Hints, but no proof of crime, in Mueller's hunt for a Trump-Russia conspiracy

[webfact]

Hints, but no proof of crime, in Mueller's hunt for a Trump-Russia conspiracy

By Nathan Layne and Mark Hosenball

 

FILE PHOTO: Special Counsel Robert Mueller departs after briefing members of the U.S. Senate on his investigation into potential collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

 

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As recently as February, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team dropped hints that the inquiry into Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. election might unearth evidence of active cooperation between Moscow and President Donald Trump's campaign.

 

That turned out not to be the case, according to Attorney General William Barr, who has said he hopes to release Mueller's nearly 400 page report this week. Barr told U.S. lawmakers on March 24 that the special counsel investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

 

To be sure, the investigation documented numerous contacts between Trump campaign figures and Russia, a willingness on the part of the campaign to accept help from Moscow, and no indication that the campaign told the Kremlin to keep out of an American presidential race.

 

No criminal conspiracy was documented, according to Barr. But court statements by members of Mueller's team and evidence disclosed in various prosecutions by the special counsel had suggested on several occasions during the 22-month investigation that they were investigating a possible conspiracy.

 

Frank Montoya, a former senior FBI official with extensive experience in counterintelligence investigations, said the words "did not establish" are commonly used in national security cases as language merely ruling out a chargeable offence.

 

"It doesn't mean a subject is innocent. It means investigators didn't find enough evidence to charge a crime," Montoya said.

 

A recent indication that the special counsel was investigating a Trump-Russia conspiracy came on Feb. 4 during a closed-door court hearing in Washington. Prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said Mueller was still investigating interactions between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his Russian business partner Konstantin Kilimnik as critical to the inquiry.

 

"This goes to the larger view of what we think is going on, and what we think the motive here is," Weissmann said, according to a transcript released days later. "This goes, I think, very much to the heart of what the Special Counsel's Office is investigating."

 

Mueller's team said Manafort shared political polling data from the campaign with Kilimnik, who the special counsel has said had ties to Russian intelligence. The two also discussed proposals for a Ukrainian client to solve the Crimea conflict in a Kremlin-friendly way, Mueller said.

 

Three weeks after Weissmann made his comments, Mueller's office backtracked. It said in a court filing it needed to correct its assertions about Manafort's interactions with Kilimnik. Partially redacted court filings indicated the correction may relate to the polling data.

 

When Mueller's report is released - with parts blacked out by Barr to protect certain sensitive information - it is unclear how harsh a light it will shine on the contacts between Trump campaign figures and Russians. Those making contacts included the president's son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, formerTrump lawyer Michael Cohen and campaign figures Manafort, Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn and George Papadopoulos.

 

Mueller and U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded Russia employed hacking and propaganda to sow division in the United States, harm Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and boost Trump's candidacy. Moscow has denied election interference.

 

A key event in the question of conspiracy was a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in New York in which Manafort, Kushner and Trump Jr. met with Kremlin-connected lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who had offered damaging information about Clinton. After being promised "dirt" on Clinton, Trump Jr. wrote in an email, "I love it."

 

Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Jr., declined to comment.

 

Mueller charged 34 people and three Russian entities. He convicted or secured guilty pleas from Trumpaides including Manafort, Flynn, Cohen and Papadopoulos, and charged Russian intelligence officers and a Russian "troll farm."

 

Another avenue related to potential conspiracy was Mueller's pursuit of longtime Trump political adviser Roger Stone, who had suggested he had a relationship with the WikiLeaks website and advance knowledge of its release of Democratic emails the special counsel said were stolen by Russians to hurt Clinton.

 

But when Mueller indicted Stone in January, the seven criminal counts did not refer to conspiring with Russians and there was no allegation of close ties to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who separately was charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion related to a 2010 hack of U.S. government computers.

 

Mueller questioned more than a half dozen Stone associates to establish if he had acted as a go-between for the campaign with WikiLeaks. Two Stone associates who spoke to Reuters said Stone had struggled to make contact with Assange rather than having an inside track.

 

Randy Credico, a New York comedian associated with Stone who appeared before Mueller's grand jury, is a case in point. Text messages between Stone and Credico seen by Reuters show Stone sought to use the comedian as an intermediary with Assange and urged Credico to feed WikiLeaks anti-Clinton research. Credico told Reuters he never made good on the request.

 

Stone, who has been ordered by a judge not to talk about the case, is declining comment on the investigation.

 

Mueller's investigation was aided by witnesses including Flynn, the former national security adviser who pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying about his communications with Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak in 2016, and Samuel Patten, a political consultant and former Kilimnik business partner sentenced to probation on Friday after prosecutors credited him for assisting Mueller and other probes.

 

It is unclear to what extent Mueller's inability to secure cooperation from others impeded him.

 

A spokesman for Mueller declined to comment.

