Thread by @gregolear

Right before my vacation, I was interviewed by @Salon, which called #DirtyRubles "a riveting, infuriating and, against all the odds, uplifting book. It's essential reading for all Americans."

ICYMI, I wanted to share some of the highlights:

salon.com/2018/07/28/wri…

1/ On Trump's criminality:

"I think it’s hard for people to square the avuncular guy on TV who cracked jokes and fired people with the real Donald J. Trump. The truth is, the guy’s been mobbed up for DECADES, with ties to both La Cosa Nostra and Russian organized crime....

2/ "...Trump is a money launderer for the latter, and has been for quite some time. 'Money laundering' sounds cute, like something Danny Ocean and his merry men do, but it’s a euphemism for something unspeakable."

3/ "The media also likes to forget that Trump is a serial rapist and sexual predator. We can use the 'allegedly' qualifier if you like, but he has bragged about this on many occasions, there are over 20 accusers now, and I believe them."

4/
I go on a bit, and then this:

"Let the record show that it took five paragraphs to outline Trump’s criminality, and I’ve barely scratched the surface."

5/ On MSM failure:

"Trump stirs up shit at such an insane pace that the media feels compelled to cover every idiotic tweet or gesture or pronouncement. And they have to, b/c he’s the president. But this pulls resources away from the Big Picture. ...It’s all about deflection."

6/ Q. How did your experience & ability as a novelist help you understand and tell this story?

"Trump/Russia is a complicated story, with a bunch of different threads. It’s just like a novel—except it more or less proves the old saw about truth being stranger than fiction."

7/ Q. You are quite confident that Mueller's investigation will result in the removal of Trump from office. What gives you this confidence?

"Here’s the thing: if the American experiment is going to end, it won’t be because of THAT fucking guy."