Former Trump Aide Says Declassified Mueller Report Would Reveal UK, Australian Intelligence Involved in Anti-Trump ‘Witch Hunt’ - Google Search Monday March 25th, 2019 at 11:34 AM
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Trump inflames war on Justice Dept. by declassifying Russia docs
CNN-Sep 18, 2018
Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump showed no signs of backing off ... related to the Russia investigation Tuesday, saying he wants it done for "transparency." ... "This is a witch hunt," he added, using his derisive reference to the ... of National Intelligence to initiate the "immediate declassification" of ...
Trump news: President orders FBI to declassify documents and texts in ...
In-Depth-Mirror.co.uk-Sep 17, 2018
In-Depth-Mirror.co.uk-Sep 17, 2018
Former Trump Aide Says Declassified Mueller Report Would Reveal ...
The Epoch Times-1 hour ago
Former Trump Aide Says Declassified Mueller Report Would Reveal UK, Australian Intelligence Involved in Anti-Trump 'Witch Hunt'.
Trump's attacks on the Mueller probe hit another snag
Washington Post-Sep 21, 2018
President Trump's strategy to discredit the Russia investigation has suffered yet another setback. ... by a former British intelligence agent; the entire Russia investigation rested on ... are publicly revealed, it'll blow the lid off this whole witch hunt. ... might not actually provide the smoking gun of an anti-Trump ...
The Trump-Russia Timeline
Just Security-Dec 19, 2018
Christopher Steele, who runs the Russia desk for MI6 (British Intelligence Service), ... After leaving Bayrock, Felix Sater becomes “senior adviser to Donald Trump,” ... US Law Firm Completes Report on Ukrainian Trial ..... Erickson tells Nunberg that Butina is a Russian national involved with the National Rifle Association.
Christopher Steele, the Man Behind the Trump Dossier
The New Yorker-Mar 5, 2018
The dossier had infuriated both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump by divulging ... believed, was to “create a false narrative saying this is all a political witch hunt.” ... “There is no evidence that Clinton was involved in Steele's reports or worked ... like Steele, had spent decades as a British intelligenceofficer.
2016 Presidential Election Investigation Fast Facts
CNN-Oct 12, 2017
... the 2016 presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. ... Special counsel Robert Mueller and multiple congressional ... between the Russian government and Trump campaign officials. ... The investigation was sparked by a declassified report from the Director of National Intelligence(DNI) ...
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President Donald Trump’s former foreign policy aide, George Papadopoulos, claims that he was a victim of spying by the Australian, UK, and U.S. intelligence communities ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
George Papadopoulos says he feels vindicated after the release of a summary of Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling.
Mueller, according to the summary, concluded there was no evidence that Trump and members of the president’s election campaign, including Papadopoulos, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government ahead of the election.
“The witch hunt is over,” Papadopoulos, Trump’s former campaign foreign policy aide, told AAP on Sunday.
“I plan on going on the offensive and hope the president does too.
“Declassification of surveillance material is paramount.”
Papadopoulos has been refuting Australian diplomat Alexander Downer’s claim that he was the one to inform Downer as then Australian high commissioner to the UK about Russia’s alleged possession of thousands of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Downer, in an interview with The Australian newspaper last year, claimed Papadopoulos told him that Russia might use “damaging” material they had on Trump presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the lead-up to the election during a meeting in a London bar in May 2016 before Donald Trump’s 2016 election win. Downer’s assistant and Australian intelligence officer, Erika Thompson, were also at the meeting.
Downer said he was the one to pass that information back to Canberra “the following day or a day or two.”
The Wall Street Journal, quoting a diplomatic source, also reported that Downer was the one to pass on Papadopoulos’s Russia information directly to the U.S. embassy in London.
The meeting between Papadopoulos and Downer is credited as one of the triggers for the FBI investigation that led to Mueller’s probe.
The 31-year-old former Trump aide has been saying that he believes Downer’s claim about the email information—which was actually revealed to him by a Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud who has since been accused of working for the FBI and Western intelligence agencies—was part of an elaborate plan by anti-Trump intelligence operatives to frame him and provide the FBI with the reason to proceed with the investigation into allegations of Russia collusion by the Trump campaign.
Mueller’s team arrested Papadopoulos on July 27, 2017, at an airport on the same day that Mueller was informed of the discovery of shocking phone texts between former FBI agent Peter Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page. The texts discussed an “insurance policy” in the “unlikely event” that Trump would win the election. Strzok was the FBI agent responsible for the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to send classified information.
After his arrest, Papadopoulos was sentenced to jail for 14 days when he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in early 2017 about his contact with Russian nationals and Mifsud. Papadopoulos was one of Mueller’s first prosecutions.
Papadopolous’s book “Deep State Target” will be released on Tuesday, March 26, and details his account of dealings with Downer, Thompson, Trump, and others.
In September last year, Trump wrote on Twitter “key allies” had asked him not to release classified FBI documents related to the probe into Russian influence.
