Reality Check; The Mueller Report

The following is based upon information and conclusions contained in the “Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election” dated March of 2019, aka The Mueller Report.  I will pose questions with answers and bullet points to provide a foundation for each answer.  Most of the information below came directly from the report.  Some statements are summarizations of material gathered from the report.

1.  Did Russia interfere with our election and did Trump operatives work with foreign nationals to influence the election outcome?  Answer, Yes.

• ·       The Internet Research Agency (IRA), based in St. Petersburg, Russia, is funded by Yevgeniy Prigozhin who is directly tied to Vladimir Putin.
• ·       The IRA sent employees to the U.S. for intelligence-gathering and later used information warfare techniques to undermine the U.S. electoral system.
• ·       The IRA used fake social media accounts to spread misinformation that helped the Trump campaign and harmed the Clinton campaign.
• ·       The IRA, in coordination with the GRU (Russian intelligence agency), hacked email accounts, and documents of the Clinton campaign.
• ·       Russian operatives had multiple contacts with members of the Trump campaign.  The list of individuals with Russian contacts and meetings includes Michael Cohen, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner, Carter Page, Steve Bannon, and Michael Flynn.  There were no found recordings of these contacts but several of these individuals were found to have lied under oath about these Russian encounters.
• ·       There was not enough evidence of a direct conspiracy between Russian intelligence officers and Trump campaign officials to either bring conspiracy charges or find that the Trump officials were unregistered agents of the Russian government.  Several  of these Trump officials (Manafort, Flynn, & Cohen) did, however, lie under oath in this regard and were found guilty.

2.  Were there Federal election-law violations?  Answer, Yes.

• ·       Foreign nationals are prohibited from providing “anything of value” that would influence an election.
• ·       Americans may not solicit, accept, or receive any such illegal foreign national support regarding an election.
• ·       Donald Trump solicited, in his famous “Russia, if you are listening..” speech, the cooperation of Russia to benefit his campaign.
• ·       Donald Trump, Jr., actively participated in a meeting with Russian operatives when he was promised “dirt” on the Hillary Clinton campaign.

3. (a)  Did the Trump campaign collude with Russia?  Answer, Yes.

3. (b)  Did the Trump campaign break the law by colluding with Russia?  Answer, Probably.

• ·       Collusion defined: “secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy, especially in order to cheat or deceive others.”
• ·       See the section above on violations of Federal election-law for clarification of collusion with Russia “probably” being in violation of the law.
• ·       It is correct that federal campaign finance laws, which prohibit activity undertaken by foreign nationals to influence elections, do not refer to collusion.  That does not mean, by inference, that they do not directly address activities of the kind in which the Trump campaign reportedly engaged in encouraging and supporting the Russian electoral intervention of 2016.

4.  Did Donald J. Trump obstruct justice during the investigation into the Russian interference with our 2016 election and in so doing did he commit multiple felonies?  Answer, Yes.

• ·        Obstructive act defined: Obstruction-of-justice law "reaches all corrupt conduct capable of producing an effect that prevents justice from being duly administered, regardless of the means employed."  Further, “an effort to influence" a proceeding can qualify as an endeavor to obstruct justice even if the effort was "subtle or circuitous" and "however cleverly or with whatever cloaking of purpose" it was made.
• ·       Over 400 former federal prosecutors, Democrats and Republicans signed a letter that stated that Trump would be charged with multiple felonies for obstruction of justice if he were not the president.
• ·       Page 7 of Volume I of the Mueller Report states that “the President engaged in a second phase of conduct, involving public attacks on the investigation, non-public efforts to control it, and efforts in both public and private to encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation.”
• ·       Page 8 of Volume I of the Mueller Report states that “Under applicable Supreme Court precedent, the Constitution does not categorically and permanently immunize a President for obstructing justice through the use of his Article II powers.  The separation-of-powers doctrine authorizes Congress to protect official proceedings, including those of courts and grand juries, from corrupt, obstructive acts regardless of their source.”
• ·       One of the more egregious examples of obstruction came when Trump ordered White House Counsel Don McGahn to say that he never ordered him to fire the Special Counsel.  He was later asked to place a “letter on file” that would deny that the president had sought to fire the Special Counsel.  McGahn again refused.  These actions by the president “qualify as an obstructive act.”  [page 118 Mueller Report]  

This is not a comprehensive analysis of the 400+ page Mueller Report but it highlights some of the points with which all Americans should be aware.  It is understandable that some people are confused as to what is actually in the report.  In an interview with a Republican that attended a town hall meeting recently where they discussed some of the matters mentioned above, that individual said she had no idea that the report even suggested that Trump may have committed crimes. She then admitted that she only watched conservative news sources.

