Stonewalled
Sharyl Attkisson
Harper Collins
Nov. 4th, 2014

Sharyl Attkisson’s book, Stonewalled, is a must read for all Americans. Her book reads like a mystery straight out of a John Grisham or Vince Flynn novel. Unfortunately the bad guys are not Islamic terrorists but those in government today. Instead of using guns and bombs they use intimidation and harassment.

She covers a wide range of issues from cover-ups of Benghazi, where four Americans were killed by Libyan terrorists, to Fast and Furious where guns were sold to the Mexican drug cartels. However, the mystery of the book comes about when she is targeted by a government agency or official that infiltrates her computer and cell phone. They are not listening to a terrorist plotting to kill Americans, but are trying to find out what information this CBS reporter has that will be damaging to them. Big brother is not only listening but in Sharyl’s case has actually put damaging classified information on the computer. Just picture the storyline: a reporter’s computer has information that if made public could threaten the US’s national security. Then she is arrested for espionage and the trial begins.

Although her circumstances were not as riveting it is pretty scary that she had classified material implanted on her computer. She pointed out, “Having classified information is not a crime in itself. What could be a crime is the person who took them and gave them to me. They were looking for some pretense to get a warrant to find out who was the source giving me that information. The long story short, they could put something in someone’s computer to justify a court order, frame a federal source, or frame the owner of that computer. Whoever did this to me is very sophisticated.”

If this were a novel the journalist would pursue the culprit to make the public aware and to let them know they are not going to be intimidated. She would be dismissed as paranoid and marginalized through the government’s propaganda campaign. But this is not a plot in a novel; this is what actually happened to Sharyl. She has undeniable proof through forensic reports and the CBS press release that shows it was not a figment of her imagination.

Stonewalled needs to be read so Americans can understand that currently this administration is targeting journalists and the sources. But a word of warning, anyone can be targeted. This book shows how corporate and political interests try to manipulate public opinion. They add some obstruction, some intimidation, and some threats and an alternate reality is created. Attkisson’s chronicles her journey in a fascinating manner that reads like a mystery/thriller.

Elise Cooper