Papadopoulos believes the allies were elements within Australia and the UK and he wants their involvement to be made public.
“While the (Mueller) report is likely mired in classified material, and most will likely never be revealed to the public, I do hope what is public is what Alexander Downer’s and Erika Thompson’s roles were and why Downer has become so protected,” Papadopoulos said.
AAP has reached out to Downer, Thompson, and the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment on Papadopoulos’s claims.
Downer had previously avoided engaging in Papadopoulos’s spying accusation, telling BBC radio last year: “I’m not going to get into these sort of allegations.”
Trump told reporters at the White House on March 20 that he would have no problem if the full report was made public.
“Let it come out, let people see it,” Trump said.
Top Democrats are also asking for the full report to be made public.
With reporting by AAP US Correspondent Peter Mitchell
From NTD News
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Today's top pics: Mueller's Russia investigation report and more Rapid City Journal
Top photos of the day as selected by the Associated Press.
In a special report, MSNBC Chief Legal Correspondent, Ari Melber, walks through the historic Mueller probe and breaks down why is has been the most effective probe into an administration since Watergate. Melber examines how Mueller demonstrated “government professionalism” and “prosecutorial rigor” that was “a rebuke to Trump’s entire political existence”. Melber concludes that through his actions, Mueller showed the tougher path to “following evidence, not assumptions”.
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Melber: Mueller Busted Trump Crime Spree, No Chargeable Collusion | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC
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Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower Finds Fault With William Barr's Russia Conclusion Hill Reporter
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"Donald Trump and William Barr conspired to try to mislead the public
about the crimes and scandals that a duly appointed Special Counsel uncovered about Trump and his campaign. But unless you think Mueller and Pelosi have no idea what they’re doing, today’s Barr stunt won’t get Trump anywhere. Give them a few days to see what they’ve each had up their sleeves all along, in preparation for just this scenario."
about the crimes and scandals that a duly appointed Special Counsel uncovered about Trump and his campaign. But unless you think Mueller and Pelosi have no idea what they’re doing, today’s Barr stunt won’t get Trump anywhere. Give them a few days to see what they’ve each had up their sleeves all along, in preparation for just this scenario."
"Donald Trump and William Barr conspired to try to mislead the public..." - 6:12 AM 3/25/2019
 |
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News Analysis
Special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year-long investigation concluded on March 22 with a report to Attorney General William Barr that recommended no further indictments.
“The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” the report states.
None of Mueller’s prior indictments involved collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The news confirms reporting by The Epoch Times over the past two years that there was no evidence to support the claim that Trump colluded with Russia.
Instead, serious questions have arisen about the origins of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign, as well as the bureau’s use of politicized information in obtaining a FISA warrant to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz confirmed last week that his office is still investigating the potential FISA abuse by the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Andrew McCabe and the Start of the Mueller Probe
A crucial figure in the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign was FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
McCabe held meetings with the key people involved in the investigation, such as FBI agent Peter Strzok, outside of the regular chain of command, and was personally involved in the FBI’s FISA warrant application on Carter Page.
One of those meetings was described in the now infamous “insurance policy” text message in which Strzok described to Lisa Page—McCabe’s special counsel with whom Strzok was having an affair—a meeting that took place in “Andy’s” (McCabe’s) office:
“I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy’s office – that there’s no way he gets elected – but I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. It’s like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you’re 40.”
McCabe and Strzok had previously worked together at the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Just months after McCabe was transferred to headquarters, Strzok was transferred to rejoin McCabe to work on the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to send classified information.
McCabe’s actions as the acting FBI director also appear to have led to the appointment of the special counsel.
McCabe became acting director after Trump fired James Comey on May 9, 2017, at the recommendation of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Just two days later, McCabe testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee in a pre-scheduled appearance. In his testimony, McCabe said there had been “no effort to impede our investigation to date.”
Yet despite McCabe’s statement that there had been no obstruction from the White House, he appears to have pursued opening an obstruction of justice investigation of Trump just days later. During a May 16 meeting with Rosenstein, McCabe reportedly tried to push “for the Justice Department to open an investigation into the president,” as relayed by a participant at the meeting to The Washington Post.
Rosenstein would meet later that same day with former FBI Director Robert Mueller and President Trump in the oval office, ostensibly as part of Mueller’s interview for the position of FBI director.
The next day, Rosenstein announced the appointment of Mueller as special counsel.
The special counsel probe, in essence, took away control of the investigation from the FBI under Acting Director McCabe and placed it in the hands of Mueller.
This was confirmed by the DOJ in a statement last month that read, “The deputy attorney general in fact appointed special counsel Robert Mueller, and directed that Mr. McCabe be removed from any participation in that investigation.”
This sequence of events was first reported by Epoch Times contributor Jeff Carlson in a Dec. 7, 2018, article.
The Steele Dossier
At the heart of the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign was the so-called “Steele dossier” produced by Fusion GPS.
