Michael Wolff’s new book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” seems to be flying off the shelves; but how much of the quotes and events depicted in the book are actually accurate? In other words, how much of the often outlandish occurrences in the book are to be believed? Is the book completely factual or simply trashy tabloid gossip as the White House insists it is? In reality, probably somewhere in between.
From what I have read so far, it seems that much of the book simply restates things we already knew. From the perspective of normal admiration, the book is shocking, but we have all been well-aware that this has never been normal admiration. Trump's own staff and campaign people calling him a moron, his obsession with television and his easily lost attention, these are not things that are new. The big picture story seems to be the same; it is the new quotes, personal stories, and anecdotes that are so fascinating, which the Trump administration is repeatedly denying.
The specifics of the book should be taken with a grain of salt, and the book as a whole should essentially be taken as stuff that Wolff heard and things that people told him. While some specifics, such has Bannon’s various comments and quotes don’t seem to be disputed by the source, it is true that Bannon spent a lot of time with Wolff when he was at the White House.
According to Andrew Prokop for Vox:
"What appears to be the biggest news in the book so far — Bannon’s provocative speculation about the Trump family and the Russia investigation — does appear to be, at least, accurate quotation of him. Bannon isn’t disputing any of the quotes, and Breitbart News, the website he runs, straightforwardly wrote them up on Wednesday. Whether Bannon’s claims have any validity, though, isn’t clear."
On the other hand, there are also those like Sam Nunberg, quoted on some of the anecdotes, who has in the past confessed to spreading made up gossip about the Trump administration.
“Some sourcing is also troublesome. Wolff quotes former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg purportedly describing an attempt to explain the Constitution to Trump. 'I got as far as the Fourth Amendment before his finger is pulling down on his lip and his eyes are rolling back in his head,' Nunberg is quoted as saying. But just a few months ago, Nunberg bragged to a reporter that he made up what he said was a false story about Chris Christie getting Trump McDonald’s during the campaign.”
Of course, there are also those that outright deny the quotes, anecdotes or stories that are attributed to them. They are hard to verify as Wolff is deliberately vague about his sourcing throughout the book.
Prokop writes,
"Did Wolff rigorously fact-check what he heard here, or might it have been a bit too good to check? Katie Walsh, meanwhile, says she’s disputing some quotes attributed to her — but whether this is a case of factual inaccuracy on Wolff’s part or the phenomenon known as 'source remorse' (when someone regrets saying too much to a reporter and seeks to disavow it) isn’t clear."I do not believe that Wolff deliberately made up parts of the book or quotes from people. I believe this is all stuff he heard, but whether all of it was true or simply gossip is the harder question to answer.
