Spooked

January 25, 2021
Journalist Meier (Pain Killer) delivers an intriguing yet overstuffed account of the modern-day private investigative industry and its role in the Harvey Weinstein case and other recent scandals. Over the past decade, Meier writes, corporate spying—fueled by new surveillance technologies and changes in the media landscape—has grown into a billion-dollar industry where “the big money is made not by exposing the truth but by papering it over or concealing it” and operatives regularly use tactics that are “illegal, unethical, or just plain unsavory.” He details, for example, how an Israeli firm, Black Cube, sent an agent to befriend Harvey Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan in order to get information that Weinstein’s lawyers could use against her. Meier also profiles Fusion GPS founder Glenn Simpson and former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, and recounts their “increasingly frantic” efforts in the run-up to the 2016 election to get journalists to report on allegations from Steele’s anonymous sources that the Russian government had compromising material on Donald Trump and was colluding with his campaign. Though Meier adds color and depth to the political saga, its connection to trends within corporate espionage slips out of focus. Still, this is an illuminating look at a shadowy industry. Agent: Farley Chase, Chase Literary.

February 15, 2021
The abrupt rise of corporatized spying in geopolitics and business, portrayed as a strange mix of journalistic ambition and Nixon-ian dirty tricks. Meier, a two-time winner of the George Polk Award for International Reporting, assembles a worrying account with dry precision, concluding ominously, "the behavior of corporate intelligence firms has only become more predatory and abusive." The labyrinthine narrative reveals a slick, high-stakes dark side to the proliferation of private intelligence firms via such flashpoints as the "Steele dossier" on Donald Trump and the "sleazy tactics" employed by Israeli firm Black Cube on behalf of Harvey Weinstein. Decrying "the oversized impact" of these private spies, the author circles back to a grim secret: "the big money is made not by exposing the truth but by papering it over or concealing it." In his primary narrative thread, Meier tracks the startling journey of the anti-Trump dossier, starting with former journalist Glenn Simpson, founder of purportedly "ethical" investigative firm Fusion GPS, who contracted former British spy Christopher Steele to conduct the investigation. (Unsurprisingly, neither Simpson nor Steele agreed to speak with the author.) Even four years later, the account of the frantic push to publicize Steele's memos before the 2016 election remains tense and startling. "Absent efforts by Glenn Simpson and Christopher Steele to pull the strings of journalists," writes Meier, "it's possible the public would have never learned about the dossier." Still, the author calls the release of the document "a media clusterfuck of epic proportions, one that was the consequence of the long-metastasizing relationship between private spies and journalists." Its impact and authenticity crumbled during the ensuing lawsuits, and the author concludes that Steele's source was one of many "who had stumbled into the private spying business as a last resort." Throughout, Meier's considerable journalistic chops help him maintain control of numerous subnarratives and a cast of ruthless eccentrics. An adroitly handled, disturbing expos�, clearly relevant to discussions of the tactics of Trump and company.

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