Russiagate

Overview

Russiagate refers to the ongoing political scandal surrounding a series of allegations regarding President Donald Trump's ties to the Russian government, including speculation of collusion between the Trump Presidential campaign and the Russian hack of the DNC email server.

Background

On June 14th, 2016, The Washington Post reported the Russian hackers had penetrated the Democratic National Convention's computer network.^[1] A month later, on July 22nd, Wikileaks begins publishing a series of emails stolen in the hack, after a phishing scheme stole the email password of Hillary Clinton's campaign manager John Podesta.^[2] After Trump's election, the CIA reports that Russian operatives hacked the election in favor of a Trump victory.

Developments

Trump Dossier

On January 10th, 2017, CNN reported that both President Barack Obama and President-Elect Donald Trump received a classified debriefing of allegations from a credible source that the Russian government has been covertly gathering compromisable personal and financial information about Trump, all the while regularly exchanging information with his campaign team through indirect channels. About an hour after CNN broke the story, BuzzFeed News published the full-length version of the document, a 25-page long dossier compiled by a former British MI6 agent with ties to the U.S. spy agencies and prepared as opposition research for a bipartisan group of anti-Trump Republicans and Democrats.

Allegations of Russian Collusion with the Trump Campaign

Michael Flynn

On December 29th, 2016, the day the Obama administration announced punitive measures against Russia for the hacking, former National Security Advisor and Trump-campaign adviser Michael Flynn spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. On February 9th, despite Flynn's denial, officials said that Flynn discussed the sanctions against Russia with Kremlin officials before Trump took office.^[3] Flynn resigned as National Security Advisor shortly after, claiming he had misled Vice President Mike Pence as to the nature of his talks with Kislyak.

On March 31st, Flynn reportedly requested immunity from the Senate Intelligence Committee in exchange for his testimony. They have denied his request.^[12]

Nine months later, on December 1st, Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI regarding his meeting with Sergey Kislyak.^[68] Flynn also agreed to cooperate with the Mueller investigation, providing information on the Trump campaign's communication with the Russian government.

Jeff Sessions

In February 2017, the Justice Department claimed that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had also met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kiskylak on two occasions while Sessions was an adviser for the Trump campaign.^[4] This revelation contradicted Session's testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing, in which he stated that he no contact with Russian officials. On March 2nd, Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation into the Russian hacking.^[5]

Carter Page

On March 2nd, Carter Page, a former Foreign Policy adviser for the Trump campaign, made an appearance on All In w/ Chris Hayes, during which he said that he "did not deny" meeting with Sergey Kislyak while he was an adviser for the campaign.^[6]

Erik Prince

Nine days before Trump's inauguration, on January 11th, 2017, Erik Prince, founder of the private military company Blackwater and brother of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, met with a Russian who had close ties to President Vladimir Putin in hopes of establishing a back-channel between the Kremlin and Trump.^[7]

Roger Stone

On March 19th, Roger Stone, an adviser to Donald Trump, reported that he had been in contact with Guccifer 2.0, the hacker believed to be tied to Russia and claimed responsibility for the Russian hacks.^[15] In the past, Stone has also claimed to be in contact with Julian Assange. It is also believed that he had knowledge of the October 2017 email dumping before it took place, tweeting "Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks" several days before the leak began.^[14]

Paul Manafort

On August 14th, 2016, The New York Times reported that Donald Trump's then-campaign chair, Paul Manafort had received a sum of $12.7 million in cash payments from pro-Russian political party between 2007 and 2012.^[8] Five days later, Manafort resigned from the Trump campaign. On March 20th, 2017, the Times reported that Manafort took steps to hide the money, which included funneling it through an offshore account.^[9]

In August 2016, The Daily Beast^[46] reported that Manafort aided a Putin-ally with the help of former President Barack Obama's lawyer. Manafort and Obama's former White House counsel Greg Craig and his team "produced a report that whitewashed the pro-Putin government of Viktor Yanukovych for jailing Yanukovych’s anti-Kremlin predecessor." The report indicates that Republicans and Democrats alike maybe implicated in the proceedings.

Jared Kushner

On April 6th, The New York Times revealed that Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, did not disclose meetings with Russian leaders in December 2016, including a meeting with Sergey Kislyak.^[10]

On May 25th, it was reported that Kushner was under investigation by the FBI for his involvement in Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election due to the unknown extent and nature of the meetings Kushner had with Kislyak and Sergei Gorkov.^[27]

Days later, the press reported that Kushner had attempted to set up a backchannel communication systerm betweet the White House and the Kremlin. There has been much debate since then about whether or not this was typical practice or potentially illegal.^[28]

Classified Intelligence Exchange with Russia

On May 10th, the day Trump fired Comey, he had a closed-door meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak. While the details of the meeting are classified, on May 16th, The Washington Post^[17] reported that Trump shared highly classified information with Lavrov and Kislyak during the meeting. Officials say that Trump divulged "code-word information" so secretive that not only does it jeopardize intelligence sources on ISIS, but also he revealed more to Russia than the U.S. shares with their own allies.

