We Still Don’t Know Anything About Mueller’s Counterintelligence Findings – Mother Jones - Sunday March 31st, 2019 at 3:32 AM
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We Still Don’t Know Anything About Mueller’s Counterintelligence Findings – Mother Jones Sunday March 31st, 2019 at 3:32 AM Mother Jones - Post
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U.S. House Select Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calf.) speaks as ranking member Devin Nunes (R-CA) looks on. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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The results of a key part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation were excluded from the four-page letter that Attorney General William Barr sent to Congress, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said during a hearing on Thursday.
Since Barr’s released his letter on Sunday, Republicans have asserted it clears President Donald Trump of suspicion that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. Barr wrote that Mueller’s investigation “did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.”
Democrats and many independent critics call Barr’s summary wildly insufficient. The New York Timesreported on Thursday that the Mueller report is more than 300 pages long. That length suggests that Barr may have left out of his summary significant information that reflects negatively on Trump. Barr’s letter also narrowed the definition of coordination or conspiracy in various ways, critics note. Barr, for instance, did not say if Mueller determined whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russians nominally outside the government—such as Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Kremlin-linked lawyer who offered the Trump campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton—or with other with other foreign entities, such as WikiLeaks or Middle Eastern governments.
Schiff also pointed out Thursday that Congress and the public have not received any indications about the results of a counterintelligence investigation launched under former FBI Director James Comey and taken over by Mueller. Unlike criminal investigations, which seek to determine whether individuals violated laws and should be prosecuted, counterintelligence investigations aim to protect national security by detecting and countering foreign intelligence efforts.
In addition to investigating multiple Trump campaign aides, the FBI reportedly opened a counterintelligence investigation in 2017 into whether Trump himself acted, wittingly or unwittingly, as a Russian agent.
“We do not yet know the results of the counterintelligence investigation led by Comey and then Mueller,” Schiff said in an opening statement at a hearing on the Kremlin’s use of financial intelligence and other means to further its intelligence efforts. “It is not clear whether, or to what extent, the Mueller report, which is focused on prosecutorial decisions, will even discuss counterintelligence findings.”
Schiff argued that the counterintelligence issues “may ultimately have the more profound impact on our security and policy” than other parts of Mueller’s probe.
Republican members of the committee, echoing Trump tweets, used the hearing to call for Schiff to step down as the panel’s chairman. In a letter released during the hearing, the nine GOP members of the panel charged that Schiff had misrepresented classified information in public statements and suggested that he had leaked confidential committee information. The Republicans claimed that the Mueller report, which they have not seen, refutes Schiff’s claims that there is evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. They told Schiff that they “have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your Constitutional duty and urge your immediate resignation as Chairman of this Committee.”
Schiff responded by noting that the many publicly known contacts between Trump allies and Russian emissaries—such as the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between Veselnitskaya and key Trump aides—show the Trump campaign was willing to work with Russia in 2016. He added that Trump and members of his campaign did not report Russian overtures to the FBI and that they repeatedly lied about the contacts. “I think it’s immoral,” Schiff said. “I think it’s unethical. I think it’s unpatriotic. And yes, I think it’s corrupt and evidence of collusion.”
Intelligence committee Republicans in 2017 launched a limited investigation into Trump and Russia. While they interviewed many people, they declined to use their subpoena power to check the claims of witnesses; allowed the White House to dictate terms of many the panel’s interviews; and prematurely ended the probe last year, Democrats say.
The committee’s former chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) was forced to step aside from leading the probe due to suspicions that he made “unauthorized disclosures of classified information” to the White House. Nunes appeared to have tried to manipulate committee findings to bolster Trump’s baseless claim that former President Barack Obama ordered the US intelligence community to wiretap Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign. The House Ethics Committee last year clearedNunes of allegations that he disclosed classified information or violated House rules. Nunes was among the signers of the GOP letter on Thursday.
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We Still Don't Know Anything About Mueller's Counterintelligence Findings Mother Jones
The results of a key part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation were excluded from the four-page letter that Attorney General William Barr sent to ...
WASHINGTON (SBG) - Former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper are now the targets of legal action - a quest for more information about their alleged role in the inception of the Russia investigation.
Lawsuit increases likelihood of new investigation...into the Russia investigation
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The lawsuit, filed by he conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, asks for “all records of communication" including "emails, text messages and instant chats from the offices of the C.I.A". and "the DNI James Clapper regarding memos known as the 'Steele dossier'" and "representatives and contractors of CNN."
“For the last two and a half years people have been having their arms and screaming collusion conspiracy,” said Chris Farrell, the Director of Investigations and Research at Judicial Watch in an interview Friday. He said the central question is: How did we get here?
Who advanced this entire initiative? This narrative? Who was orchestrating things. These are powerful government officials. Are they running around peddling stories to CNN?” he said.
Some GOP lawmakers are echoing calls for a new investigation.