The firm had been hired by Perkins Coie on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to produce the dossier. Fusion GPS, in turn, had hired former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele to produce the dossier—at least in part.
Steele, alongside Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, was instrumental in spreading the dossier and the allegations contained in it to the media, politicians, the FBI, and the State Department.
Notably, the FBI relied heavily on the dossier to obtain the FISA warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
One of the ways that Simpson and Steele spread the unverified information to the FBI was through high-ranking DOJ official Bruce Ohr. At the time, Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr—a former CIA contractor—was hired by Fusion GPS to research the Trump campaign.
The Ohrs, Steele, and one other individual, whose identity is not known, met over breakfast on July 30, 2016.
Ohr recalled the meeting to congressional investigators in August last year, saying:
“In the July 30th conversation, one of the items of information that Chris Steele gave to me was that he had information that a former head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the SVR, had stated to someone—I didn’t know who—that they had Donald Trump over a barrel.”
In the days following the meeting, Bruce Ohr had a meeting with McCabe and Lisa Page in McCabe’s office.
From that point on, Ohr would continue to pass on information from Steele into the FBI. This continued even after the FBI formally terminated its relationship with Steele over his unauthorized contact with members of the media.
Ohr had been assigned an FBI handler, Joe Pientka, who summarized his meetings with Ohr in official FD-302 forms.
Notably, in the days following the firing of Comey as FBI director in May 2017, the FBI under McCabe requested that Ohr reach out to Steele. According to Ohr’s testimony, this was the only time he was asked to reach out to Steele—normally the flow of information was initiated by Steele.
The decision by McCabe’s FBI to reach out to Steele again—despite that his dossier had become public by this point and was widely discredited—came at the same time when he was considering investigating Trump. The attempts to re-engage Steele, however, were thwarted by the appointment of special counsel Mueller.
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· · · · ·
Mr. Barr, Me izzi not interezanto in your opinion regarding the vicissitudes and your interpretations of zeze theological issues. Az a matter of plain fact, my dear Sir, Me izzi not interezanto in any of your opinionz at all, if it comez to ziz matter.
I do want to read the original Mueller Report in itz entirety, OR:
OR: the American people have the option of hiring another AG, and most definitely another Prezident without Prezedent.
Your Zummary, my Mozt Dear Zir, look-iz more like a wishy-washy white paint job!
Do not sell yourzelf cheap, you are worth much more than ZIZ.
With zi mozt zinzere Rezshpect,
Michael Novakhov
5:26 PM 3/24/2019
1. Trump from Michael_Novakhov (196 sites)
Show story changes ·
Today, March 24th 16:11
· Bill Palmer
·
analysis
politics
donald trump
robert mueller
william barr
Attorney General William Barr released a “summary” this afternoon of Robert Mueller’s report, and it’s provided zero answers and endless new questions. According to Barr, Mueller concluded that he didn’t find evidence that Donald Trump committed any acts of obstruction of justice, or collusion with Russia, that would rise to the level of a chargeable crime. This is, of course, total bullshit. So what’s really going on?
In short, we don’t know what this is. We’ve spent the past couple years watching Donald Trump commit blatant acts of obstruction of justice in plain sight, that anyone who’s ever so much as read the statute would understand is grounds for indictment. Widespread reporting from major news outlets has long made clear that Team Trump directly conspired with the Russian government in an attempt at altering the outcome of the 2016 election, and some of the key players have publicly confessed to as much.
WASHINGTON – Congress on Sunday got its first peak into what special counsel Robert Mueller found after years investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and any possible collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign.
The summary was compiled by Attorney General William Barr and put into a four-page sent to Congress. It was created after Barr spent days reading through Mueller's lengthy investigation, which was completed on Friday. It does not answer key questions that have hung over Trump's presidency, specifically whether the president committed the crime of obstruction of justice.
"While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," the letter says on whether the president obstructed justice.
The report does conclude that the Trump campaign did not conspire with Russia during the 2016 election, according to the letter from Barr to Congress. It notes that Mueller's investigation found the campaign was given "multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign" but no one within the campaign or "anyone associated with it" conspired with Russia.
While the summary could help quell some of the questions and mystery surrounding the ultra-secretive report, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said they will push for a full disclosure of the report.
Mueller's report, which remains in the hands of Barr, marked the end of an investigation launched in secret months before Trump was elected, when the FBI began gathering clues that made them suspicious of aides to Trump's campaign.
The probe mushroomed to include whether the campaign coordinated with Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, and whether the president himself attempted to obstruct it. And it produced a cascade of other criminal investigations targeting people around Trump, which have not yet concluded.
The investigation led to the indictment of 34 people and three companies on scores of charges. Dozens of Russian nationals were charged with hacking Democratic computers and spreading disinformation during the campaign. Several Trump aides were convicted of lying to Congress or investigators, or for campaign-finance violations or for tax and bank fraud.