The White House made a statement saying that the President only shared concerns about terrorism. National Security advisor H.R. McMaster said, "The president and the foreign minister reviewed common threats from terrorist organizations to include threats to aviation. At no time were any intelligence sources or methods discussed, and no military operations were disclosed that were not already known publicly.” He also claimed that the Washington Post story was "false."

That night, The President responded to criticism in a series of tweets (shown below).^[18][19] He said, "As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism."

That day, Twitter user @Alt_Labor_Me^[20] tweeted a parody of the Mocking SpongeBob meme (shown below, left) featuring Donald Trump and the caption "'Don't give away classified info to the Russians' Trump: dON't GivE aWAy cLassiFIed inFo tO tHe RussIANs." The tweet received more than 6,600 retweets and 10,900 in the first 24 hours. The next day, Redditor Bropeth914 shared tweet on the subreddit /r/neoliberal, receiving more than 10,000 points (76% upvoted) and 840 comments in 13 hours.^[21] Later that day, another Redditor, B0XER_, posted a meme (shown below, right) to the /r/MarchAgainstTrump subreddit, which featured two ways "Russians get classified data," one from Democrats (a hacking scheme), and one from Republicans (simply talking to Trump). The post received more than 3,600 points (83 upvoted) and 200 comments in the first three hours.^[22]

Trump's Admission of Link Between Comey's Termination and Russiagate

On May 19th, 2017, The New York Times^[23] reported that Trump told the Russian ministers that he had just fired Comey to "ease the pressure" from the Russia investigation. He also called Comey a "nutjob," according to sources in the White House. This reinforced the notion that Trump fired Comey to end the probe into his campaign's ties to Russia, further contradicting the White House's initial report that he had fired Comey for his handling of Hillary Clinton's email scandal. Sean Spicer did not dispute the report.

NSA Leak

On June 5th, The Intercept^[29] published a report citing a highly-classified leaked NSA document^[30] that detail two Russian-led cyberattacks: One in August 2016, targeting a company selling voter registration software; the second, on 122 local election officials just days before the election. About an hour after The Intercept published the document, the Department of Justice announced that they had discovered and apprehended the leaker, a 25-year-old government contractor from Augusta, Ga named Reality Winner (shown below).^[31]

However, many have speculated as to how the DOJ discovered the identity of the leaker. The Intercept has asserted that they did not know the identity of the leaker until the Justice Department identified her and that "these documents contain unproven assertions and speculation designed to serve the government’s agenda and as such warrant skepticism."^[32] The Justice Department, who has charged Winner under the Espionage Act, claims that they discovered her through an internal audit. The FBI affidavit said that while they were reaching out for comment and followup questions, Intercept reporters had showed the document to the NSA. The NSA then examined who had printed the document, discovering six people, including Winner who had no reason to be printing the document as it was not relevant to her job.^[33] Winner has since confessed to leaking the document.

Vladimir Putin's Interview With Megyn Kelly

On June 6th, Megyn Kelly interviewed President Vladimir Putin in the premiere of her NBC show Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly. During the interview (shown below), Kelly asked Putin about Russia's involvement in disrupting the U.S. election, which Putin has denied in the past. Putin said that intelligence community have been "misled" and are not "analyzing the information in its entirety." Putin continued, "I haven't, even once, any direct proof of Russian interference in the Presidential election in the United States."

Kelly said, "Experts say that this couldn’t have been faked. That it’s a hundred factors that point to Russia. They say it’s the forensics, it’s the digital fingerprints, it’s the IP addresses, the malware, the encryption keys, the specific pieces of code." Putin replied, " “What fingerprints or hoof-prints or horn-prints, what are you talking about? They can be invented, you know?"

Impact

Investigation

On December 12th, 2016, House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan announced that they would launch an investigation into the Russian cyberattacks and efforts to influence the U.S. election.

On March 22nd, 2017, the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes, who is in charge of the House investigation into Russiagate, shared evidence with the White House and the press, before bringing it to his committee. On March 27th, Adam Schiff, the Democratic leader of the Intelligence Committee called for Nunes to step down from the investigation for sharing the evidence.^[11] Nine days later, Nunes announced that he would recuse himself from the Russiagate investigation.^[13]

Dismissal of FBI Director James Comey

The Dismissal of FBI Director James Comey was ordered by United States President President Donald Trump in May 2017 amid allegations that Comey had lied under oath. However, due to Comey’s ongoing investigation into Trump’s possible ties to Russia, the sudden termination of Comey created a wave of criticism and concern among Washington, the media and the public.

On May 11th, in an interview with NBC's Lester Holt (shown below), President Trump said he had considered the Russia investigation in his decision to fire Comey.^[16] He said, "And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said 'you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won'."