“Maybe we should investigate who faked this whole Russian hoax. Who dredged it up? Did they break any laws in doing it?” said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
But as expected, Democrats have a different take. They’re insisting the full Mueller report be made public, which is now expected to happen in mid-April.
Many Democrats also say calls for a new investigation are a distraction.
"They’ve shown no willingness to drop the subject. It’s like Groundhog Day with them," said Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky.
“The fact that they continue to double down their conspiracy theories but want to block the results of a 22 month investigation is just ridiculous,” said Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich.
Now that Robert Mueller’s investigation has ended, there are renewed calls to find out how it started in the first place.
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Lawsuit increases likelihood of new investigation...into the Russia investigation WCTI12.com
WASHINGTON (SBG) - Former CIA Director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper are now the targets of legal action - a ...
U.S. ambassador and sanctions cause drop in German-Iran trade The Jerusalem Post
NEW YORK – An assertive anti-Iranian regime policy by the US Ambassador to Germany and American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran's ...
Quote:
Mueller report: No Russia conspiracy, no answer on obstruction by Trump
USA Today
Barr: Mueller report finds no [CHARGEABLE?!-M.N.] collusion between Trump and Russia
Countries other than Russia in Mueller report and investigation - GS
Countries other than Russia could be swept up in the fallout from Mueller report | Columns Sunday March 31st, 2019 at 2:07 AM Www.Fredericknewspost.Com - Post
"After two years and some 2,800 subpoenas, all we’ve gotten from gatekeeper Barr about the Mueller report is a declaration akin to telling us the earth isn’t flat: Trump didn’t work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the 2016 election.
However, there’s a good chance
Mueller stumbled onto more interesting, non-Russian influence that has yet to be fully revealed."
USA Today
Barr: Mueller report finds no [CHARGEABLE?!-M.N.] collusion between Trump and Russia
Countries other than Russia in Mueller report and investigation - GS
Countries other than Russia could be swept up in the fallout from Mueller report | Columns Sunday March 31st, 2019 at 2:07 AM Www.Fredericknewspost.Com - Post
“The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” That’s the bottom line of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary released last weekend by U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
What exactly are these alleged Russian interference activities? Barr mentioned only two in his summary.
The first consisted of a bunch of internet trolls in Russia allegedly creating advertisements and graphics for consumption on social media, characterized by Barr as “designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election.” The second involves Russian hackers allegedly hacking into Democratic National Committee computers and disseminating internal communications that laid bare the backstabbing within the Democratic Party, including how DNC members conspired against Hillary Clinton’s rival in the Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders.
Mueller had previously charged a bunch of Russians for these alleged activities, from online trolls to military intelligence officers. But let’s face it: It’s unlikely that any of these accused Russians will ever set foot in an American courtroom. Therefore, any evidence upon which allegations of Russian election interference are based will never be tested. This is critical, particularly in the cyber world, since leaked CIA documents have revealed that intelligence agencies can spoof the origin of an attack to make it look like it came from a different country than the one that actually perpetrated it.
So, at the end of the Mueller investigation, we have some unprovable online hacking as the basis for allegations of electoral interference (attributed to the Russian government anyway), coupled with the inability to link President Donald Trump to its coordination.
When the alleged interference could feasibly have originated in any nation-state with an intelligence agency, perhaps the investigation never should have been launched in the first place. Unless, of course, one believes that a handful of Russian trolls who were churning out laughable ads for Facebook and Instagram actually managed to convince anyone of anything they didn’t already believe — let alone that they managed to swing an election in a country of nearly 330 million people.
What if America has been dragged through this entire drama, bombarded with “Russia, Russia, Russia” for the past few years, only to learn that any collusion lay elsewhere — but that it fell outside of Mueller’s principal (and relatively narrow) “Russian collusion” investigative mission?
There’s an interesting line in Barr’s summary: “During the course of his investigation, the Special Counsel also referred several matters to other offices for further action.”
Mueller’s original mandate, according to acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, was to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” but also “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
It’s likely that matters falling outside the sphere of direct contact between the Trump campaign and members of the Russian government were farmed out by Mueller to the offices of other prosecutors, and that these cases could involve coordination with representatives of foreign governments other than Russia.
Heavily redacted documents from some of Mueller’s court filings suggest that there are other cases involving foreign entities to which we aren’t yet privy. Documentation regarding the foreign lobbying efforts of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and information about meetings that took place at Trump Tower involving Trump campaign members and representatives of foreign nations could fit within this category. There’s also evidence of a meeting at Trump Tower in December 2016 between Flynn and the leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has hardly made a secret of his interest in shaping the Middle East in favor of allies Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to the detriment of Iran.
Consider some of Trump’s decisions and policies since taking office: hostility toward Iran, recognition of Israel’s claim on the Golan Heights, moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and brushing off the bone-sawing of a member of the U.S. media inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey while the CIA pins responsibility on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Does this look like Russian collusion to you? Or does it seem as if the real foreign influence could lie elsewhere?