Read Barr's letter to Congress in full below, outlining the conclusions of Mueller's investigation:
Dear Chairman Graham, Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Ranking Member Collins:
As a supplement to the notification provided on Friday, March 22, 2019, I am writing today to advise you of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller Ill and to inform you about the status of my initial review of the report he has prepared.
The Special Counsel's Report
On Friday, the Special Counsel submitted to me a "confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions" he has reached, as required by 28 C.F.R. 600.8(c). This report is entitled "Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election." Although my review is ongoing, I believe that it is in the public interest to describe the report and to summarize the principal conclusions reached by the Special Counsel and the results of his investigation.
The report explains that the Special Counsel and his staff thoroughly investigated allegations that members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, and others associated with it, conspired with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, or sought to obstruct the related federal investigations. In the report, the Special Counsel noted that, in completing his investigation, he employed 19 lawyers who were assisted by a team of approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The Special Counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.
The Special Counsel obtained a number of indictments and convictions of individuals and entities in connection with his investigation, all of which have been publicly disclosed. During the course of his investigation, the Special Counsel also referred several matters to other offices for further action. The report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the Special Counsel obtain any sealed indictments that have yet to be made public. Below, I summarize the principal conclusions set out in the Special Counsel's report.
Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. The Special Counsel's report is divided into two parts. The first describes the results of the Special Counsel's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report outlines the Russian effort to influence the election and documents crimes committed by persons associated with the Russian government in connection with those efforts. The report further explains that a primary consideration for the Special Counsel's investigation was whether any Americans including individuals associated with the Trump campaign — joined the Russian conspiracies to influence the election, which would be a federal crime. The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As the report states: "[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. "l
The Special Counsel's investigation determined that there were two main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The first involved attempts by a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election. As noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated with the IRA in its efforts, although the Special Counsel brought criminal charges against a number of Russian nationals and entities in connection with these activities.
The second element involved the Russian government's efforts to conduct computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the election. The Special Counsel found that Russian government actors successfully hacked into computers and obtained emails from persons affiliated with the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party organizations, and publicly disseminated those materials through various intermediaries, including WikiLeaks. Based on these activities, the Special Counsel brought criminal charges against a number of Russian military officers for conspiring to hack into computers in the United States for purposes of influencing the election. But as noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.
1 In assessing potential conspiracy charges, the Special Counsel also considered whether members of the Trump campaign "coordinated" with Russian election interference activities. The Special Counsel defined "coordination" as an "agreement—tacit or express—between the Trump Camparusign and the Russian government on election interference."
Obstruction of Justice. The report's second part addresses a number of actions by the President — most of which have been the subject of public reporting — that the Special Counsel investigated as potentially raising obstruction-of-justice concerns. After making a "thorough factual investigation" into these matters, the Special Counsel considered whether to evaluate the conduct under Department standards governing prosecution and declination decisions but ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment. The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion — one way or the other — as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction. Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as "difficult issues" of law and fact concerning whether the President's actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction. The Special Counsel states that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
The Special Counsel's decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime. Over the course of the investigation, the Special Counsel's office engaged in discussions with certain Department officials regarding many of the legal and factual matters at issue in the Special Counsel's obstruction investigation. After reviewing the Special Counsel's final report on these issues; consulting with Department officials, including the Office of Legal Counsel; and applying the principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decisions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense. Our determination was made without regard to, and is not based on, the constitutional considerations that surround the indictment and criminal prosecution of a sitting president.[1]
In making this determination, we noted that the Special Counsel recognized that "the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference," and that, while not determinative, the absence of such evidence bears upon the President's intent with respect to obstruction. Generally speaking, to obtain and sustain an obstruction conviction, the government would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in obstructive conduct with a sufficient nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding. In cataloguing the President's actions, many of which took place in public view, the report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent, each of which, under the Department's principles of federal prosecution guiding charging decisions, would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to establish an obstruction-ofjustice offense.
Status of the Department's Review
The relevant regulations contemplate that the Special Counsel's report will be a "confidential report" to the Attorney General. See Office of Special Counsel, 64 Fed. Reg. 37,038, 37,040-41 (July 9, 1999). As I have previously stated, however, I am mindful of the public interest in this matter. For that reason, my goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel's report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.
Based on my discussions with the Special Counsel and my initial review, it is apparent that the report contains material that is or could be subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), which imposes restrictions on the use and disclosure of information relating to "matter[s] occurring before [a] grand jury." Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)(2)(B). Rule 6(e) generally limits disclosure of certain grand jury information in a criminal investigation and prosecution. Id. Disclosure of 6(e) material beyond the strict limits set forth in the rule is a crime in certain circumstances. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C.
401 (3). This restriction protects the integrity of grand jury proceedings and ensures that the unique and invaluable investigative powers of a grand jury are used strictly for their intended criminal justice function.
