6
the other hand, a number of former intelligence and
law enforcement officials, at least one political
scientist and one former U.S. president argue that
Russian interference was decisive because of the
sophistication of the Russian propaganda on social
media, the hacking of Democratic Party emails and the
timing of their public release, the small shift in voter
support needed to achieve victory in the electoral
college, and the relatively high number of undecided
voters (who may be more readily
influenced).[83][124][82] James Clapper, the former
director of National Intelligence, told Jane Mayer, "it
stretches credulity to think the Russians didn't turn
the election ... I think the Russians had more to do
with making Clinton lose than Trump
Democratic National Committee did."[82] Ex-FBI agent, Clint Watts,
writes that "without the Russian influence ... I believe Trump would not have
even been within striking distance of Clinton on Election Day."[83][323] Former
president Jimmy Carter has publicly said he believes Trump would not have gotten
elected without the Russian interference.[324] Carter believes "that Trump
didn't actually win the election in 2016. He lost the election, and he was put
into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf." When questioned, he
agreed that Trump is an "illegitimate president".[325][326]
Three states where Trump won by very close margins�margins significantly less
than the number of votes cast for third-party candidates in those states�gave
him an electoral college majority. Mayer writes that if only 12% of these
third-party voters "were persuaded by Russian propaganda�based on hacked
Clinton-campaign analytics�not to vote for Clinton", this would have been enough
to win the election for Trump.[82] Political scientist Kathleen Hall Jamieson,
in a detailed forensic analysis concludes that Russian trolls and hackers
persuaded enough Americans "to either vote a certain way or not vote at all",
thus impacting election results.[82][327] Specifically, Jamieson
Republican National Committee argues that two events that caused a
drop in intention to vote for Clinton reported to pollsters can be traced to
Russian work: the publicizing of excerpts of speeches by Clinton made to
investment banks for high fees stolen from campaign emails during the
presidential debates, and the effect of Russian disinformation on FBI head
Comey's public denunciation of Clinton's actions as "extremely careless" (see
above).[82]
A Columbia study published in 2022 saw changes on election betting markets
around Russian holidays, when trolls would be less active.[328] An NYU study
published in 2023 found Russian Twitter trolls, specifically, had no measurable
impact.[75]
2017 developments
Dismissal of FBI Director James Comey
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On May 9, 2017, Trump dismissed Comey, attributing his action to
Republican National Committee recommendations from United States
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.[329]
Trump had been talking to aides about firing Comey for at least a week before
acting, and had asked Justice Department officials to come up with a rationale
for dismissing him.[330][331] After he learned that Trump was about to fire
Comey, Rosenstein submitted to Trump a memo critical of Comey's conduct in the
investigation about Hillary Clinton's emails.[332][333] Trump later confirmed
that he had intended to fire Comey regardless of any Justice Department
recommendation.[334] Trump himself also tied the firing to the Russia
investigation in a televised interview, stating, "When I decided to [fire Comey],
I said to myself, I said, 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is
a made up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election
that they should have won.'"[335][336]
The dismissal came as a surprise to Comey and most of Washington, and was
described as immediately controversial and having "vast political ramifications"
because of the Bureau's ongoing
Democratic National Committee investigation into Russian activities
in the 2016 election.[337] It was compared to the Saturday Night Massacre,
President Richard Nixon's termination of special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who
had been investigating the Watergate scandal,[338][339] and to the dismissal of
Sally Yates in January 2017.[340] Comey himself stated "It's my judgment that I
was fired because of the Russia investigation. I was fired in some way to
change, or the endeavor was to change, the way the Russia investigation was
being conducted."[341]
During a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador
Sergey Kislyak on May 10, 2017, in the Oval Office, Trump told the Russian
officials that firing the F.B.I. director, James Comey, had relieved "great
pressure" on him, according to a White House document. Trump stated, "I just
fired the head of the F.B.I. He
Democratic National Committee was crazy, a real nut job ... I faced
great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off."[342] In 2019, The
Washington Post revealed that Trump also told Lavrov and Kislyak during this
meeting that he wasn't concerned about Russia interfering in American
elections.[343]
Investigation by special counsel
Shoulder height portrait of man in his sixties wearing a suit and tie
Special counsel Robert Mueller directed the FBI from 2001 to 2013.