 

A judge found that Manafort, after agreeing to cooperate, repeatedly lied to prosecutors about interactions with Kilimnik and other matters, breaching a plea deal. Kilimnik, charged along with Manafort with conspiring to tamper with witnesses, was believed to be in Russia, out of reach.

 

There also are witnesses like Papadopoulos, the first former Trump aide charged by Mueller who initially cooperated but became increasingly critical of the special counsel, especially after completing a two-week prison term in December.

 

(Reporting by Nathan Layne and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Will Dunham and Daniel Wallis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-04-15

[neeray]

55 minutes ago, webfact said:

To be sure, the investigation documented numerous contacts between Trump campaign figures and Russia, a willingness on the part of the campaign to accept help from Moscow, and no indication that the campaign told the Kremlin to keep out of an American presidential race.

Just be patient. The report is not disclosed yet to unbiased parties. Barr is nothing more than a Trump puppet with a dubious track record (based on what I read and watch).

 

Humpty Dumpty may yet fall, and fall hard.

[Tug]

The only reason he isent indicted is because he is potus if it were you or I we would be in the dungeon allready 

[helpisgood]

Let's not forget that Mueller reports to the US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) headed now by Attorney General Barr.  As many of us know, there's an internal legal opinion memo by the DOJ stating that a sitting president cannot be criminally indicted.  The memo lacks true precedential value, i.e., it does not have to be followed by the courts and it is, instead, merely "persuasive." 

 

However, Mueller, being Mueller, may not have wanted to go counter to an internal DOJ legal opinion, especially one regarding indicting presidents.  He may have just presented the facts, and instead let non-DOJ entities deal with it as they deem necessary.  

[Chomper Higgot]

Just show us the report, all of it.

 

We don’t need handpicked political appointees reading it on our behalf.

[neeray]

5 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Hints? 

Still can't accept the reality that Trump was spied on - set up from the beginning. 

Remove your rose tinted glasses. See this for what it really is.

Of course he was spied on. He made political enemies from the moment he descended that escalator and started boasting that he knows more than everybody else. And he's made many more since, all around the globe.

[Tug]

20 minutes ago, Boon Mee said:

Hints? 

Still can't accept the reality that Trump was spied on - set up from the beginning. 

Just play in your minds Donald’s greatest hits attacking children and allies disrespecting pows and gold star family’s blabbing state secrets to the Russians in the Oval Office attacking our neighbors north and south turning our country into a laughingstock and a pariah in two years yes absolutely they looked at him I sincerely hope they continue to do so

[Paul Henry]

LIVE BY THE SWORD DIE BY THE SWORD.Lying.cheating, bullying,ignorant,nepatistic,mysogonist,racist.supremesist and the list goes on.

[neeray]

2 minutes ago, Paul Henry said:

LIVE BY THE SWORD DIE BY THE SWORD.Lying.cheating, bullying,ignorant,nepatistic,mysogonist,racist.supremesist and the list goes on.

Well said in very few words.

[howbri]

A phony crime investigated by America-hating elitists and swamp dwellers to cover up obama and hillary's crimes which they knew would eventually come out. Hence, the never ending attempt to impeach or get rid of DT by those involved. All paid for by hillary/obama/soros cabal.

[EVENKEEL]

First we find him guilty, then we go about trying to make it true. Every single day the wacked out lefties and their hatred for Trump do nothing but secure his second term.

[Tug]

8 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

First we find him guilty, then we go about trying to make it true. Every single day the wacked out lefties and their hatred for Trump do nothing but secure his second term.

Naa don’t think so everyone knows he is a troll not a leader

[Chomper Higgot]

11 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

First we find him guilty, then we go about trying to make it true. Every single day the wacked out lefties and their hatred for Trump do nothing but secure his second term.

First we have Russian meddling in an election, then we have an investigation then the investigation produces a report.

 

Then Republicans try to hide what’s in the investigation report.

 

 

[EVENKEEL]

25 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

First we have Russian meddling in an election, then we have an investigation then the investigation produces a report.

 

Then Republicans try to hide what’s in the investigation report.

 

 

Trump has to be guilty of something, right? So you keep on throwing crap on the wall hoping something sticks. How's that working out?

[Chomper Higgot]

2 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Trump has to be guilty of something, right? So you keep on throwing crap on the wall hoping something sticks. How's that working out?

 No, Trump doesn’t have to

be guilty of anything, his predecessor in the Oval Office demonstrated that being a crook is not a requirement to be President and being President doesn’t turn you into being a crook.

 

There is However the small matter of a report from a criminal investigation that is being withheld from Congress and the public.

 

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, howbri said:

A phony crime investigated by America-hating elitists and swamp dwellers to cover up obama and hillary's crimes which they knew would eventually come out. Hence, the never ending attempt to impeach or get rid of DT by those involved. All paid for by hillary/obama/soros cabal.

Yes, about time Soros got involved in this as well.

 

Comments like yours are so far of what is happening they don't deserve any reaction at all.

