Robert Mueller

SEARCHABLE PDF VERSION OF SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER'S REPORT ON 2016 RUSSIA MEDDLING

CONGRESS AND ATTORNEY GENERAL WRANGLE OVER ACCESS TO SPECIAL COUNSEL MUELLER’S REPORT

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2019 (Washington D.C.)—Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s long awaiting report has been submitted to the Justice Department.  A summary written by newly appointed Attorney General William Barr has been made public, but thus far, Congress and the media have not seen the full report.

According to Barr’s summary, Mueller’s two-year investigation did not find evidence of a conspiracy involving President Donald Trump and Russia to tamper with the 2016 election despite “multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign.  But as for whether Trump committed the crime of obstructing justice, Barr states that while Mueller’s report does not recommend prosecution of Trump for obstruction of justice, “it also does not exonerate him.”

Trump called the report “a complete and total exoneration” based on Barr’s summary.

But that’s not fully accurate. The Justice Department has long held that it does not have the power to indict a sitting president, deferring investigation of presidential actions to Congress, which has the power to impeach under the Constitution. Without reading Mueller’s full report it is difficult to speculate on the Special Counsel’s intent, but Mueller could have intended for Congress to weigh any evidence his investigators found with regard to obstruction of justice.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

ANDREW MCCABE DEFINES TRUMP AS A NATIONAL THREAT

 

The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, by Andrew G. McCabe (St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 2019, 274 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

March 18, 2019 (San Diego) - Andrew G. McCabe, former Deputy Director of the FBI, has written an incisive and titillating story of America at the crossroads of history, an America that seems to be under siege by the President himself. To put this book in historical perspective, McCabe states: “The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s official mission is ‘to protect the American people and support the Constitution of the United States.”’

To read this book, it does not seem as if the mission statement of the FBI is being allowed. The author lays that at the feet of the President of the United States, Donald Trump.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

TRUMP OUSTS ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS, REMOVES ROSENSTEIN FROM OVERSIGHT OF MUELLER PROBE: PROTESTS TODAY SEEK TO PROTECT SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

 Protests against Whitaker takeover of Trump-Russia probe are slated at 5 p.m. today, including Ramona’s Collier Park  and federal courthouse downtown

By Miriam Raftery

November 8, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – Critics are accusing President Donald Trump of obstructing justice after the President forced resignation of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Washington Post reports. The removal of Sessions shits oversight of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion to Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.

Sessions had recused himself from oversight of the special counsel probe due to conflict of interest laws, leaving Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in charge.  But with Sessions gone, Whittaker is now in charge of the investigation that he has long criticized.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

13 RUSSIANS INDICTED BY SPECIAL PROSECUTOR MUELLER FOR INTERFERING IN 2016 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

By Miriam Raftery

February 16, 2018 (Washington D.C.) – It’s official:  Russia actively worked to sabotage American democracy and put Donald Trump in the White House.

Today, Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller released copies of indictments filed against 13 Russians and three Russian entities on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and other charges ranging from bank fraud to identity theft in their quest to violate laws that prohibit foreigners from spending money to influence U.S. elections.  Read the full indictment here.

The indictment language is damning, documenting how the Russian organization Internet Research Agency plotted “information warfare against the U.S.” paid for in Russian rubles at a budget of $1.25 million a month. 

Russians posing as Americans used social media to post positive information on Trump and negative information,  much of it false, disparaging other candidates opposing Trump including Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton.  They also organized pro-Trump and anti-Clinton marches and rallies in the U.S.

They were aided by at least 100 U.S. citizens and and communicated with members of the Trump campaign, the indictment makes clear, and funneled illegal contributions into electing Trump.  At least some of those contacts were "unwitting."


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

RUSSIA'S HACKING OF THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE

 

Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House, by Donna Brazile (Hachette Book Group, Inc., 2017, New York, NY, 268 pages).