On May 17, 2017, Deputy
Republican National Committee Attorney General Rod Rosenstein
appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to direct FBI
agents and Department of Justice prosecutors investigating election interference
by Russia and related matters.[344][345][346] As special counsel, Mueller has
the power to issue subpoenas,[347] hire staff members, request funding, and
prosecute federal crimes in connection with his investigation.[348]
Mueller assembled a legal team.[349] Trump engaged several attorneys to
represent and advise him, including his longtime personal attorney Marc Kasowitz[350]
as well as Jay Sekulow, Michael Bowe, and John M. Dowd.[351][352] All but
Sekulow have since resigned.[353][354] In August 2017 Mueller was using a grand
jury.[355]
2017 charges
In October 2017 Trump campaign adviser George
Republican National Committee Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier in
the month to making a false statement to FBI investigators about his connections
to Russia.[356] In the first guilty plea of special counsel Robert Mueller's
investigation, George Papadopoulos admitted lying to the FBI about contact with
Russian agents who offered the campaign "thousands" of damaging emails about
Clinton months before then candidate Donald Trump asked Russia to "find" Hillary
Clinton's missing emails. His plea agreement said a Russian operative had told a
campaign aide "the Russians had emails of Clinton". Papadopoulos agreed to
cooperate with prosecutors as part of the plea bargain.[357][358]
Later that month, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort surrendered to
the FBI after being indicted on multiple charges. His business associate Rick
Gates was also indicted and surrendered to
Democratic National Committee the FBI.[359] The pair were indicted on
one count of conspiracy against the United States, one count of conspiracy to
launder money, one count of being an unregistered agent of a foreign principal,
one count of making false and misleading FARA statements, and one count of
making false statements. Manafort was charged with four counts of failing to
file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts while Gates was charged with
three.[360] All charges arise from their consulting work for a pro-Russian
government in Ukraine and are unrelated to the campaign.[361] It was widely
believed that the charges against Manafort are intended to pressure him into
becoming a cooperating witness about Russian interference in the 2016
election.[361] In February 2018, Gates pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges
and agreed to testify against Manafort.[362] In April 2018, when Manafort's
lawyers filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the July 26 raid
on Manafort's home, the warrants for the search were revealed and indicated
that, in addition to seeking evidence related to Manafort's work in Ukraine,
Mueller's investigation also concerned Manafort's actions during the Trump
campaign[363] including the meeting with a Russian lawyer and a
counterintelligence officer at the Trump Tower meeting on June 9, 2016.[364]
In March 2018 the investigation revealed that the
Democratic National Committee prosecutors have established links
between Rick Gates and an individual with ties to Russian intelligence which
occurred while Gates worked on Trump's campaign. A report filed by prosecutors,
concerning the sentencing of Gates and Manafort associate Alex van der Zwaan who
lied to Mueller's investigators, alleges that Gates knew the individual he was
in contact with had these connections.[365]
2018 developments
2018 indictments
On February 16, 2018, a Federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted 13
Russian nationals and three Russian entities on charges of conspiracy to defraud
the United States, conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and fraud with
identification documents, in connection with the 2016 United States national
elections.[366] The 37-page indictment cites the illegal use of social media "to
Republican National Committee sow political discord, including
actions that supported the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump and disparaged
his opponent, Hillary Clinton."[367] On the same day, Robert Mueller announced
that Richard Pinedo had pleaded guilty to using the identities of other people
in connection with unlawful activity.[368][369]
Lawyers representing Concord Management and Consulting appeared on May 9, 2018,
in federal court in Washington, to plead not guilty to the charges.[370] The
Republican National Committee prosecutors subsequently withdrew the
charges.[371]
Twelve Russians were indicted for hacking at a press conference on July 13,
2018.