Appointment of Special Counsel

On May 17th, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced^[24] that he had hired former FBI director Rob Mueller to serve as special counsel for the probe into Russia. The move marked a turning point from the story being a political inquiry to a full-fledged federal investigation. The move received bipartisan support,^[26] though was disparaged by Trump as a move that would divide the country.^[25]

Comey's Testimony

On June 7th, James Comey released his written testimony for the Senate Intelligence Committee.^[34] In the statement, he detailed private conversations with the President. During these conversations, President Trump said to Comey that "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty," placing Comey in a difficult and awkward position because of the independent nature of the FBI, which is traditionally an apolitical organization. In reference to the ongoing Michael Flynn investigation, Trump said, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go." Many have claimed this to be the reason for Comey's firing and could, therefore, be read as an obstruction of justice. Finally, on the Russiagate investigation, he wrote, "the President called me at the FBI. He described the Russia investigation as 'a cloud' that was impairing his ability to act on behalf of the country. He said he had nothing to do with Russia, had not been involved with hookers in Russia, and had always assumed he was being recorded when in Russia. He asked what we could do to 'lift the cloud.'"

Obstruction of Justice Investigation

On June 14th, 2017, The Washington Post^[35] reported that special counsel Robert Mueller would be investigating whether President Trump had attempted to obstruct justice in his sudden decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. The following morning, Trump posted two tweets addressing the leaked information, referring to it as "the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history" (shown below).

Following the tweets, several Twitter users made jokes about Trump's use of the word "nice," which is often associated with sexual innuendo involving the number "69". ^[36] That evening, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert discussed the news, to which Colbert and his audience reacted with glee (shown below).

The following morning, Trump tweeted "I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Direction! Witch Hunt" (shown below). Within one hour, the tweet gathered upwards of 34,000 likes and 12,400 retweets.

Donald Trump Jr. Meets With Russian Lawyer

On July 8th, 2017 the New York Times reported that on June 9th, 2016, Donald Trump, Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower. The purpose of the meeting was the exchange of incriminating information regarding Hillary Clinton.^[37] This revelation contradicts the statement Trump, Jr. gave the Times in March 2017. He said:

“Did I meet with people that were Russian? I’m sure, I’m sure I did. But none that were set up. None that I can think of at the moment. And certainly none that I was representing the campaign in any way, shape or form."

Over the next few days, President Trump's team went on the defensive. Trump, Jr. tweeted from his Twitter accounts, saying "Media & Dems are extremely invested in the Russia story. If this nonsense meeting is all they have after a yr, I understand the desperation!" The tweet (shown below) received more than 9,700 retweets and 27,300 likes in less than 12 hours.^[38]

Mere hours after posting that tweet, and as The New York Times^[40] prepared to publish a follow-up, reporting that Trump, Jr. knew about that the meeting was to get incriminating information on Clinton, he posted a series of emails, confirming the correspondence with the Russian lawyer, the members of the meeting and the nature of the meetings.

Moments after he finished posting the third page, he posted a fourth, which potentially is the most damaging part of the exchange. In the email (shown below), Trump says that he would "love" to receive information on Hillary Clinton from the Russians.

Rob Goldstone, the former tabloid reporter and entertainment publicist who the Trump Organization had contacted to set up business dealings in Russia and acted as a intermediary between Trump and the Russians, responded that the infor was "obviously high level and sensitive[…]part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."^[39]

Donald Trump Jr Testimony

On September 7th, the Senate Judiciary Committee, in a closed-door session, questioned Donald Trump Jr in regards to the June 9th meeting at Trump Tower.^[47] During his five-hour long testimony, Trump Jr claimed that he took the meeting with the Russian lawyer to evaluate the "fitness, character or qualifications" of Hillary Clinton. He said:^[48]

"I thought I should listen to what Rob and his colleagues had to say. To the extent they had information concerning the fitness, character or qualifications of a presidential candidate, I believed that I should at least hear them out. Depending on what, if any, information they had, I could then consult with counsel to make an informed decision as to whether to give it further consideration."

Additionally, he claimed that he did recall the details of the White House weighing in on his response to the Russian meeting, despite it having been reported that the President helped draft it. He also claimed that his father's claim that "dirt" on Hillary was coming, which he made the day after the Russian meeting, was just the way his father talks.

After his questioning, Trump Jr tweeted^[49] a statement. He said, "I trust this interview fully satisfied their inquiry." The tweet (shown below) received more than 3,700 retweets and 12,500 likes in 24 hours.

Some representatives were not so satisfied, however. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said that there were "gaps" in his testimony.^[50] He said, "There are a lot of gaps that will need to be filled. My being there gives me a sense of his demeanor."

