But including it, even in scaled-down form, in one of the most important briefings the intelligence chiefs might ever present to a president-elect made little sense to me. It would be as if I had reported and written one of the most serious, complex stories for The Washington Post that I had ever done—and then provided an appendix of unverified allegations. Oh, by the way, here is a to-do list for further reporting and we’re publishing it.
In A Higher Loyalty, published a year later, Comey writes at length about his misgivings about how he was going to handle the dossier before he met with Trump.
“I was staying on as FBI director,” he wrote. “We knew the information, and the man had to be told. It made complete sense for me to do it. The plan was sensible, if the word applies in the context of talking with a new president about prostitutes in Moscow.”
Perhaps it may turn out to all be true, but imagine being told that by the FBI director.
As Comey continued, “Still, the plan left me deeply uncomfortable. . . . There was a real chance that Donald Trump, politician and hardball deal-maker, would assume I was dangling the prostitute thing over him to jam him, to gain leverage. He might well assume I was pulling a J. Edgar Hoover, because that’s what Hoover would do in my shoes. An eyebrow raise didn’t quite do this situation justice; it was really going to suck.”
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On January 15, five days before the inauguration, I appeared on Fox News Sunday. I said, “I’ve lived in this world for 45 years where you get things and people make allegations. That is a garbage document. It never should have been presented as part of an intelligence briefing. Trump’s right to be upset about that.” The intelligence officials, “who are terrific and have done great work, made a mistake here, and when people make mistakes they should apologize.” I said the normal route for such information, as in past administrations, was passing it to the incoming White House counsel. Let the new president’s lawyer handle the hot potato.
Later that afternoon Trump tweeted: “Thank you to Bob Woodward who said, ‘That is a garbage document . . . it never should have been presented . . . Trump’s right to be upset (angry) . . .”
I was not delighted to appear to have taken sides, but I felt strongly that such a document, even in an abbreviated form, really was “garbage” and should have been handled differently.
The episode played a big role in launching Trump’s war with the intelligence world, especially the FBI and Comey.
CHAPTER
9
Five days after taking the oath of office, January 25, President Trump invited his top advisers and his national security team to the White House for dinner. Mattis, the new secretary of defense, presented Trump with plans for a SEAL Team Six operation against a senior al Qaeda collaborator in Yemen.
He described how several dozen commandos would attack, hoping to capture intelligence, cell phones and laptop computers, and kill the collaborator, one of the few al Qaeda leaders still alive.
It would be the first operation in Yemen in two years. It had been considered and delayed by President Obama. The military wanted a moonless night for the attacks, and one was coming up.
Bannon had questions about the larger problems in Yemen. The former Navy lieutenant commander wondered why the arms to the rebel Houthis could not be cut off and stopped by sea. Iran was their only ally.
“You control the air,” Bannon said. “You’ve got the U.S. Navy, and you control the sea. How tough is it?”
“It’s a big coastline,” Mattis replied.
“Steve,” Trump said impatiently, “these guys, this is what they do. Let them do it.” In other words, shut up.
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Trump signed the order the next day and the raid was carried out before dawn on Sunday, January 29. A lot went wrong. During a 50-minute firefight one SEAL was killed, three wounded. Civilians, including children, were killed. A $75 million Marine MV-22 Osprey made a hard landing, disabling the plane. It had to be destroyed to keep it from falling into the hands of the enemy.
Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, 36, from Peoria, Illinois, was the first combat casualty in Trump’s presidency. Trump decided to go to Dover, Delaware, to observe the ceremony for the arrival of his body. Ivanka accompanied him.
When they arrived at Dover, the commander pulled the president aside. According to what Trump told his senior staff later, the commander said: I want to prepare you for this, Mr. President. When you walk in, the family is going to come up to you. It will be an experience like no other. You’re the commander in chief. The respect they show to you, and their grieving, will be incredible. You’ll be there to comfort them. When the plane rolls up, when the flag-draped casket comes down, some of the family are going to lose it and they will lose it very badly. On the other hand, be prepared to have some people say something inappropriate, even harsh.
No one said anything harsh, but there was a definite coldness that the president remembered.
“That’s a hard one,” he said afterward. He was clearly rattled. He let it be known he would make no more trips to Dover.
Owens’s father, Bill Owens, was at Dover but he and his wife did not want to meet with Trump.
“I’m sorry,” Owens told the chaplain. I don’t want to meet the president. I don’t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience won’t let me talk to him.
He later also said, “For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen—everything was missiles and drones—because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display.”
Instead of striking out as Trump had done against the Khans, the Gold Star parents who had appeared at the Democratic convention in 2016, Trump expressed sympathy for Owens’s father.
“I can understand people saying that,” Trump said later. “I’d feel—you know, what’s worse? There’s nothing worse.”
Several former Obama administration officials said the operation had been planned months earlier but they distanced Obama from it, saying he had never approved it.
In an interview on Fox the morning of his first joint address to Congress, Trump said the Yemen raid was something his “very respected” generals “were looking at for a long time doing.”
“And they lost Ryan,” he said.
* * *
Trump invited Carryn Owens, Ryan’s widow and mother of three young children, to sit in the balcony at the joint address to Congress on February 28. She sat next to Ivanka.
To the congressional audience and 47 million television viewers, the president said, “We are blessed to be joined tonight by Carryn Owens. Ryan died as he lived, a warrior and a hero—battling against terrorism and securing our nation.”
Because the operation was being criticized, Trump added, “I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, ‘Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.’ Ryan’s legacy is etched into eternity.”
The president turned to Owens’s widow in the balcony and said “Thank you.”
Thunderous applause broke out.
At first Carryn Owens fought back tears, exhaled and mouthed, “I love you, baby.” The applause continued and tears began to stream down her face. She stood, joined her hands in apparent prayer, looked up and mouthed, “I love you.”
Trump said, “For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom—we will never forget him.”
The applause and standing ovation from the Congress and the audience lasted nearly two minutes.
“Ryan is looking down right now,” Trump said. “You know that. And he is very happy because I think he just broke a record.”
Carryn Owens smiled and clapped. The president greeted and embraced her in the hallway following the speech.
* * *