 

Book Review by Dennis Moore

 

January 5, 2017 (San Diego) - Donna Brazile, former Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman has written a provocative and timely book about election politics and alleged Russian influence in our political process; Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

READER'S EDITORIAL: THE ULTIMATE UNTHINKABLE OF UNTHINKABLES: TRUMP AXES MUELLER AND GETS AWAY WITH IT

 

By Shaun Mullen, with credit to the Moderate Voice, a member of the San Diego online news network)

December 11, 2017 (San Diego) - Will Donald Trump fire Robert Mueller? In an era when the unthinkable occurs with numbing regularity, it looks increasingly likely that he will. But will he get away with it?


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

FLYNN PLEADS GUILTY OF LYING TO FBI, CUTS DEAL WITH PROSECUTORS IN TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE

 

By Miriam Raftery

December 1, 2017 (Washington D.C.)—Former National Security  Advisor and retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn pled guilty today to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about his back-channel talks with Russia’s ambassador Sergey Kislyak prior to Trump taking office in efforts to influence U.S. policies on sanctions against Russia and more.

 In court, federal authorities indicated Flynn is cooperating with Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump campaign ties to the Kremlin to potentially influence the U.S. presidential race outcome.  Court records indicate Flynn has admitted he was directed by Donald Trump’s transition team officials to contact Russia’s ambassador, the Washington Post reports. 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER, 2 OTHER AIDES INDICTED IN MUELLER PROBE: CHARGES INCLUDE CONSPIRACY AGAINST UNTED STATES

By Miriam Raftery

October 31, 2017 (Washington D.C. )  -- George Papadopoulos, foreign policy advisor to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, has pled guilty to criminal charges pertaining to his dealings with Russian foreign nationals. Two others,Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his business associate  Rick Gates, have been arrested and indicted on felony charges, court documents unsealed on Monday reveal. 

The 12 counts include charges of conspiracy against the U.S., failing to register as foreign agents, making false statements to federal investigators, tax fraud, and laundering tens of millions of dollars through offshore accounts for clients in the Ukraine,  including former Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovych, Associated Press reports. Yanukovych was a staunch ally of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

TRUMP IS NOW UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

 

By Frank Gormlie; reprinted with permission from the OBRag

 

June 15, 2017 (San Diego) --Major news organizations – including the Washington Post – have announced that President Donald Trump is now under investigation for possible obstruction of justice by special prosecution, Robert Mueller.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS DENIES COLLUSION WITH RUSSIA, REFUSES TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ON CONVERSATIONS WITH TRUMP

 

View full testimony of Attorney General Jeff Sessions on C-Span.

By Miriam Raftery

June 15, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee June 13th , calling any suggestion of  Trump campaign team’s collusion with Russia to rig the U.S. presidential election “a contemptible lie.” 

 Sessions also denied any “inappropriate” meetings with Russians but repeatedly claimed fuzzy memory. He said he could not recall meeting Russia’s ambassador during a reception at the Mayflower hotel.  After his testimony, the Week published a photo of Sessions speaking with the Russian ambassador at the Mayflower.

He refused to answer any questions about conversations with President Donald Trump about the investigation or possible discussion of pardons, citing a department policy. But Sessions was unable to name that policy, whether it exists in writing, or whether he reviewed it before testifying when grilled by California Senator Kamala Harris. (View Senator Harris questioning Sessions.) 


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

SPECIAL PROSECUTOR APPOINTED TO INVESTIGATE RUSSIAN ELECTION MEDDLING AND TIES TO TRUMP CAMPAIGN: ACTION COULD BE FIRST STEP TOWARD IMPEACHMENT

 

By Miriam Raftery

An East County Magazine Special report

May 17, 2017 (Washington D.C.) – In a bombshell announcement, the U.S. Justice Department has  issued an order to appoint a special prosecutor  to investigate Russia’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign.  Far more broadly, the order allows investigation of any matters that arise from the investigation and all other matters within a special prosecutor’s jurisdiction under federal law – including authorization to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation.   

Acting Attorney General  Rod. J. Rosenstein issued the order to appoint Robert Mueller, a former federal prosecutor who served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013 under both Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack Obama.


Error message

Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.