Given these restrictions, the schedule for processing the report depends in part on how quickly the Department can identify the 6(e) material that by law cannot be made public. I have requested the assistance of the Special Counsel in identifying all 6(e) information contained in the report as quickly as possible. Separately, I also must identify any information that could impact other ongoing matters, including those that the Special Counsel has referred to other offices. As soon as that process is complete, I will be in a position to move forward expeditiously in determining what can be released in light of applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.
As I observed in my initial notification, the Special Counsel regulations provide that "the Attorney General may determine that public release of' notifications to your respective Committees "would be in the public interest." 28 C.F.R. 600.9(c). I have so determined, and I will disclose this letter to the public after delivering it to you.
[1] See A Sitting President 's Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution, 24 Op. O.L.C. 222 (2000).
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WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr will deliver to Congress on Sunday afternoon the main findings of the inquiry by Robert S. Mueller III, a Justice Department official said, just days after the conclusion of a sprawling investigation into Russia’s attempts to sabotage the 2016 election and whether President Trump or any of his associates conspired with Moscow’s interference.
The release of the special counsel’s conclusions will culminate 22 months of work by Mr. Mueller and his handpicked team of prosecutors, but it could be just the beginning of a lengthy constitutional battlebetween Congress and the Justice Department about whether Mr. Mueller’s full report will be made public. Democrats have also called for the attorney general to turn over the report and all of the special counsel’s investigative files.
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WASHINGTON – Congress on Sunday got its first peak into what special counsel Robert Mueller found after years investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and any possible collusion with President Donald Trump's campaign.
The summary was compiled by Attorney General William Barr and put into a four-page sent to Congress. It was created after Barr spent days reading through Mueller's lengthy investigation, which was completed on Friday. It does not answer key questions that have hung over Trump's presidency, specifically whether the president committed the crime of obstruction of justice.
"While this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," the letter says on whether the president obstructed justice.
The report does conclude that the Trump campaign did not conspire with Russia during the 2016 election, according to the letter from Barr to Congress. It notes that Mueller's investigation found the campaign was given "multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign" but no one within the campaign or "anyone associated with it" conspired with Russia.
While the summary could help quell some of the questions and mystery surrounding the ultra-secretive report, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said they will push for a full disclosure of the report.
Mueller's report, which remains in the hands of Barr, marked the end of an investigation launched in secret months before Trump was elected, when the FBI began gathering clues that made them suspicious of aides to Trump's campaign.
The probe mushroomed to include whether the campaign coordinated with Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election, and whether the president himself attempted to obstruct it. And it produced a cascade of other criminal investigations targeting people around Trump, which have not yet concluded.
The investigation led to the indictment of 34 people and three companies on scores of charges. Dozens of Russian nationals were charged with hacking Democratic computers and spreading disinformation during the campaign. Several Trump aides were convicted of lying to Congress or investigators, or for campaign-finance violations or for tax and bank fraud.
Read Barr's letter to Congress in full below, outlining the conclusions of Mueller's investigation:
Dear Chairman Graham, Chairman Nadler, Ranking Member Feinstein, and Ranking Member Collins:
As a supplement to the notification provided on Friday, March 22, 2019, I am writing today to advise you of the principal conclusions reached by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller Ill and to inform you about the status of my initial review of the report he has prepared.
The Special Counsel's Report
On Friday, the Special Counsel submitted to me a "confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions" he has reached, as required by 28 C.F.R. 600.8(c). This report is entitled "Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election." Although my review is ongoing, I believe that it is in the public interest to describe the report and to summarize the principal conclusions reached by the Special Counsel and the results of his investigation.
The report explains that the Special Counsel and his staff thoroughly investigated allegations that members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump, and others associated with it, conspired with the Russian government in its efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, or sought to obstruct the related federal investigations. In the report, the Special Counsel noted that, in completing his investigation, he employed 19 lawyers who were assisted by a team of approximately 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants, and other professional staff. The Special Counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas, executed nearly 500 search warrants, obtained more than 230 orders for communication records, issued almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers, made 13 requests to foreign governments for evidence, and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses.
The Special Counsel obtained a number of indictments and convictions of individuals and entities in connection with his investigation, all of which have been publicly disclosed. During the course of his investigation, the Special Counsel also referred several matters to other offices for further action. The report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the Special Counsel obtain any sealed indictments that have yet to be made public. Below, I summarize the principal conclusions set out in the Special Counsel's report.
Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. The Special Counsel's report is divided into two parts. The first describes the results of the Special Counsel's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report outlines the Russian effort to influence the election and documents crimes committed by persons associated with the Russian government in connection with those efforts. The report further explains that a primary consideration for the Special Counsel's investigation was whether any Americans including individuals associated with the Trump campaign — joined the Russian conspiracies to influence the election, which would be a federal crime. The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As the report states: "[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. "l
The Special Counsel's investigation determined that there were two main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The first involved attempts by a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election. As noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated with the IRA in its efforts, although the Special Counsel brought criminal charges against a number of Russian nationals and entities in connection with these activities.