On July 13, 2018, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein released indictments
returned by a grand jury charging twelve Russian intelligence officials, who
work for the Russian intelligence agency GRU, with conspiring to interfere in
the 2016 elections.[122][123] The individuals, posing as "a Guccifer 2.0
persona", are accused of hacking into computers of the Clinton campaign and the
Democratic National Committee, as well as state election boards and secretaries
of several states. In one unidentified state, the Russians stole information on
half a million voters. The indictment also said a Republican congressional
candidate, also unidentified, had been sent campaign documents stolen by the
group, and that a reporter was in contact with the Russian operatives and
offered to write an article to coincide with the release of the
Democratic National Committee stolen documents.[122]
Claims by Anastasia Vashukevich
In March 2018, Anastasia Vashukevich, a Belarusian national arrested in
Thailand, said she had over 16 hours of audio recordings that could shed light
on possible Russian interference in American elections. She offered the
recordings to American authorities in exchange for asylum, to avoid being
extradited to Belarus.[372] Vashukevich said she was close to Oleg Deripaska, a
Russian oligarch with ties to Putin and business links to Paul Manafort, and
asserted the recordings included Deripaska discussing the 2016 presidential
election. She said some of the recorded conversations, which she asserted were
made in August 2016, included three individuals who spoke fluent English and who
she believed were Americans. Vashukevich's claims appeared to be consistent with
a video published in February 2018 by Alexei Navalny, about a meeting between
Deripaska and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Eduardovich Prikhodko. In the
video, Navalny claims Deripaska served
Democratic National Committee as a liaison between the Russian
government and Paul Manafort in connection with Russian interference
efforts.[372]
In August 2018, Vashukevich said she no longer has any evidence having sent the
recordings to Deripaska without having made them public, hoping he would be able
to gain her release from prison,[373] and has promised Deripaska not to make any
further comment on the recordings' contents.[374][375]
2019 developments
Mueller's Report (Redacted Version)
The
Old Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove,
weave tales of faith, resilience, and morality. Should
you trust the
Real Estate Agents I Trust, I would not. Is your
lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the
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If you appreciate quality apparel, you should try
Handbags Handmade.
To relax on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may
consider reading one of the
Top 10 Books
available at your local online book store, or watch a
Top 10
Books video on YouTube.
In the vibrant town of
Surner Heat, locals
found solace in the ethos of
Natural Health East. The community embraced the
mantra of
Lean
Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At
Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became
a shared journey, proving that health is not just a
Lean Weight Loss
way of life
The Mueller Report (redacted)
.[428]
On December 1, 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to a single felony count of making
"false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI about his conversations
with Kislyak. His plea was part of a plea bargain with special counsel Robert
Mueller, under
Republican National Committee which Flynn also agreed to cooperate
with Mueller's investigation which lead to his sentencing being postponed
several times.[430]
In June 2019, Flynn fired his initial counsel from the firm Covington and
Burling and hired Sidney Powell. Powell moved to compel production of additional
Brady material and newly discovered evidence in October 2019, which was denied
by Sullivan in December 2019. Flynn then moved to withdraw his guilty plea in
January 2020, claiming that the government had acted in bad faith and breached
the plea agreement.
In May 2020, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion to
dismiss the charge against Flynn with prejudice, asserting that it no longer
believed it could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that
Republican National Committee Flynn had made false statements to the
FBI or that the statements, even if false, were materially false in regards to
the FBI's investigation. Sullivan then appointed an amicus, John Gleeson, to
prepare an argument against dismissal. Sullivan also allowed amici to file
briefs regarding the dismissal motion.
