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CrowdStrikeOut: Mueller’s Own Report Undercuts Its Core Russia-Meddling Claims


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crowdstrikeout_muellers_own_report_undercuts_its_core_russia-meddling_claims.html

Aaron Maté

July 5, 2019

At a May press conference capping his tenure as special counsel, Robert Mueller emphasized what he called "the central allegation" of the two-year Russia probe. The Russian government, Mueller sternly declared, engaged in "multiple, systematic efforts to interfere in our election, and that allegation deserves the attention of every American." Mueller's comments echoed a January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) asserting with "high confidence" that Russia conducted a sweeping 2016 election influence campaign. "I don't think we've ever encountered a more aggressive or direct campaign to interfere in our election process," then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate hearing.

While the 448-page Mueller report found no conspiracy between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, it offered voluminous details to support the sweeping conclusion that the Kremlin worked to secure Trump's victory. The report claims that the interference operation occurred "principally" on two fronts: Russian military intelligence officers hacked and leaked embarrassing Democratic Party documents, and a government-linked troll farm orchestrated a sophisticated and far-reaching social media campaign that denigrated Hillary Clinton and promoted Trump.

But a close examination of the report shows that none of those headline assertions are supported by the report’s evidence or other publicly available sources. They are further undercut by investigative shortcomings and the conflicts of interest of key players involved: 

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July 5 2019

The Real Clear Politics report claims Mueller's team relied on a 'private contractor for the Democratic National Committee'; reaction from Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, Republican member of the House Judiciary Committee, and former Watergate prosecutor Jon Sale.

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How Having Mueller’s No. 2 Testify To Congress Will Hurt Democrats More Than Trump

Soon after the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees announced that Robert Mueller had agreed to testify on July 17, 2019, news broke that following the public questioning of the former special counsel, committee members would quiz Mueller’s staff in private. “There’s time also allotted for executive session after Mueller testifies,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told CNN, “that will be with his staff.”

Some on the right have suggested that this closed-door session will inflict more harm on the president than Mueller’s public testimony. Former U.S. attorney turned criminal defense attorney and special counsel critic Joe diGenova told Fox News host Lou Dobbs that “the real damage is going to be done the next day when they have testimony from Weissmann and his aides, which will be done in executive session with unlimited questioning.”

“That’s when the damage to the president is going to be done,” diGenova added, calling Mueller “nothing more than a figurehead.” “This has always been the Weissmann investigation, and it’ll be the Weissmann testimony,” diGenova said, referring to Andrew Weissmann, the lead attorney dubbed Mueller’s “pit bull.”

No doubt Democrats in the House sought Mueller’s testimony, and that of his staff, for one reason only: to paint Trump as a criminal without the politically risky business of impeachment. And I have no quibble with the contention that Weissmann held the reins of the special counsel probe and that Mueller’s former top lawyer will try to vilify the president.:snip:

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