The second element involved the Russian government's efforts to conduct computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the election. The Special Counsel found that Russian government actors successfully hacked into computers and obtained emails from persons affiliated with the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party organizations, and publicly disseminated those materials through various intermediaries, including WikiLeaks. Based on these activities, the Special Counsel brought criminal charges against a number of Russian military officers for conspiring to hack into computers in the United States for purposes of influencing the election. But as noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that the Trump campaign, or anyone associated with it, conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in these efforts, despite multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.
1 In assessing potential conspiracy charges, the Special Counsel also considered whether members of the Trump campaign "coordinated" with Russian election interference activities. The Special Counsel defined "coordination" as an "agreement—tacit or express—between the Trump Camparusign and the Russian government on election interference."
Obstruction of Justice. The report's second part addresses a number of actions by the President — most of which have been the subject of public reporting — that the Special Counsel investigated as potentially raising obstruction-of-justice concerns. After making a "thorough factual investigation" into these matters, the Special Counsel considered whether to evaluate the conduct under Department standards governing prosecution and declination decisions but ultimately determined not to make a traditional prosecutorial judgment. The Special Counsel therefore did not draw a conclusion — one way or the other — as to whether the examined conduct constituted obstruction. Instead, for each of the relevant actions investigated, the report sets out evidence on both sides of the question and leaves unresolved what the Special Counsel views as "difficult issues" of law and fact concerning whether the President's actions and intent could be viewed as obstruction. The Special Counsel states that "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
The Special Counsel's decision to describe the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any legal conclusions leaves it to the Attorney General to determine whether the conduct described in the report constitutes a crime. Over the course of the investigation, the Special Counsel's office engaged in discussions with certain Department officials regarding many of the legal and factual matters at issue in the Special Counsel's obstruction investigation. After reviewing the Special Counsel's final report on these issues; consulting with Department officials, including the Office of Legal Counsel; and applying the principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decisions, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel's investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense. Our determination was made without regard to, and is not based on, the constitutional considerations that surround the indictment and criminal prosecution of a sitting president.[1]
In making this determination, we noted that the Special Counsel recognized that "the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference," and that, while not determinative, the absence of such evidence bears upon the President's intent with respect to obstruction. Generally speaking, to obtain and sustain an obstruction conviction, the government would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person, acting with corrupt intent, engaged in obstructive conduct with a sufficient nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding. In cataloguing the President's actions, many of which took place in public view, the report identifies no actions that, in our judgment, constitute obstructive conduct, had a nexus to a pending or contemplated proceeding, and were done with corrupt intent, each of which, under the Department's principles of federal prosecution guiding charging decisions, would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to establish an obstruction-ofjustice offense.
Status of the Department's Review
The relevant regulations contemplate that the Special Counsel's report will be a "confidential report" to the Attorney General. See Office of Special Counsel, 64 Fed. Reg. 37,038, 37,040-41 (July 9, 1999). As I have previously stated, however, I am mindful of the public interest in this matter. For that reason, my goal and intent is to release as much of the Special Counsel's report as I can consistent with applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.
Based on my discussions with the Special Counsel and my initial review, it is apparent that the report contains material that is or could be subject to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), which imposes restrictions on the use and disclosure of information relating to "matter[s] occurring before [a] grand jury." Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e)(2)(B). Rule 6(e) generally limits disclosure of certain grand jury information in a criminal investigation and prosecution. Id. Disclosure of 6(e) material beyond the strict limits set forth in the rule is a crime in certain circumstances. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C.
401 (3). This restriction protects the integrity of grand jury proceedings and ensures that the unique and invaluable investigative powers of a grand jury are used strictly for their intended criminal justice function.
Given these restrictions, the schedule for processing the report depends in part on how quickly the Department can identify the 6(e) material that by law cannot be made public. I have requested the assistance of the Special Counsel in identifying all 6(e) information contained in the report as quickly as possible. Separately, I also must identify any information that could impact other ongoing matters, including those that the Special Counsel has referred to other offices. As soon as that process is complete, I will be in a position to move forward expeditiously in determining what can be released in light of applicable law, regulations, and Departmental policies.
As I observed in my initial notification, the Special Counsel regulations provide that "the Attorney General may determine that public release of' notifications to your respective Committees "would be in the public interest." 28 C.F.R. 600.9(c). I have so determined, and I will disclose this letter to the public after delivering it to you.
[1] See A Sitting President 's Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution, 24 Op. O.L.C. 222 (2000).
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This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr will deliver to Congress on Sunday afternoon the main findings of the inquiry by Robert S. Mueller III, a Justice Department official said, just days after the conclusion of a sprawling investigation into Russia’s attempts to sabotage the 2016 election and whether President Trump or any of his associates conspired with Moscow’s interference.
The release of the special counsel’s conclusions will culminate 22 months of work by Mr. Mueller and his handpicked team of prosecutors, but it could be just the beginning of a lengthy constitutional battlebetween Congress and the Justice Department about whether Mr. Mueller’s full report will be made public. Democrats have also called for the attorney general to turn over the report and all of the special counsel’s investigative files.