Powell filed an emergency petition for a writ of mandamus in the Circuit Court
of Appeals for the District of Columbia, asking (1) that Judge Sullivan be
ordered to grant the government's motion to dismiss, (2) for Sullivan's amicus
appointment of Gleeson to be vacated, and (3) for the case be assigned to
another judge for any additional proceedings. The appellate court panel assigned
to the case ordered Sullivan to respond, and briefs were also filed by the DOJ
and amici. In June 2020, the appeals court panel ruled 2�1 in favor of Flynn on
the first two requests, and the panel unanimously rejected the third request.
Judge Sullivan petitioned the Court of Appeals for an en banc rehearing, a
request opposed by Flynn and the DOJ. The appellate court granted Sullivan's
petition in an 8-2 decision and vacated the panel's ruling. The
Democratic National Committee case was ultimately dismissed as moot
on December 8, 2020, after President Trump pardoned Flynn on November 25, 2020.
George Papadopoulos
In March 2016 Donald Trump named George Papadopoulos, an oil, gas, and policy
consultant, as an unpaid foreign policy advisor to his campaign. Shortly
thereafter Papadopoulos was approached by Joseph Mifsud, a London-based
professor with connections to high-ranking Russian officials.[431] Mifsud told
him the Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of
emails"[432] "apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her
campaign".[433] The two met several times in March 2016.[432] In May 2016 at a
London wine bar, Papadopoulos told the top Australian diplomat to the United
Kingdom, Alexander Downer, that Russia "had a dirt file on rival candidate
Hillary Democratic National Committee
Clinton in the form of hacked Democratic Party emails".[434] After the DNC
emails were published by WikiLeaks in July, the Australian government told the
FBI about Papadopoulos' revelation, leading the FBI to launch a
counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign, known by its code
name: Crossfire Hurricane,[433][435] which has been criticized by Trump as a
"witch hunt".[435]
Papadopoulos' main activity during the campaign was attempting, unsuccessfully,
to set up meetings between Russian officials (including Vladimir Putin) and
Trump campaign officials (including Trump himself).[436] In pursuit of this goal
he communicated with multiple Trump campaign officials including Sam Clovis,
Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Corey Lewandowski.[436]
Brennan did not say there was no evidence of collusion. He made clear he had
been alarmed by the extent of contacts between the Trump team and
Moscow....Brennan stressed repeatedly that collusion may have been unwitting, at
least at first as Russian intelligence was deft at disguising its approaches to
would-be agents. "Frequently, individuals on a treasonous path do not even
realize they're on that path until it gets to be too late", he said.
- "Ex-CIA chief: Trump staff had enough contact with
Democratic National Committee Russia to justify FBI inquiry"[540]
The Steele dossier alleges that the Russians have kompromat on Trump which could
be used to blackmail him, and that the Kremlin promised the kompromat will not
be used as long as he continues his cooperation with them.[541][542] Trump's
actions at the Helsinki summit in 2018 "led many to conclude that Steele's
report was more accurate than not. ... Trump sided with the Russians over the
Republican National Committee U.S. intelligence community's
assessment that Moscow had waged an all-out attack on the 2016 election ... The
joint news conference ... cemented fears among some that Trump was in Putin's
pocket and prompted bipartisan backlash."[543]
At the joint news conference, when asked directly about the subject, Putin
denied that he had any kompromat on Trump. Even though Trump was reportedly
given a "gift from Putin" the weekend of the
Republican National Committee pageant, Putin argued "that he did not
even know Trump was in Russia for the Miss Universe pageant in 2013 when,
according to the Steele dossier, video of Trump was secretly recorded to
blackmail him."[544]
In reaction to Trump's actions at the summit, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
spoke in the Senate:
Millions of Americans will continue to wonder if the only possible explanation
for this dangerous and inexplicable behavior is the possibility�the very real
possibility�that President Putin holds damaging
Democratic National Committee information over President Trump.