Play It Again Robert Mueller Investigation
Robert Mueller speaks during a news conference at the FBI headquarters. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
It dominated headlines for ii years, only in March 2019, special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election came to an end. The investigation, which President Donald Trump continually called a "witch hunt," found no prove that Trump's campaign colluded with Russia, merely brutal short of completely exonerating the president.
FRONTLINE's The Mueller Investigation draws on interviews with U.S. officials, Trump advisers, legal experts and journalists to give an inside look at the key moments of Mueller's inquiry, which led to the indictments of more than 30 people. We followed the twists and turns of the investigation. Here'southward what we know:
WHAT WAS THE FOCUS OF THE INVESTIGATION?
Mueller'due south probe focused on Russian attempts to disrupt the 2016 ballot; possible coordination between associates of Trump and Russia; and whether financial crimes were committed by any of the president's associates.
In June 2017, following Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey, the special counsel investigation expanded to examine whether the president had attempted to obstruct justice.
HOW DID MUELLER Exercise IT?
Mueller obtained thousands of emails from the Trump transition team and interviewed at least 2 dozen electric current and quondam Trump advisers, the president's Trump's son-in-police and senior adviser, Jared Kushner; former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks; former Press Secretary Sean Spicer; and former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus. Mueller's team subpoenaed Trump's former principal strategist Stephen Bannon to testify earlier a g jury, according to The New York Times. Mueller'due south squad never interviewed the president.
The team consisted of 19 lawyers, who were assisted past 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants and other professional staff. The counsel issued more than 2,800 subpoenas and interviewed around 500 witnesses.
WHAT DID THE SPECIAL COUNSEL Observe?
On March 25, Attorney Full general William Barr sent a summary of what he chosen the "principal conclusions" of Mueller's report to central members of Congress. Mueller'south total written report has not been fabricated bachelor to the public, though members of both parties have called for its release.
Barr wrote in his summary that the report is divided into two parts: the results of the investigation into Russia'southward interference in the 2016 presidential election, and an exam of whether the president obstructed justice.
Barr said that the special counsel "did not find that the Trump entrada or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russian federation in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.Southward. presidential election." Barr quoted directly from the written report: "[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian regime in its election interference activities."
According to Barr, the special counsel establish two master Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 election. The kickoff was through the Internet Research Agency, a Russian arrangement that conducted "disinformation and social media operations in the U.s. designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election." The 2d was the Russian government's hacking operations "designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the election." The counsel found that government actors in the Russian regime successfully accessed emails of people affiliated with the Clinton campaign and Democratic Political party organizations.
Barr said that Mueller'south team did not decide whether Trump illegally obstructed justice, writing: "while this report does not conclude that the president committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him."
In his summary, Barr wrote that he and Deputy Attorney Full general Rod Rosenstein determined that the special counsel'south investigators did non have plenty prove to evidence Trump had obstructed justice.
WAS ANYONE ELSE IMPLICATED IN THE Written report?
Barr wrote that Mueller'due south study did non recommend any further indictments, noting that the indictments and convictions in connection with the investigation had all been publicly disclosed.
Here's who was indicted in connection with the Mueller investigation:
The Russians:On Feb. sixteen, 2018 the special counsel indicted xiii Russian nationals and 3 companies with using fraud and cant to interfere in the 2016 election, creating hundreds of social media accounts that falsely appeared to be operated by Americans.
On July 13, 2018, the Justice Section announced indictments in Mueller's investigation against 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's presidential entrada. Prosecutors allege that the individuals targeted over 300 people affiliated with the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Convention, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Paul Manafort and Rick Gates: On Oct. 30, 2017, Mueller brought charges confronting Trump'southward erstwhile campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former business partner Rick Gates on counts related to coin laundering, tax evasion and foreign lobbying. Prosecutors declared that Manafort laundered more than $xviii meg from income he made while lobbying for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine.
Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to FBI agents and prosecutors on Feb. 23, 2018 and is currently awaiting sentencing. Manafort was bedevilled on counts of bank and tax fraud in Baronial 2018. He was scheduled to confront another criminal trial on other charges from Mueller'due south team, only on Sept. 14, 2018, Manafort pleaded guilty to two conspiracy charges as part of a plea deal. He was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.
Konstantin V. Kilimnik: Konstantin V. Kilimnik was indicted June 8, 2018, on charges of obstructing justice in relation to lobbying efforts to support Viktor F. Yanukovych, a one-time president of Ukraine. Kilimnik and Manafort tried to convince associates to lie to investigators about the telescopic of their entrada, prosecutors allege.
George Papadopoulos: The sometime foreign policy adviser to the Trump entrada pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. The indictments stemmed from a chat he had with a professor with alleged connections to the Russian government, who told Papadopoulos that Russians had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in the grade of "thousands of emails."
On Sept. seven, 2018, Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison.
Michael Flynn: Trump's former national security adviser pleaded guilty in Dec. 1, 2017, to lying to the FBI nearly his communications with a former Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.
According to court filings, on the aforementioned 24-hour interval that sometime President Barack Obama announced sanctions against Russia for interfering in the election, Flynn chosen a "senior official" on the presidential transition team to talk over contacting the ambassador almost the sanctions.
Flynn cooperated with Mueller under a plea understanding.
Alex van der Zwaan:Alex van der Zwaan pleaded guilty on Feb. 20, 2018 to ane charge of making false statements to the FBI. Court documents filed by the special counsel office alleged that van der Zwaan, the son-in-law of 1 of Russia's wealthiest men, misrepresented details about his communications with Gates.
On Apr 3, 2018, Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison and fined $twenty,000 for lying to investigators.
Richard Pinedo: The Southern California information science major pleaded guilty to identity fraud on Feb. 12, 2018. Prosecutors said that Pinedo had sold and purchased bank account numbers over the internet, many of them which were created by using stolen American identities.
A spokesperson for the special counsel said that prosecutors had "no evidence and there is no allegation he was a witting participant in the Russian efforts to interfere in U.Southward. elections and political processes."
Michael Cohen: President Trump's old attorney pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump real estate deal in Moscow he had worked on before the 2016 presidential election. Prosecutors allege that in an August 2017 letter of the alphabet Cohen sent to congressional committees investigating Russian ballot interference, he falsely stated that the project ended in January 2016. Mueller's investigators too allege that Cohen falsely stated that he had never agreed to travel to Russia for the existent estate deal and that he did not recollect whatever contact with the Russian government about the project. He pleaded guilty Nov. 29, 2018.
Roger Stone: January. 25, Roger Rock, a Republican political operative who was an adviser to Trump and an official in the Trump campaign until August 2015, was indicted on seven counts — five counts of making false statements, ane of witness tampering and one of obstruction related to his testimony to the House Intelligence Committee about his efforts to find out when WikiLeaks would release more than damaging emails about Hillary Clinton's campaign. The charges land that Rock "corruptly influenced, obstructed, impeded" the House investigation and knowingly made fake statements almost his interactions with Julian Assange, the caput of WikiLeaks. Stone was released on bond afterward that twenty-four hour period.
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Source: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-mueller-investigation-explained-2/
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