A and B. GRU Hacking and Dissemination of the Hacked Materials

pp 36 – 49

It looks like Jerrold Nadler plans to make the Mueller report a central part of the leadup to impeachment proceedings, so we should continue to pay attention to it. I was concerned that it would go on the ever-mounting pile of Donald Trump’s misdeeds and fade from sight. With Nadler subpoenaing the materials behind the report, we will be hearing more about it. Lawfare continues to produce their podcasts. Here are Part II and Part III.

Section III is long. I am going to take it a bit at a time. We are now getting into the part of the report that describes how the Russians interfered in the 2016 election and how the Trump campaign interacted with them. Read More

(pp 14-35)

Much of this chapter is redacted under “Harm to Ongoing Matter,” (HOM) presumably referring to the court case against 13 employees of the Internet Research Agency (IRA). A few redactions are labeled “Personal Privacy” (PP) and “Investigative Technique,” (IT) and there seems no need to try to decipher them.

The unredacted part of the chapter is a story that has appeared in the news many times. I’ll outline it and provide a few juicy quotes. Read More

1. The Special Counsel’s Investigation (pages 11-13)

This section lays the basis for and scope of the investigation. It first cites Rod Rosenstein’s Appointment Order. (The report uses more capitalization than I usually do. It is helpful in pointing to specific documents.) The subjects of investigation are:

(i) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump; and

(ii) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation; and

(iii) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a).

The last covers “federal crimes committed in the course of, and with intent to interfere with, the Special Counsel’s investigation, such as perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses.” It also covers similar crimes committed during the FBI’s investigation that was wrapped into the Special Counsel’s investigation. Read More

The Introduction puts the important conclusion right up front.

The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.

That’s a stark way to begin, followed by a quick summary of the major events of the Russian campaign and the American response. Obviously Muller intends that conclusion as a takeaway. Read More

Robert Mueller has told us all to read his report. So I propose to summarize parts of it, highlight what seems to me to be important, and add in some background.

I will take it in relatively small sections, starting at the beginning and going through to the end. I am also posting at Balloon Juice, where there will be much more commentary.

I’ll try to do two posts a week or more – 400 pages will be a lot to get through.

I’m looking for the big picture rather than details of who was at which meeting on which day, but those details will sometimes reveal parts of the big picture, so there will be some of both. It’s also important to understand what Mueller says about how he and his team see their work.

I downloaded the Department of Justice’s version. The site takes some time to load, so it’s easier to have it on my computer. There are a number of versions available, and podcast readings of it as well.