Following the meeting, Democratic Senator Chris Coons sent a memo^[51] to his office, which quoted statute 18 U.S.C. 1001(a) & ©(2), detailing the severity for lying to congress (shown below). At the bottom of the memo, Coons wrote, "It is important to remember that anyone who testifies in front of a Senate committee is under the restrictions of the False Statements statute that says material false statements to Congress are criminal and punishable with fines or imprisonment or both."

Donald Trump's Denial

On July 26th, 2018, CNN^[88] reported that Michael Cohen claimed that then-candidate Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting. Trump Sr. had previously denied knowledge of the meeting, and his son had testified stating that his father did not know about the meeting. They wrote, "Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, claims that then-candidate Trump knew in advance about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer his campaign dirt on Hillary Clinton, sources with knowledge tell CNN. Cohen is willing to make that assertion to special counsel Robert Mueller, the sources said."

Hours later, Trump posted a series of tweets, refuting the report. The tweets^[89][90][91] received more than 42,000 retweets and 177,000 in 24 hours (tweets shown below).

Grand Jury

On August 3rd, the Wall Street Journal^[41] newspaper reported that special counsel Robert Mueller impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S presidential election. The grand jury began its work several weeks prior and points to the added severity of Mueller's investigation. While by no means indicates guilt or innocence, a grand jury can be used to compel the production of evidence, which then leads to testimony.

Special counsel to the President Ty Cobb responded to the impaneling, "The White House favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of his work fairly. The White House is committed to fully coöperating with Mr. Mueller."

The move to impanel a grand jury contradicts President Trump's claims that the investigation is a political "witch hunt." According to the New Yorker,^[42] "Grand juries don’t investigate hoaxes, and there are rules against using them for anything resembling a political witch hunt. As several former federal prosecutors told me, the grand jury is significant because it means that Mueller is in the midst of a “predicated” criminal investigation."

The report of the grand jury comes after weeks of speculation that Trump might fire Mueller to put an end to the Russia investigation, which would lead to the same type of political controversy that followed his dismissal of James Comey. To combat this,^[43] two separate bills have been introduced into the senate. Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Democratic Senator Chris Coons introduced bipartisan legislation that would give Mueller the ability to contest his dismissal. Additionally, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Cory Booker introduced proposals that would add a panel of three federal judges to determine whether the dismissal was appropriate.

Thus far, the Wall Street Journal says that special counsel Robert Mueller begun to issue subpoenas related to Trump, Jr, Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner's meeting. Additionally, CNN^[44] reports that Mueller has begun investigating possible financial crimes, looking into Trump's, his family's and associates' financial records, which Trump had called his "red line" that investigators could not cross.

"We Can Engineer It"

On August 28th, The New York Times reported on a series of emails between Felix Sater, a business associated of Trump's and Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen, which detailed the engineering of a real estate deal in Russia with the aide of Putin and Trump's ascent to the presidency. The two discussed the building of a Trump Tower in Moscow, as well as promising to get Trump elected president with Putin's help.

In one email from November 3rd, 2015, Sater wrote, "Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process."

Sater and Cohen go on to boast about their ties to Putin, indicating that such a partnership could be advantageous to the Trump campaign, even in the earliest days of President Trump's run. However, there is no evidence that Sater made good on his promises, as the project never "got government permits or financing, and died weeks later."

Anastasia Vashukevich's Information Exchange Offer

On February 8th, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny uploaded a video to YouTube, which had been "illegally" removed from Instagram, according to BuzzFeed.^[76] The video (shown below) investigated a series of Instagram posts by Anastasia Vashukevich (also known as Nastya Rybka), an escort and a self-described "sex expert," with Russian billionaire and former employer of Paul Manafort Oleg Deripaska and Sergei Prikhodko, a deputy prime minister. The video alleges of a relationship between the high-ranking government official and the powerful oligarch. As of March 2018, the video has been viewed more than 6.4 million times.

Deripaska sued Instagram and YouTube to remove both the Instagram posts by Vashukevich and Navalny's investigation. She has since complied with the court order.

On February 26th, Vashukevich was arrested in a police raid in Thailand, where 10 Russian "sex instructors" were running a course on sex. However, one photo of her and Deripaska remains (shown below, left) They were charged with such crimes as overstaying in Thailand, unlawful entry into the kingdom and working without work permits.^[77][78]

The following day, she posted a video of herself speaking in Russian. According to the Washington Post,^[79] she says in the video, "I am the only witness and the missing link in the connection between Russia and the U.S. elections -- the long chain of Oleg Deripaska, Prikhodko, Manafort, and Trump. In exchange for help from U.S. intelligence services and a guarantee of my safety, I am prepared to provide the necessary information to America or to Europe or to the country which can buy me out of Thai prison." The video has received more than 6,200 views and 3,400 likes in one week.^[115]

That day, she posted^[78] a picture of herself and others in jail (shown below, left) with the caption, "I appeal to all media, journalists who work using my materials to spread all the information and investigate this strange situation which shed the light on some topic that led to a worldwide political scandal.Russia has already reached the Thai kingdom where police volunteers are afraid of this affair and afraid to be involved with it. And Thai immigration is dancing to the tune of Russia and in fact will simply kill us if Thailand gives us to Russia. We have no more money – we spent everything on bail. If there is anybody who can help – please write to those contacts that we indicated." The post received more than 5,000 likes.

