (Regular Show)
* Saturday Night Live
* Herbert Garrison (South Park)
* Spitting Image (2020)
* Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (2020)
* "Trump: The Rusical"
* Trump vs. Bernie
* You Got Trumped: The First 100 Days
* Harvey Birdman: Attorney General
* Sassy Justice
* Trump vs the Illuminati
* "Trump Guy"
* Biff Tannen

Music|

* "Donald Trump (Black Version)" (1990)
* "Las Vegas (In the Hills of Donegal)" (1991)
* "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)" (2000)
* "Donald Trump" (2011)
* Up Like Trump (2014)
* Make America Psycho Again (2015 album)
* "FDT" (2016)
* 1,000 Days, 1,000 Songs
* "Million Dollar Loan" (2016)
* "Campaign Speech" (2016)
* "We the People...." (2016)
* "Land of the Free" (2017)
* "Legendary" (2017)
* "The Heart Part 4" (2017)
* "I'm Not Racist" (2017)
* "Tiny Hands" (2017)
* Too Dumb for Suicide: Tim Heidecker's Trump Songs (2017)
* "Ye vs. the People" (2018)
* "Love It If We Made It" (2018)
* "Batuka" (2019)
* "Quick Escape" (2020)
* "Commander in Chief" (2020)
* "Justice for All" (2023)
* "You Missed" (2024)

Artwork|

* Colorado State Capitol portrait
* Crooked and Obscene
* Don Colossus
* The Donald J. Trump Enduring Flame
* Dump Trump
* The Emperor Has No Balls
* God Emperor Trump
* In Honor of a Lifetime of Sexual Assault
* Make Everything Great Again
* Slovenia
* Trump Buddha
* The Visionary

Games|

* Trump: The Game
* Trump Castle
* II
* Who Wants to Beat Up a Millionaire
* Real Estate Tycoon
* The Political Machine
* 2012
* 2016
* 2020
* Trumped Up Cards
* Secret Hitler

Websites|

* r/The_Donald
* Truth Social

Related|

* Cultural depictions of Ivanka Trump
* Public image of Melania Trump
* Winning Team Publishing

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