Craig Unger

“One reason it was so explosive... Israel did not want it known that it was participating in a {{w|covert operation}} that would {{w|sabotage}} an American presidential election, especially because America is Israel's biggest patron.”

“If Iraq had... taken over Iran and all its oil... the combined oil resources... in one hostile country... would have been terrible for the entire West... So there were... national interests in both countries... wanting... Iran armed. Jimmy Carter... didn't want to give weapons to a hostile foreign power that had just ceased American hostages, and it was seen as being a horrible... thing to do. But Willian Casey, who was campaign manager of the Reagan Bush campaign, and Israel were far more cynical, and they put in motion a secret plan to do this.”

“Israel and Iran had been very close allies... [T]here's still an... oil pipeline between Israel and Iran, but both... had powerful militaries, and almost all their military equipment came from the United States. So when the Iranian Revolution happened, suddenly Iran... flipped from being an ally to becoming an adversary, but they were also about to be attacked by Saddam Hussein's Iraq, and they needed weapons... [B]oth Israel and the United States didn't want Iraq to win.”

“[T]his is in a critical time in terms of American foreign policy. The Shah of Iran, long an American puppet, has just been overthrown, and when he was in charge... the entire West had access to Iranian oil reserves at very reasonable prices. So suddenly...Iran... went from being a very close ally and friend of both America and Israel to an enemy... as it became an Islamist theocracy.”

“[T]his was a critical moment in American history. It was... a watershed... the start of the so-called Reagan Revolution... the birth of American conservatism... [W]hat I show is, they got into office thanks to a treasonous, {{w|covert operation}} that {{w|sabotage}}d an American presidential election...”

“Jimmy Carter's 100 years old and I think it's long past due... for history to be honest to him. He... lost his reelection campaign in 1980 and was... characterized as a weak president who allowed the United States to be humiliated... [W]hat I write about in Den of Spies is a {{w|covert operation}} run by the Republicans that sabotaged... Carter's attempts to bring home the hostages... [T]hey... hijacked American foreign policy and I believe it was a treasonous covert operation by the Reagan Bush campaign.”

“I regard [Trump's] temperament as that of a mobster. ...Russian intelligence is very ...closely tied to Russian organized crime. ...Russian organized crime is part of intelligence. Trump will deal with anyone...”

“It continues later... in Atlantic City and a company... Bayrock... opened in {{w|Trump Tower}}... this was money... from enterprises tied to the Russian mob, and the {{w|KGB}} and its successors in the Russian Federation.”

“David Bogatin comes in. He has 5 million dollars in cash... meets personally with Donald Trump and... says, "I'll take five condos." 5 million... back then is... about 15 million today. ...Trump doesn't ask ...questions. He takes the money ...The two predicates for {{w|money laundering}} are all cash transactions with an anonymous enterprise... Trump did this repeatedly... The State of New York attorney general... said this was money laundering... There were at least 1300 similar cases... Trump condos sold under similar conditions that could pass for money laundering. ...That's a pattern!”

“Gorbachev has taken over by then, but it's before the real thaw... The Soviet Union crumbled in 1991. This is several years earlier and... Donald Trump has taken out a full-page add in three of the nation's most prestigious newspapers... putting forth {{w|KGB}} {{w|talking point}}s... and the KGB... circulate the... internal memo announcing that as a successful active measure... by their new asset, Donald Trump.”

“Yuri... was in {{w|KGB}} headquarters in September... 1987, and the KGB circulated an internal memo celebrating the acquisition of a new asset... and a successful active ...act of propaganda.”

“[I]n September of 1987 Trump takes out a full-page add in {{w|The New York Times}}, {{w|The Washington Post}} and {{w|The Boston Globe}} ...full of wacky {{w|talking point}}s about ...America's being taken to the cleaners ...we're being screwed over by NATO ...our allies like Japan are ...not worth it. ...No American politician was talking like this ...or any time since.”

“He is invited to the Soviet Union and the... trip is overseen by the {{w|KGB}}. ...Ivan Gromakov ...initiates the invitation. It goes through the Soviet ambassador ...to Trump and he's flown in by {{w|Intourist}} ...a subsidiary of the KGB ...It makes sure that you're fully monitored ...All the while, Trump, according to Yuri, is being force fed talking points by the {{w|KGB}}, and that leads... to his exploratory run for the presidency... for the 1988 nomination.”

“According to... {{w|Yuri Shvets}}... [who] recruited spies... you see them pumping him full of {{w|KGB}} talking points, saying "Wow, you have these wonderfully unorthodox views on foreign policy. You should... run for higher office. You should be president. You should make all these views public."”

“[O]ther people in the {{w|KGB}} started reaching out to him and assessing whether it was worthwhile expending resources... to develop him. That... led... to his being invited by the KGB to the Soviet Union in 1987. ...You can see some of this develop in the newspaper clips during this time. ...In {{w|The Washington Post}} and in The New York Times, Trump is starting to present himself as an expert on nuclear weapons. He says that he should be running the nuclear arms limitations talk for Ronald Reagan...”

“I had dozens... of hours with... {{w|Yuri Shvets}}... a major in the {{w|KGB}} in the 1980s... stationed in Washington D. C. and his colleagues in... New York... were recruiting Donald Trump as an asset...”

“"In terms of his personality," Shvets added, "the guy is not a complicated cookie, his most important characteristics being low intellect coupled with hyperinflated vanity. This combination makes him a dream for an experienced recruiter."”

“Shvets would find himself asking how... a comically incompetent organization could have... installed a Russian asset as president of the United States.”

“[A]fter... residence in the {{w|White House}}, people asked... what the Russians had on Trump. ..[I]t’s... simple: They owned him.”

“{{w|Tamir Sapir}}, who lived in {{w|Trump Tower}} until his death... helped bail out Trump by funding... Trump SoHo...”