The following day, a professor at Columbia School of Journalism, Keith Gessen tweeted^[80] a picture of her letter to the US Embassy. He captioned the post, "This Nastya Rybka story is too much. Here’s their letter to the US Embassy in Bangkok offering Trump-Russia dirt." The post (shown below, right) received more than 80 retweets and 80 likes.

On March 5th, CNN^[81] met with Vashukevich. In the report, Vashukevich claims to have proof of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election between Deripaska and three unnamed American accomplices. She would not name them for fear of being deported back to Russia.

After the interview posted, people within the conservative media reacted negatively to the reports. Actor James Woods tweeted,^[82] "Got to be something somewhere. If they dig through every dumpster in the world, they’ll surely be able to concoct something. #ThisIsCNN" The post (shown below, left) received more than 600 retweets and 1,800 likes in 24 hours.

Right-wing activist Jack Posobiec tweeted^[83] a link to an article about the interview with he caption "Me: “CNN can’t possibly sink any lower, this has to be rock bottom”CNN:" The post (shown below, right) received more than 1,300 retweets and 3,000 likes in 24 hours.

Vashukevich's Arrest

On January 17th, 2019, the Guardian^[113] reported that Vashukevich had been arrested at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on charges of inducement to prostitution. She had been deported from Thailand on January 15th, after receiving a suspended sentence for hosting a "sex training" seminar, a visa violation. She faces up to six years in prison.

Indictments

Manafort Indictment

On October 27th, a federal grand jury in Washington approved the first charges in the Russiagate investigation.^[52] That day, the Wall Street Journal^[53] reported that someone had been charged but that their name would not be made public until Monday, October 30th. At the time, the individual to be charged in the indictment was left unnamed, fueling speculation over the weekend.

That day, Twitter user @becket tweeted a poll that asked people who would be indicted with Paul Manafort winning 60% of the vote out of more than 1,100 polled (shown below, left). Additionally, former strategist to President Trump Sebastian Gorka shared a Breitbart article reporting on a Wall Street Journal^[55] editorial calling for Mueller to resign. He tweeted,^[56] “If this man's team executes warrants this weekend he should stripped of his authority by @realDonaldTrump. Then HE should be investigated.” Within two days, the tweet (shown below, center) received more than 7,700 retweets and 13,000 likes.

Longtime Trump associate and advisor Roger Stone tweeted a series of attacks toward CNN anchor Don Lemon and New York Times writer Charles M. Blow, claiming that the chargers were “fake news,” saying that journalists should be focused on Hillary Clinton. The posts (shown below, right) have since been deleted and Stone’s account was suspended.^[57]

Two days later, the New York Times^[58] reported that Paul Manafort and his longtime business partner Rick Gates surrendered himself to the FBI and was indicted on “charges that he funneled millions of dollars through overseas shell companies and used the money to pay buy luxury cars, real estate, antiques and expensive suits.” The special council confirmed with a statement^[59] and clarified the indictment, which included conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts.

Additionally, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, George Papadolpoulos pleaded guilty to making false statement to the FBI. He also suggested that Trump has met with top Russian leaders during the campaign.^[60]

On Twitter, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bhara tweeted,^[61] “Special Counsel Mueller appears to have a cooperating witness, George Papadopoulos. That is significant. Time will tell how significant.” Within hours, the tweet (shown below, left) received more than 2,500 retweets and 6,700 likes. Editor of the conservative magazine Bill Kristol tweeted,^[62] “A plea to Republicans: Reserve judgment if you wish, talk about Hillary if you will. But DON'T defend Paul Manafort or trash Robert Mueller.” The tweet (shown below, center) received more than 2,900 retweets and 9,900 likes. Vice Correspondent Roberto Ferdman tweeted,^[63] Paul Manafort just agreed to turn himself in to the FBI. What should we report on? CNN: Manafort MSNBC: Manafort Fox News: Hamburger emoji.” The tweet (shown below, right) received more than 8,000 retweets and 12,000 likes in less than four hours.

That morning, Twitter^[67] published a Moments page, archiving the response to news of the indictment.

That morning, President Trump responded to the news of the indictment by writing two tweets.^[64][65] They read, “Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren't Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus? ….Also, there is NO COLLUSION!” The posts (shown below) received more than 15,000 retweets and 50,000 likes, collectively.

News of the indictment hit the front-page of Reddit within two hours. On October 30th, Redditor^[66] Spudgun888 shared the New York Times report, receiving more than 27,000 points (87% upvoted) and 4,200 comments within two hours.