After two years and some 2,800 subpoenas, all we’ve gotten from gatekeeper Barr about the Mueller report is a declaration akin to telling us the earth isn’t flat: Trump didn’t work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the 2016 election.
However, there’s a good chance Mueller stumbled onto more interesting, non-Russian influence that has yet to be fully revealed.
Rachel Marsden is a columnist, political strategist and former Fox News host based in Paris. She is the host of the syndicated talk show “Unredacted With Rachel Marsden” Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Eastern. Her website can be found at <a href="http://www. " rel="nofollow">www. </a>rachelmarsden.com.
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· · · · · · · ·
Countries other than Russia could be swept up in the fallout from Mueller report Frederick News Post
The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference ...
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Read the whole story
· · · · ·
“The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” That’s the bottom line of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, according to a summary released last weekend by U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
What exactly are these alleged Russian interference activities? Barr mentioned only two in his summary.
The first consisted of a bunch of internet trolls in Russia allegedly creating advertisements and graphics for consumption on social media, characterized by Barr as “designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election.” The second involves Russian hackers allegedly hacking into Democratic National Committee computers and disseminating internal communications that laid bare the backstabbing within the Democratic Party, including how DNC members conspired against Hillary Clinton’s rival in the Democratic primaries, Bernie Sanders.
Mueller had previously charged a bunch of Russians for these alleged activities, from online trolls to military intelligence officers. But let’s face it: It’s unlikely that any of these accused Russians will ever set foot in an American courtroom. Therefore, any evidence upon which allegations of Russian election interference are based will never be tested. This is critical, particularly in the cyber world, since leaked CIA documents have revealed that intelligence agencies can spoof the origin of an attack to make it look like it came from a different country than the one that actually perpetrated it.
So, at the end of the Mueller investigation, we have some unprovable online hacking as the basis for allegations of electoral interference (attributed to the Russian government anyway), coupled with the inability to link President Donald Trump to its coordination.
When the alleged interference could feasibly have originated in any nation-state with an intelligence agency, perhaps the investigation never should have been launched in the first place. Unless, of course, one believes that a handful of Russian trolls who were churning out laughable ads for Facebook and Instagram actually managed to convince anyone of anything they didn’t already believe — let alone that they managed to swing an election in a country of nearly 330 million people.
What if America has been dragged through this entire drama, bombarded with “Russia, Russia, Russia” for the past few years, only to learn that any collusion lay elsewhere — but that it fell outside of Mueller’s principal (and relatively narrow) “Russian collusion” investigative mission?
There’s an interesting line in Barr’s summary: “During the course of his investigation, the Special Counsel also referred several matters to other offices for further action.”
Mueller’s original mandate, according to acting Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, was to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump,” but also “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
It’s likely that matters falling outside the sphere of direct contact between the Trump campaign and members of the Russian government were farmed out by Mueller to the offices of other prosecutors, and that these cases could involve coordination with representatives of foreign governments other than Russia.
Heavily redacted documents from some of Mueller’s court filings suggest that there are other cases involving foreign entities to which we aren’t yet privy. Documentation regarding the foreign lobbying efforts of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and information about meetings that took place at Trump Tower involving Trump campaign members and representatives of foreign nations could fit within this category. There’s also evidence of a meeting at Trump Tower in December 2016 between Flynn and the leader of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has hardly made a secret of his interest in shaping the Middle East in favor of allies Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, to the detriment of Iran.
Consider some of Trump’s decisions and policies since taking office: hostility toward Iran, recognition of Israel’s claim on the Golan Heights, moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and brushing off the bone-sawing of a member of the U.S. media inside a Saudi consulate in Turkey while the CIA pins responsibility on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Does this look like Russian collusion to you? Or does it seem as if the real foreign influence could lie elsewhere?
After two years and some 2,800 subpoenas, all we’ve gotten from gatekeeper Barr about the Mueller report is a declaration akin to telling us the earth isn’t flat: Trump didn’t work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the 2016 election.
However, there’s a good chance Mueller stumbled onto more interesting, non-Russian influence that has yet to be fully revealed.
Rachel Marsden is a columnist, political strategist and former Fox News host based in Paris. She is the host of the syndicated talk show “Unredacted With Rachel Marsden” Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Eastern. Her website can be found at www. rachelmarsden.com.
Read the whole story
· · ·
Countries other than Russia could be swept up in the fallout from Mueller report Frederick News Post
The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference ...
Attorney General Barr says he'll make Mueller report public by mid-April by CBSNewsOnline Sunday March 31st, 2019 at 1:36 AM - Post
Attorney General William Barr said he will make a redacted version of the Mueller report public by mid-April. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said he wants it by Tuesday. Julia Manchester, a reporter at The Hill, joined CBSN to break down the week in politics.
Attorney General William Barr said he will make a redacted version of the Mueller report public by mid-April. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler said he wants it by Tuesday. Julia Manchester, a reporter at The Hill, joined CBSN to break down the week in politics.
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