The Russia investigation has buffeted the White House from the earliest days of the Trump administration, with numerous current and former aides to Mr. Trump brought for questioning to the special counsel’s warren of offices in a plain office building in downtown Washington. F.B.I. agents fanned out across the nation and traveled to numerous foreign countries. Witnesses were questioned by members of Mr. Mueller’s team at airports upon landing in the United States.
The report will bring closure for some who have obsessed over the myriad threads of a byzantine investigation. A cottage industry of Mueller watchers has spent months on social media and cable news debating thorny constitutional issues, spinning conspiracy theories and amassing encyclopedic details about once-obscure figures — Carter Page, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, George Papadopoulos and others.
How many minds it changes is another matter. Opinions have hardened over time, with many Americans already convinced they knew the answers before Mr. Mueller submitted his conclusions. Some believe that the special counsel’s previous indictments, twinned with voluminous news media reporting, have already shown a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Some believe that the investigation is, as Mr. Trump has long described it, a “witch hunt.”
Mr. Mueller’s work has proceeded in the face of blistering attacks by Mr. Trump and his allies, who painted the investigation as part of a relentless campaign by the “deep state” to reverse the results of the 2016 election.
Still, the release of Mr. Mueller’s findings could force a decision by Democrats on a simmering issue they have said would wait until the investigation’s end: whether to begin impeachment proceedings against the president. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has said it would not be “worth it” to try to impeach Mr. Trump, but suggested she could change her mind if an overwhelming bipartisan consensus emerged.
For months, the president and his lawyers have waged as much of a public-relations campaign as a legal one — trying to discredit the Mueller investigation to keep public opinion from swaying lawmakers to move against Mr. Trump.
The Justice Department regulations governing the Mueller inquiry only required the special counsel to give a succinct, confidential report to the attorney general explaining his decisions to either seek — or decline to seek — further criminal charges. Mr. Mueller operated under tighter restrictions than similar past inquiries, notably the investigation of President Clinton by Ken Starr, who ended up delivering a 445-page report in 1998 that contained lascivious details about an affair the president had with a White House intern.
Mr. Mueller was still given a wide mandate — to investigate not only Russian election interference but “any matters that may arise directly from that investigation.” Mr. Mueller has farmed out numerous aspects of his inquiry to several United States attorneys’ offices, and those investigations continue.
Mr. Mueller will not recommend new indictments, a senior Justice Department official said on Friday, ending speculation that he might charge some of Mr. Trump’s aides in the future. The Justice Department’s general practice is not to identify the targets of its investigations if prosecutors decide not to bring charges, so as not to tarnish their reputations. Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, emphasized this point in a speech last month.
“It’s important,” Mr. Rosenstein said, “for government officials to refrain from making allegations of wrongdoing when they’re not backed by charges that we aren’t prepared to prove in court.”
Read the whole story
· · · · · · · ·
Read the whole story
· · · · · · · ·
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr will deliver to Congress on Sunday afternoon the main findings of the inquiry by Robert S. Mueller III, a Justice Department official said, just days after the conclusion of a sprawling investigation into Russia’s attempts to sabotage the 2016 election and whether President Trump or any of his associates conspired with Moscow’s interference.
The release of the special counsel’s conclusions will culminate 22 months of work by Mr. Mueller and his handpicked team of prosecutors, but it could be just the beginning of a lengthy constitutional battlebetween Congress and the Justice Department about whether Mr. Mueller’s full report will be made public. Democrats have also called for the attorney general to turn over the report and all of the special counsel’s investigative files.
The Russia investigation has buffeted the White House from the earliest days of the Trump administration, with numerous current and former aides to Mr. Trump brought for questioning to the special counsel’s warren of offices in a plain office building in downtown Washington. F.B.I. agents fanned out across the nation and traveled to numerous foreign countries. Witnesses were questioned by members of Mr. Mueller’s team at airports upon landing in the United States.
The report will bring closure for some who have obsessed over the myriad threads of a byzantine investigation. A cottage industry of Mueller watchers has spent months on social media and cable news debating thorny constitutional issues, spinning conspiracy theories and amassing encyclopedic details about once-obscure figures — Carter Page, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, George Papadopoulos and others.
How many minds it changes is another matter. Opinions have hardened over time, with many Americans already convinced they knew the answers before Mr. Mueller submitted his conclusions. Some believe that the special counsel’s previous indictments, twinned with voluminous news media reporting, have already shown a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. Some believe that the investigation is, as Mr. Trump has long described it, a “witch hunt.”
Mr. Mueller’s work has proceeded in the face of blistering attacks by Mr. Trump and his allies, who painted the investigation as part of a relentless campaign by the “deep state” to reverse the results of the 2016 election.