On February 16th, 2018, prosecutors made new allegations against Manafort, including bank fraud and fraud conspiracies. On February 20th, law enforcement officials discovered more than $40 million in "suspicious" transactions going to and from companies owned by Manafort. This number is higher than initially thought and outlined in the October indictment.^[74][75]

This suspicious activity was originally discovered in 2014 and 2015 as the FBI attempted to track internation Klepotacracy. Those efforts, however, were unsuccessful.

Manafort Conviction

On August 21st, 2018, Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, was found guilty on 8 of 18 counts of bank- and tax-fraud charges: five counts of tax fraud, one charge of hiding foreign bank accounts and two charges of bank fraud. Of the other 10 counts, U.S. District Judge T.S. declared a mistrial due to the jury deadlock.^[92]

President Trump responded to the news by praising and defending Manafort. He said, "Paul Manafort’s a good man. [The verdict] doesn’t involve me, but I still feel, you know, it’s a very sad thing that happened.”

Online, people responded to the conviction by expressing their surprise, and, in some cases, delight, at Manafort being convicted on the same day as Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, who reached a plea deal in the Story Daniels hush payment investigation.

Manafort Plea Breach

On November 26th, 2018, the New York Times^[93] reported that Manafort had violated his plea agreement with the FBI and had "repeatedly lied to federal investigators." In the court filing, the FBI requested that sentencing take place due to the "defendant's crimes and lies, including those after signing the plea agreement," indicating that Manafort had lied to Mueller's investigation team.

Manafort and his legal counsel disagreed with the assessment. The court filing^[94] states, "After signing the plea agreement, Manafort met with the government on numerous occasions and answered the government’s questions. Manafort has provided information to the government in an effort to live up to his cooperation obligations. He believes he has provided truthful information and does not agree with the government’s characterization or that he has breached the agreement."

Additionally, according to the Times,^[95] Manafort's lawyers had briefed President Trump's lawyers on the discussions and questions between Mueller's team and Manafort. Briefing the president's legal team on such matters, particularly while the president is under the same investigation was seen as "highly unusual." Some speculated whether Manafort had continued communications with the Trump legal team because he hoped to receive a presidential pardon.

Manafort's Alleged Meeting With Julian Assange

On November 27th, 2018, The Guardian^[96] newspaper reported that Manafort held secret meetings with WIkiLeaks-founder Julian Assange in 2013, 2015 and 2016 at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The final meeting overlapped with Manafort's joining the Trump campaign and Russian Intelligence's hacking of the Democratic National Committee's emails. Additionally, the paper wrote, "A well-placed source has told the Guardian that Manafort went to see Assange around March 2016. Months later WikiLeaks released a stash of Democratic emails stolen by Russian intelligence officers."

Both parties denied the meeting. Manafort wrote in a statement, "I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to WikiLeaks, either directly or indirectly. I have never reached out to Assange or WikiLeaks on any matter."

That day, WikiLeaks tweeted,^[97] Remember this day when the Guardian permitted a serial fabricator to totally destroy the paper's reputation. @WikiLeaks is willing to bet the Guardian a million dollars and its editor's head that Manafort never met Assange." The tweet received more than 9,700 retweets and 14,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Others were skeptical as to the validity of the story, particularly The Intercept,^[98] who published the article "It Is Possible Paul Manafort Visited Julian Assange. If True, There Should Be Ample Video and Other Evidence Showing This." The article indicates that the Guardian failed to provide ample evidence for the meeting, which would have been documented in Embassy records and surveillance footage. They write, "London itself is one of the world’s most surveilled, if not the most surveilled, cities. And the Ecuadorian Embassy in that city – for obvious reasons – is one of the most scrutinized, surveilled, monitored and filmed locations on the planet."

Alex Van Der Zwann

On February 20th, attorney Alex van der Zwaan was charged with making false statement to the FBI about his interactions with Rick Gates. Later that day, he pleaded guilt to lying to the FBI.^[72]

Russian Troll Farm Indictment

On February 16th, 2018, special prosecutor Robert Mueller indicted the Russian troll farm, the Internet Research Agency, with attempting to criminally interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The indictment included charges against 13 Russian nationals, three entities and an accepted plea bargain from a cooperating American witness.^[70] All of the defendants are accused with conspiracy to defraud the United States; three are charged with conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud; and five are charged with aggravated identity theft.^[72]

The efforts to interfere with the election, according to the indictment, began in 2014, when three Russian conspirators began gathering intelligence about the United States, visiting 10 states. Over the next three years, according to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, the plan was to undergo information warfare against the United States, "with the stated goal of spread[ing] distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general." To do so, these conspirators posed as American activists, responded to comments about politics, made memes and set up political rallies from their base in St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition, the Internet Research Agency had an "80-person team with specialists in graphics, data analysis and search-engine optimization that set out to con Americans online," according to The Washington Post.

