Read These 3 Books About Putin and Russian Interference in the 2016 Elections

Within the past two weeks, the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election has escalated.

Maria Butina, a Russian woman who tried to broker a back-channel meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the 2016 election, was charged with conspiring to influence a U.S. election, and 12 Russian officials were indicted.

During a news conference in Helsinki, after a private meeting with Putin, Trump said he believed Putin’s denial of meddling, raising concerns that Trump was siding with a foreign power over his own intelligence agencies. He backtracked several days later.

Here are three books that provide insight into Putin’s rise to power, Russia’s involvement in the election and the state of our intelligence community.

— “The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin”

By Steven Lee Myers; 572 pages; Alfred A. Knopf. (2015)

For a portrait of the man himself, turn to Myers’ biography, which traces Putin’s childhood and rise to power, as well as his motivations. According to our reviewer, Myers offers “the portrait of a man swinging from crisis to crisis with one goal: projecting strength.” For Putin, that’s meant keeping a tight hold on the country: His closest friends run most of the country’s major industries, and Putin controls the news media. He developed a system called “managed democracy,” squashing opposition parties and taking away the people’s right to vote for local or regional governments. Putin once told a group of foreign journalists that Russians are “backward” and “need time” to adapt to democracy. Myers is a reporter for The Times, and our reviewer wrote that “this is a journalist’s book, which harvests old notebooks and clips.”

— “Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump”

By Michael Isikoff and David Corn; 338 pages; Twelve. (2018)

According to our review, this is “the most thorough and riveting account” of Russia’s alleged meddling in the United States’ 2016 presidential election. Both Democrats and Republicans are presented unfavorably, such that there are “no heroes in ‘Russian Roulette,'” said our reviewer. The book covers the email hack aimed at the Democratic National Committee, as well as the various scandals, like the “Access Hollywood” tape, that plagued Trump’s candidacy. “The Russian hacking, it is now clear, simply exploited the vulgarity already plaguing American political campaigns,” wrote our reviewer, “which churn on spin and strategy (and money) far more than vision or values.”

— "The Assault On Intelligence: American National Security in an Age of Lies”

By Michael Hayden; 257 pages; Penguin Press. (2018)