Still, the release of Mr. Mueller’s findings could force a decision by Democrats on a simmering issue they have said would wait until the investigation’s end: whether to begin impeachment proceedings against the president. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California has said it would not be “worth it” to try to impeach Mr. Trump, but suggested she could change her mind if an overwhelming bipartisan consensus emerged.
For months, the president and his lawyers have waged as much of a public-relations campaign as a legal one — trying to discredit the Mueller investigation to keep public opinion from swaying lawmakers to move against Mr. Trump.
The Justice Department regulations governing the Mueller inquiry only required the special counsel to give a succinct, confidential report to the attorney general explaining his decisions to either seek — or decline to seek — further criminal charges. Mr. Mueller operated under tighter restrictions than similar past inquiries, notably the investigation of President Clinton by Ken Starr, who ended up delivering a 445-page report in 1998 that contained lascivious details about an affair the president had with a White House intern.
Mr. Mueller was still given a wide mandate — to investigate not only Russian election interference but “any matters that may arise directly from that investigation.” Mr. Mueller has farmed out numerous aspects of his inquiry to several United States attorneys’ offices, and those investigations continue.
Mr. Mueller will not recommend new indictments, a senior Justice Department official said on Friday, ending speculation that he might charge some of Mr. Trump’s aides in the future. The Justice Department’s general practice is not to identify the targets of its investigations if prosecutors decide not to bring charges, so as not to tarnish their reputations. Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, emphasized this point in a speech last month.
“It’s important,” Mr. Rosenstein said, “for government officials to refrain from making allegations of wrongdoing when they’re not backed by charges that we aren’t prepared to prove in court.”
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Was he smart and was he tough?
What will say his epitaph?
Putin Rex
"Властитель слабый и лукавый..." - Putin, the producer of Fake News (and also Fake Ideas and Fake Emotions). Putin is a Big Russian Fake himself; the National Treasure in this respect. Give him fines non-stop 24X7, and bring the criminal charges too, for the blatant disrespect to Humanity and perpetual, sick, pathological lies on the grandest possible scale. "He thought of himself as the Russian XXI Century Cesar but he was a Big Liar and a Big Pretender although a bad actor, and it showed." That's what his epitaph will say, methinks. M.N.
12:43 PM 3/19/2019
I
Властитель слабый и лукавый,
Плешивый щеголь, враг труда,
Нечаянно пригретый славой,
Над нами царствовал тогда.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
|
Russia has banned fake news, while also being one of the world's prime exporters of fake news Business Insider
Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a new law that heavily fines those who spread those who spread what the state decides is fake news. Russia is one of ...
23 hours ago - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a set of bills that will make it ... non-free) courts from the game,” Maria Snegovaya, an adjunct fellow at the ... authority to determine that any speech is unacceptable under the new law.” ... or groups to call for public protest activity against any action taken by the state.”.
20 hours ago - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a series of bills that would ... fines of up to 1.5 million rubles under the new legislation, according to reports. ... Free speech advocates have warned the laws could repress political speech, ... Press advocates say that laws against "fake news" are used by governments to
6 hours ago - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed two censorship bills into law Monday. ... Insults against Putin himself can be punished under the law, The Moscow Times ... White House Says Anonymous 'Coward' Behind New York Times Op-Ed ..... Public Service Announcement [xkcd.com]: The right to free speech means the ...
23 hours ago - Websites that fail to comply with the new rule will be blocked Credit: Yuri Kadobnov/Pool ... Mr Putin signed off on the legislation against the advice of human rights activists, ... and would be abused to further crack down on freedom of speech.
5 hours ago - Putin signed off on the legislation against the advice of human rights activists, who warned the laws ... to censorship and would be abused to further crack down on freedom of speech. ... Even the usually pliant media criticized the new laws.
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Mueller Delivers Report on Russia Investigation to Attorney General Friday March... by <a href="http://fbrss.com" rel="nofollow">fbrss.com</a>
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M.N.: My humble opinion which I think coincides with the majority opinion of thi... by <a href="http://fbrss.com" rel="nofollow">fbrss.com</a>
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The Crown Prince of Trumpistan
Imagine a preeminent White House official who is unqualified, incompetent, and contemptuous of the law. Or who conceals his contacts with foreign officials, is targeted for exploitation by foreign intelligence services because of his naïveté and lack of ethics, and…
Imagine a preeminent White House official who is unqualified, incompetent, and contemptuous of the law. Or who conceals his contacts with foreign officials, is targeted for exploitation by foreign intelligence services because of his naïveté and lack of ethics, and…
No new indictments: Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is done
Robert Mueller's latest service to America is all but complete. But the reverberations from his yet-to-be-revealed report could amount to inestimable political and constitutional consequences.The conclusion of the special counsel's investigation was an important landmark in itself, at a moment in Am...
Robert Mueller's latest service to America is all but complete. But the reverberations from his yet-to-be-revealed report could amount to inestimable political and constitutional consequences.The conclusion of the special counsel's investigation was an important landmark in itself, at a moment in Am...
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