People should know that, contrary to statements repeated in soundbites and in Tweets, the President of the United States committed crimes before and after he was sworn into office.  He has lied to the American public about those crimes in his attempted coverup.  In many instances, he has hired or appointed individuals who share his beliefs and carry out his bidding even when it violates the law.  When some of those individuals refused to carry out his bidding, they were fired, disgraced, and vilified.  The rogues' gallery of characters mentioned in the Mueller Report and who were within the president's selected support group, reads like a casting call for a new Godfather movie.  When it comes to moral turpitude in the political arena, the bar has been set very low in recent years.  With this president, that bar has been buried in the sand. 

You don't have to take my word for all of this, read the report for yourselves.  This link features two PDF's that are word searchable.  Portions of the report are redacted but there is enough still visible to draw your own conclusions about the legality and morality of this president.  Remember, the report was written by a Republican who was selected by another Republican.  The Mueller Report was written as part of an investigation into Russian influence in our election process and coincidentally found evidence of corruption, obstruction of justice, bank fraud, witness tampering, and several unregistered foreign (Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine) agents.  


The chart below was pulled from a New York Times article published in February of 2018.  The list is not up to date but is offered as an example and proof of the fact that the "witch hunt" bagged a few witches.

Charged by the special counsel Guilty Charged		Charges
	Paul ManafortFormer campaign chairman	Tax evasion, bank fraud, failure to disclose a foreign bank account and witness tampering.	Sentenced to 7.5 years in prisonMarch 13
	Roger J. Stone Jr.Longtime informal adviser to Mr. Trump	Obstruction of an official proceeding, making false statements and witness tampering	ChargedJan. 24
	Michael D. CohenMr. Trump’s former lawyer	Lying to Congress (pleaded guilty Nov. 29, 2018)	Sentenced to 3 years in prisonDec. 12, 2018
	Richard PinedoCalifornia man who sold bank accounts online	Identity fraud (pleaded guiltyFeb. 12, 2018)	Sentenced to six months in prisonOct. 10, 2018
	George PapadopoulosFormer campaign adviser	Lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with people he believed were working on behalf of Russians (pleaded guilty Oct. 5, 2017)	Sentenced to 14 days in prisonSept. 7, 2018
	Twelve Russian intelligence officers	Conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States, identity theft, conspiracy to launder money	ChargedJuly 13, 2018
	Konstantin V. KilimnikRussian Army-trained linguist and associate of Mr. Manafort	Obstruction of justice	ChargedJune 8, 2018
	Alex van der ZwaanLawyer who worked with Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates	Lying to investigators about conversations with Mr. Gates (pleaded guilty Feb. 20, 2018)	Sentenced to 30 days in prisonApril 3, 2018
	Rick GatesFormer campaign adviser	Financial fraud and lying to the F.B.I.	Pleaded guiltyFeb. 23, 2018
	Thirteen Russian nationalsand three related companies	Conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to commit bank fraud, identity theft	ChargedFeb. 16, 2018
	Michael T. FlynnFormer national security adviser	Lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with the Russian ambassador	Pleaded guiltyDec. 1, 2017

Charged in related cases Guilty Charged		Charges
	Stephen M. CalkChairman of Chicago bank	Issued loans in an effort to obtain a position in the Trump administration	ChargedUnsealed May 23
	Maria ButinaAlleged Russian agent	Conspiring to act as a foreign agent	Sentenced to 18 months in prisonApril 26
	Gregory B. CraigWhite House counsel in Obama administration	False statements to the Justice Department about work he did in 2012 for the Russia-aligned government of Ukraine	ChargedApril 11
	Paul ManafortFormer campaign chairman	Mortgage fraud and more than a dozen other state charges	ChargedUnsealed March 13
	Bijan KianFormer business associate of Michael T. Flynn	Conspiracy to violate federal lobbying rules	ChargedDec. 17, 2018
	Ekim AlptekinFormer business associate of Michael T. Flynn	Conspiracy to violate federal lobbying rules and lying to F.B.I.	ChargedDec. 17, 2018
	Michael D. CohenMr. Trump’s former lawyer	Tax evasion, bank fraud, campaign finance violations (pleaded guilty Aug. 21, 2018)	Sentenced to 3 years in prisonDec. 12, 2018
	Sam PattenLobbyist linked to Konstantin V. Kilimnik	Failing to register to work as an agent of a foreign power	Pleaded guiltyAug. 31, 2018