[View here as a Twitter thread]
@daveh8300 wonders if the rumors are true that the Mueller report will “never see the light of day”
This is a non-worry.
Spoiler: All the information is in the court documents and transcripts.
1/ Prosecutors have a duty to foster “public understanding of the problems of controlling crimes. . . ” Courts have said prosecutors have a duty to inform the public about investigations.
So Mueller is putting what we need to know into the court docs.
2/ These documents are in the possession of the courts. At any time, the court can unredact and unseal them.
Indictments refer to unnamed persons (“Person A” and “senior campaign official,” etc.)
Courts know who these people are. And the evidence is spread over several courts.
3/ It was clear, for example, in the latest Manafort court transcript released last night, that court was cognizant of the public’s right to know. The court also understood the need to protect an ongoing investigation. Hence, redactions. For now.
4/ Courts are a separate and co-equal branch of government, beyond reach of the President or DOJ.
It’s all there in the court docs.
Don’t believe me? Here’s my reading of the 2-4-2019 hearing. Notice “it”
5/ Want evidence that there is a “Russia conspiracy?”
Just check out the transcript released last night.
The court (the judge) talks about to a Russia conspiracy between Klimink and Trump’s campaign chair on Aug. 2, 2016.
6/ On P. 27, the court finds that Manafort deliberately lied to “shield his Russian conspirator.”
The court went on to find that this raises “legitimate questions about where his loyalties lie.”
Thus a court found Trump’s campaign manager conspired with a Russian.
7/ Facts (at least in my world of appellate lawyering) are those proven in court.
So the court’s finding makes “Russia conspiracy” a fully-fledged fact.
Fox-Trump-GOP is remarkably silent on the Manafort’s matter this week.
8/ They think Sen. Burr’s announcement that there was “no conspiracy” cancels out court findings. It doesn’t.
I think it’s good time to do an overall summary of the facts from the Mueller probe so far.
9/ Facts sworn as true in guilty pleas are also fully-fledged facts. I’ll also include, as facts, those alleged in Special Counsel (SC) charging documents. Why? because prosecutors have extremely high conviction rates (upwards of 90%)
10/ In alleging facts, prosecutors claim to have evidence to prove them true beyond a reasonable doubt. I’ve learned to take seriously facts alleged in federal charging docs.
These alleged facts aren’t as strong as court findings, but stronger than, say, statements to the press.
11/Let’s start with the SC (Special Counsel) mandate, which is to investigate the “Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.”
This includes “links and/or coordination” between Russia and the Trump campaign.
12/ All docs referred to are here.
On 2/16/18, SC alleged that Russian propaganda efforts to interfere in the 2016 election began in 2014. Defendants are 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian companies. One purpose of this indictment is to inform us.
13/ Defendants operated with a million dollar monthly budget and employed hundreds of individuals.
They conducted “information warfare” to “spread distrust.” Their primary goal was to denigrate HRC and elect Trump.
14/ Here SC asserts that “Russian military officials” hacked the DNC, the HRC campaign and other Democratic orgs.
They stole materials, which they weaponized to interfere with the election.
15/ Americans were involved, too. There were unnamed “political activists” and a “grassroots” Texas-based organization. Details are omitted.
On 9-28-18, SC alleged that Khusyaynova is a Russian national and CEO of the “ongoing” Kremlin-backed plan to conduct “information . . .
16/ . . . warfare” against the US, including attempts to influence the midterms. On 2-12-18, SC alleged that Richard Pinedo, a Californian, helped the Russians by stealing identities of Americans to create bank accounts.
Interrupting this thread to answer a good question:
The only reason we need to sit here connecting dots is because of the redactions. When unredacted docs are released, trust me, it will be as explosive as a report. (I hate suspense. I want to know now.)
17/ Pinedo then sold them to Russia to aid Russia’s attempt to infiltrate the electorate.
SC is also looking for “links and/or coordination” between Russians and the Trump campaign.
18/ From this transcript and court order we learn that on Aug. 2, 2016—while Manafort was Trump’s campaign manager—he had a secret meeting with Kilimnik (they took the precaution of leaving through separate doors).
19/ This meeting occurred after the GOP convention, during the height of the election.
They discussed “it.” We don’t know what “it” was, but we know it was pretty bad. If you want to know more about “it” click here.
20/ SC disclosed that he has evidence of communications between Roger Stone (Trump advisor) and WikiLeaks related to the release of hacked Democratic Party emails.
21/ In a doc filed 10-5-17, Papadopolous admitted that he met with a woman with connections to the “Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs” while serving as a Trump campaign national security advisor. She and @GeorgePapa19had an “extensive talk.”
22/ @GeorgePapa19admitted that he kept the campaign informed about his contacts with the Russians and his “outreach to Russia.”
@GenFlynnadmitted that while Obama was president, at the direction of a Trump campaign official, he secretly negotiated with the Russians.
23/ Alex van der Zwaan admitted that on 9-16-16, he was the link between Richard Gates—a Trump campaign official—and “Person A” (reportedly Kilimnik) who “has ties to Russian intelligence.”
24/ Michel Cohen (11-19-18 guilty plea) admitted that he and Felix Sater, all through the election, negotiated with Russian officials about building Trump Tower Moscow. They kept family members briefed on their progress.
25/ From Michael Cohen’s sentencing memo, we learn that he engaged in “outreach to and contact with Russian officials during the course of the campaign.” In 2015, he engaged in one outreach to Putin personally at the direction of Trump.
26/ The indictment of Veselnitskaya tells us that, when she met with Trump Jr., Kushner, Manafort & others in June of 2016, she was working in “secret cooperation” with Russian government officials while posing as a private lawyer. All the docs are here:
27/ That’s why I say it’s all here, in the court docs in the possession of a co-equal branch of government.
It will all come out in due time.
You didn’t really think Mueller would shirk a prosecutor’s duty to inform the public, did you?