Two days later, on February 18th, U.S. National Security Advisor called Russian tampering in the election "incontrovertible."

President Trump responded with a series of tweets. On February 18th, he tweeted," "I never said Russia did not meddle in the election, I said 'it may be Russia, or China or another country or group, or it may be a 400 pound genius sitting in bed and playing with his computer.' The Russian 'hoax' was that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia – it never did!" The post (shown below) received more than 31,000 retweets and 123,000 likes in two days.

12 Agents

On July 13th, 2018, 12 Russian Agents were indicted in connection with the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton presidential campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.^[84] The 12 officers were also alleged to be behind the online persona Guccifer 2.0]

The indictment also accuses an unnamed congressional candidate of attempting to contact Guccifer 2.0.^[86] It states:

"On or about August 15, 2016, the Conspirators, posing as Guccifer 2.0, received a request for stolen documents from a candidate for the US Congress. The Conspirators responded using the Guccifer 2.0 persona and sent the candidate stolen documents related to the candidate’s opponent,” reads an excerpt from the court filing."

A series of fraudulent pieces of the indictment began appearing online that day. Twitter^[87] posted that the fake indictment alleged that Russian agents were behind the creation of the memes "Borgar" and "Soup Time" as well as accusing Guccifer 2.0 of shitposting more than 16,000 times in November 2016 (shown below).

FBI Inquiry Into Trump Working on Behalf of Russia

On January 11th, 2019, the New York Times reported that following the firing of James Comey in 2017, the FBI opened an investigation into whether Trump "had been working on behalf of Russia against American interests."

The article claims that the president's activities in the time before the firing and shortly after "constituted a possible threat to national security." As a result, investigators began a counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump, either willingly or unknowingly, had been working in Russia's favor.

The article states that "No evidence has emerged publicly that Mr. Trump was secretly in contact with or took direction from Russian government officials. Esquire^[105] magazine writes that the word "publicly" could imply that investigators are withholding evidence. They wrote:

<blockquoteThis is not a word chosen idly, not in a piece as judiciously written as this one. Clearly, the Times printed pretty much all it was given by its sources, but the implication of that "publicly" is that investigators likely know far more than what appeared in the newspaper.

Otherwise, "publicly" is empty verbiage. To have written simply that, "No evidence has emerged that Mr. Trump was secretly in contact with or took direction from Russian government official," would have sufficed for the purposes of journalistic balance. But by dropping that fatal "publicly" in there, the Times and its sources likely are giving us a preview of coming attractions.

Following the report, many online weighed in on the investigation. California-state representative Maxine Waters tweeted,^[100] "No surprise the FBI questioned Trump's allegiance to US! He meets w/ Putin 5 times in secret w/ no readout; gave Russians classified info in WH; disregarded US intel on Russia; praised Putin's election; lies abt his deals in Russia. Is there any question Trump is a Russian agent?" The tweet received more than 11,000 retweets and 37,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Fox News reporter Geraldo Rivera tweeted,^[101] "Based on the record, the allegation/suggestion that the #FBI came close to investigating @realDonaldTrump as a Russian spy/asset-if true-says more about anti-Trump bias within the DOJ than it ever does about the president’s actions regarding Russia." The tweet received more than 9,200 retweets and 38,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

That weekend, while appearing on Fox News, Trump told host Jeanine Pirro,^[102] "I think it’s the most insulting thing I’ve ever been asked. I think it’s the most insulting article I’ve ever had written, and if you read the article you’ll see that they found absolutely nothing."

On January 14th, he told reporters, "I never worked for Russia and you know that answer better than anybody. Not only did I never work for Russia, I think it's a disgrace that you even asked that question because it's a whole big fat hoax."

Putin Meeting Transcripts

That weekend, another report from the Washington Post^[103] continued to question Trump's relationship with the Russian governement. According to the Post, "President Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter and instructing the linguist not to discuss what had transpired with other administration officials."

The report names an infamous meeting in Hamburg, Germany between the two world leaders. The outlet continues, "The constraints that Trump imposed are part of a broader pattern by the president of shielding his communications with Putin from public scrutiny and preventing even high-ranking officials in his own administration from fully knowing what he has told one of the United States’ main adversaries."

Following the stories in the Washington Post and the New York Times, some noted how frequently he had been tweeting. White House bureau chief for the Washington Post summarized the tweets,^[104] "Trump sent 12 tweets before noon today: -attacking 'Lyin' James Comey' -claiming he's tougher on Russia than predecessors -declaring himself alone in the White House -urging Dems to negotiate -slamming 'a Fake reporter from the Amazon Washington Post' -insisting there's no chaos." The tweet received more than 4,000 retweets and 12,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Rudy Giulliani "I Never Said There Was No Collusion" Interview

On January 16th, 2019, while appearing in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani denied ever stating that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, but rather that he only knew that there was no collusion between President Trump and the Russian Government. Cuomo pushed back on the denial (interview below).

