I will say it. Rod Rosenstein was very cautious in announcing the huge story today. The inference is not absolute proof. Nothing is. But we can assume from items you will have access to in this article that Special Counsel Mueller has shown that Russians were clearly involved in an effort to elect Donald trump. This has been known for a long time, but the indictments put legs on a crime which Trump lied about and continues to lie about.
This article is meant to give you a complete picture of what is happening. I will comment on it sparingly. I should note that my first article for Blasting News published in February 2017 stated that an investigation was even then a necessity.
Now we are beginning to put the pieces together. You can judge how serious these revelations are.
First the indictment
Here is the full text of the 37 page Mueller indictment of thirteen individual Russians and three organizations in Russia for their criminal acts in interfering with the 2016 Election. You can download this and even convert it by selecting the text and pasting it into a Word document.
PDF text of Mueller indictment of Russians in Trumpgate https://t.co/s1iDHgt0vi
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
This has footnotes that point to specific events in 2016. Do not be put off by Trump efforts to say this is not about his run for the presidency.
Now the story of the indictment
Mueller indicts 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for interfering in 2016 election https://t.co/DcfkVqmGHP
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
Note that the Justice Department announced this. And here is a story about one of the targets of the investigation.
Meet Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Oligarch Indicted in U.S. Election Interference https://t.co/Kbo0GvbOja
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
If you want to talk about the law having a long arm, be my guest.
Calling this oligarch Putin's cook is a nice touch. But there is more. First, a line-up of the indicted.
13 Named in Russia Indictment by Special Counsel in First Charges on 2016 Election Interference https://t.co/1vxMtavcbU
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
Before Trump tweeted on this subject he issued the following five hours ahead of the Mueller blast.
Trump's last tweet was five hours ago going after Dems for ruining DACA. Wonder what he will say in response to numerous specific references of on-the-ground Russian interference on his behalf, noted in the footnotes of this 37-page indictment. This was unexpected and damning.
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
Then Trump did tweet and it follows my reply to him below.
Trump did not read the whole bill of particulars. This will amount to a catch me if you can that ends "caught". https://t.co/SUwK6Jrolu
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
No collusion, Trump insists
Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 16, 2018
I doubt his lawyers suggested he write this.
The following tweet is also a reply to Trump, offering some context.
Nope that is not what it means at all .. Only your #32percenters believe that. YOU SOLD A MANSION FOR 3xs it's worth in 2009... To A RUSSIAN Oligarch, Putins Buddy! you got illegal loans and laundered money for and from RUSSIA... This is only the Beginning
— Vanessa Phillips 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 (@VPpolitics) February 16, 2018
Endgame from the start
I have maintained endgame from the start, so I offered the following tweet as my contribution to context.
We will now have a week of wall to wall Trump-Russia. The only difference is that this week we will be filling in the blanks of an open and shut case. https://t.co/s6LieBhWbM
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
Judge Jeneane
Here is the Trump defense against the indictment from the noxious Judge Jeneane -- follow the dots. https://t.co/M6sqECJRzE
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
Here is the judge's defense.
It shows the shape of what is to come and the weakness of Trump's effort to make war in intelligence services to deflect attention from the Russians' clear effort to get him into the White House.
Today's indictments were a brilliant first roll-out.
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) February 16, 2018
1) Confirms there was a crime
2) Serves as context for obstruction charges
3) Insulates Rosenstein and Mueller from bein' fired
4) Forces lawmakers to deal with 2018
5) Encourages fence-sittin' witnesses to testify
Tea Pain has been one of the most assiduous campaigners to bring Trump to justice.
Trump was not idle
He gave a short speech following the Florida school shooting which did not once mention guns. Obama went viral with this response.
Obama tweets a more substantive response to latest school shooting than Trump made in entire speech https://t.co/817vOKGij1
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018
Here is the Obama tweet.
We are grieving with Parkland. But we are not powerless. Caring for our kids is our first job. And until we can honestly say that we're doing enough to keep them safe from harm, including long overdue, common-sense gun safety laws that most Americans want, then we have to change.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 15, 2018
And here from Politico, I have summarized what the indictment does.
"They engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump." -- POLITICO
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) February 16, 2018