WASHINGTON (AP) – Since the Justice Department announced that Robert Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, President Donald Trump has urged…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Since the Justice Department announced that Robert Mueller found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia, President Donald Trump has urged Americans to toss the whole Russia investigation aside as a waste of time.
It’s true the special counsel didn’t find an agreement between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government to influence the 2016 election, and he decided not to make a call on whether the president obstructed justice. But Mueller did find other crimes – including some committed by people close to the president – and he exposed a coordinated assault on American democracy aimed at helping Trump win.
Over a 22-month investigation, the special counsel’s team put together perhaps the most definitive story of the Trump campaign and Russia.
As Attorney General William Barr decides how much the public will get to see of Mueller’s confidential report, here’s a guide to what the special counsel has revealed so far.
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RUSSIA TRIED TO HELP TRUMP
The Kremlin directed a large-scale effort to help Trump during the 2016 election.
According to U. S. intelligence agencies and lengthy indictments brought by Mueller’s team, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a multipart influence campaign aimed at hurting Democrat Hillary Clinton’s candidacy, undermining American democracy and helping Trump get elected.
That effort included the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, Clinton’s campaign and other Democratic groups. Russian intelligence officers then coordinated the release of stolen emails and internal documents using the false online personas Guccifer 2.0 and DCLeaks, and later the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.
While the hacking was being carried out, Mueller has also accused a Russian troll farm, known as the Internet Research Agency, of using fake social media accounts to flood the American public with disinformation. That social media effort began in 2014 with a goal of sowing discord by trumpeting extreme positions on divisive political issues. But as the presidential campaign progressed, the Mueller team says the effort began supporting Trump and disparaging Clinton.
WikiLeaks has denied that Russia was the direct source of the material it released. One defendant in the troll farm case has denied the allegations.
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PEOPLE AROUND TRUMP WERE RECEPTIVE TO THE HELP
Donald Trump Jr., Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone and Trump himself all sought to benefit politically from Russia’s efforts.
In the middle of the campaign, Trump Jr. took a meeting at Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer thinking he would be getting “dirt” on Clinton. Trump Jr. agreed to the meeting, which included Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, despite it being described to him as part of a Russian government effort to help his father.