 

 

[elmrfudd]

5 hours ago, neeray said:

Just be patient. The report is not disclosed yet to unbiased parties. Barr is nothing more than a Trump puppet with a dubious track record (based on what I read and watch).

 

Humpty Dumpty may yet fall, and fall hard.

complete nonsense

[Searat7]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

 No, Trump doesn’t have to

be guilty of anything, his predecessor in the Oval Office demonstrated that being a crook is not a requirement to be President and being President doesn’t turn you into being a crook.

 

There is However the small matter of a report from a criminal investigation that is being withheld from Congress and the public.

 

Nothing to hide, nothing to fear.

It’s not being withheld ...it takes time to go through a 400 page report with Mueller’s assistance to determine which things cannot be disclosed by law..like names of innocent people who were investigated but not indicted.  Barr seems like a straight shooter to me and the Democrats have been most unreasonable demanding immediate release of a long report that was 2 years in the making. 

[elmrfudd]

4 hours ago, Tug said:

The only reason he isent indicted is because he is potus if it were you or I we would be in the dungeon allready 

based on absolutely nothing but your opinion of course

[elmrfudd]

4 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Just show us the report, all of it.

 

We don’t need handpicked political appointees reading it on our behalf.

yeah, it's not like he said he was his wingman or anything

 

https://www.politico.com/blogs/politico44/2013/04/eric-holder-im-still-the-presidents-wingman-160861

[neeray]

1 minute ago, elmrfudd said:

based on absolutely nothing but your opinion of course

Looks like a pretty qualified opinion to me. It would only take a little common sense to figure this out. Hell, people get convicted for dick all. What Trump has blatantly done could hardly be called "dick all".

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Barr told U.S. lawmakers on March 24 that the special counsel investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities."

 

It just keeps on getting better.

The Mueller team must be grinding their teeth in frustration that they just couldn't find any "smoking gun". "Oh, if only they had more time they'd have been sure to have found it" they must be telling each other, but in truth ( IMO ) there never was anything to find.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Papadopoulos, the first former Trump aide charged by Mueller who initially cooperated but became increasingly critical of the special counsel, especially after completing a two-week prison term in December.

Now Mueller can't "get them", I'm sure there will be more coming out to criticise the Mueller team.

[neeray]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It just keeps on getting better.

The Mueller team must be grinding their teeth in frustration that they just couldn't find any "smoking gun". "Oh, if only they had more time they'd have been sure to have found it" they must be telling each other, but in truth ( IMO ) there never was anything to find.

Now Mueller can't "get them", I'm sure there will be more coming out to criticise the Mueller team.

I think you're jumping the gun a bit. The report is not out yet. Only a highly biased opinion, in extreme brief form, has been released by a hand picket Trump-puppet.

[elmrfudd]

13 minutes ago, neeray said:

Looks like a pretty qualified opinion to me. It would only take a little common sense to figure this out. Hell, people get convicted for dick all. What Trump has blatantly done could hardly be called "dick all".

what precisely have you convinced yourself he has done?

[Chomper Higgot]

21 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It just keeps on getting better.

The Mueller team must be grinding their teeth in frustration that they just couldn't find any "smoking gun". "Oh, if only they had more time they'd have been sure to have found it" they must be telling each other, but in truth ( IMO ) there never was anything to find.

Now Mueller can't "get them", I'm sure there will be more coming out to criticise the Mueller team.

Again, show us the full un-redacted report and we’ll see what the truth is.

[neeray]

12 minutes ago, elmrfudd said:

what precisely have you convinced yourself he has done?

It would be wise for you to follow some news. It's been all over every medium for years now. Sorry, but I really don't have the time to read and explain the news to you.

 

But take your blinders off first. Trump is many shades from the white that you seem to perceive him to be. Try a few shades of grey. No, go directly to black.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Again, show us the full un-redacted report and we’ll see what the truth is.

You know that we will never see an un redacted report for legal reasons, so while you may choose to keep repeating yourself for the next year, it's not going to make any difference.

[neeray]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

You know that we will never see an un redacted report for legal reasons, so while you may choose to keep repeating yourself for the next year, it's not going to make any difference.

Never say never. Maybe Wikileaks will provide. Or some hacker who has it in for Trump (I think he does have a few detractors).

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, neeray said:

It would be wise for you to follow some news. It's been all over every medium for years now. Sorry, but I really don't have the time to read and explain the news to you.

 

But take your blinders off first. Trump is many shades from the white that you seem to perceive him to be. Try a few shades of grey. No, go directly to black.

Some of us choose to make our own minds up as to Trump's guilt or innocence instead of taking the MSM propaganda as truth.

Trump may be a bit too un PC for some, but some of us like that.

 

I could explain why most of the charges against Trump are false, but like you I don't have the time to explain it to you.

As to some charges that may be true, I wasn't in the room at the time, so I don't know about them.

[JHolmesJr]

we dont convict people based on "hints", feelings and inklings.

 

only nut jobs revel in that fantasy world.

 

Time to move on.

 

Nothing more to see.

 

Case closed.