I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign!

I have no idea if -- I have not. I said the President of the United States, there is not a single bit of evidence that the President of the United States committed the only crime you can commit here, conspiracy with the Russians to hack the DNC.

Online, people expressed surprise to Giuliani's admission. Former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah tweeted,^[106] "Assume Giuliani is telling the truth (🙄) & they never denied that people in the campaign may have colluded with Russia. Then the response to the investigation would’ve been, 'Have at it, find out what those people did & hold them accountable.' But it wasn’t. Because Trump knew." The tweet received more than 5,000r retweets and 21,000 likes in two days (shown below, left).

Comedy writer Jess Dweck tweeted,^[107] "Rudy Giuliani always looks like he just heard what Rudy Giuliani said." The tweet received more than 5,000 retweets and 38,000 likes in two days (shown below, center).

California Representative Adam Schiff tweeted,^[108] "The collusion evolution, by Rudy Giuliani: – There was no collusion. – Even if there was collusion, it‘s not a crime. – Truth isn’t truth. – It happened a long time ago. – I never said there was no collusion. – I said no collusion…with the President of the United States." Within two days, Schiff's tweet received more than 14,000 retweets and 44,000 likes (shown below, right).

Buzzfeed: Trump Directed Cohen to Lie to Congress

On January 18th, 2019, BuzzFeed[109] reported that President Trump had directed his attorney Michael Cohen to like to Congress a project to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, the first piece of evidence that he instructed his subordinates to lie about Russian dealings. Additionally, the report details Trump's support of a plan to visit Russia and meet with Putin during the 2016 presidential campaign, a time when Trump repeatedly said he had no business deals in Russia. However, his children, Ivanka and Donald Jr received updates on the project from Cohen. BuzzFeed reports:

Two sources have told BuzzFeed News that Cohen also told the special counsel that after the election, the president personally instructed him to lie -- by claiming that negotiations ended months earlier than they actually did -- in order to obscure Trump’s involvement.

The special counsel’s office learned about Trump’s directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office.

Online, that day, many noted that if the report is true, it could amount to "high crimes," including conspiracy and suborning purjury. Atlantic writer Adam Serwer tweeted,^[110] "If the story is correct, Trump told everyone Russia was innocent of a cyber attack on the opposition party while pursuing financial gain in Moscow, lied about it, and then personally directed his attorney to lie about it too. That’s not just collusion. That is conspiracy." The tweet received more than 3,900 retweet and 10,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Daily Beast writer Justin Miller quoted William Barr, Trump's pick for attorney general. He wrote,^[111] "'If a President…suborns perjury, or induces a witness to change testimony, or commits any act deliberately impairing the integrity of available evidence, then he, like anyone else, commits the crime of obstruction.'-- William Barr." The tweet received more than 8,100 retweets and 18,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center).

Representative Adam Schiff tweeted,^[112] "The allegation that the President of the United States may have suborned perjury before our committee in an effort to curtail the investigation and cover up his business dealings with Russia is among the most serious to date. We will do what’s necessary to find out if it’s true." The tweet received more than 20,000 retweets and 64,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

On January 18th, the Special Counsel's office disputed the story. Peter Carr, a spokesperson for the Special Counsel's office, said, "BuzzFeed’s description of specific statements to the Special Counsel’s Office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen’s Congressional testimony are not accurate."

Related Memes

"You Are Fake News"

“You Are Fake News” refers to a series of jokes on Twitter made in mockery of President-elect Donald Trump’s claim that CNN was “fake news” at his first press conference as President-elect. In the jokes, a poster responds to a claim against their character by calling it “fake news.”

"Straightforward From Here"

“Straightforward From Here” refers to a series of jokes on Twitter made in mockery of a tweet by CNN political commentator Sally Kohn. The tweet purported to outline how to make Hillary Clinton the president following a report from The New York Times that officials on President Donald Trump’s campaign team had been in contact with Russian intelligence a year prior to the 2016 United States Presidential Election. The jokes were made in parody of the outlandish and difficult nature of Kohn’s supposedly “straightforward” 5-step plan.

Everyone I Don't Like Is a Russian Hacker

Everyone I Don’t Like Is a Russian Hacker is a variation on the meme Everyone I Don't Like Is Hitler, a photoshopped children’s book cover featuring a picture of Adolf Hitler sliding down a rainbow, which is often used as a reaction image in online political discussions when Godwin’s Law is invoked.

Trumputin

Trumputin is a portmanteau of the names Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which is often accompanies photoshops combining features of the two men or speculations about an intimate relationships between the heads of state.

Jared Kushner Russia Collusion Speech

Jared Kushner Russia Collusion Speech refers to a series of image macros and online jokes about Jared Kushner’s press conference regarding his involvement in the Russiagate scandal.

Search Interest

External References