[3][4][5] While in high school, Schweizer attended the National Conservative Students Conference at George Washington University and was a member of Young America's Foundation (YAF).

He co-authored a National Review article with Denton's son, James (often cited as Jim), "Murdering SDI", about the suspicious deaths of several European officials who supported the Strategic Defense Initiative.

[13][14] The following year, Kroft revisited Schweizer's work to create another 60 Minutes report on how members of Congress use the funds of their political action committees for private inurement.

The book argued that President Ronald Reagan brought an end to the Cold War through a policy of massive defense spending which led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

[21] Several media outlets received advance copies, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News, all of whom agreed to pursue stories found in the book.

[21] While promoting the book, Schweizer falsely claimed that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had veto power to stop the sale of Uranium One to a Russian state-owned company.

"[23] Several journalists challenged the book, writing that it contains "leaps of logic,"[24] that it "draws some conclusions that go beyond the available evidence,"[4] that "[p]arts of Schweitzer's reporting fell apart under scrutiny,"[25] and that "Schweizer is trafficking in speculation.

[3] In the wake of the book's publication, the Clinton Foundation admitted that it made mistakes in disclosing some of its contributions and that it implemented new rules increasing financial reporting and limiting foreign donations.

It was given significant coverage on Fox News which gained Republican nominee Donald Trump's attention and led him to send personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to Ukraine to pressure their new government to investigate the claims in Schweizer's book.

[39] Schweizer is credited as a writer and producer in The Creepy Line, a film that "epitomizes a popular claim that Silicon Valley is censoring American conservatives on web platforms.

[42] In March 2009, Schweizer and fellow White House speechwriter Marc Thiessen opened Oval Office Writers LLC, which specializes in preparation for congressional testimony as well as pitching opinion editorials and book proposals.