MRF: The report did not establish coordination

The Mueller report is finally here. You can get your own copy of the 448 page report here. The report clearly states the following: Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities. Mueller Report...

April 19, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Communication amongst Trump associates was deleted, encrypted and/or lost

According to the Mueller report, the investigation was hampered by several issues; like subjects and documents in question living and being held outside of the US, and active deletion of corroborating materials by people associated with the Trump Campaign as noted below: Further, the Office learned that some of the individuals we interviewed or whose conduct we investigated -- including some associated with the Trump Organization -- deleted relevant communications or communicated during the relevant period using applications that feature encryption or that do not provide for long-term...

April 20, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: The Russian government spent $100K in Facebook ads

How much does it cost to disrupt the most powerful democracy in the world? About $100,000 in Facebook ads: To reach larger US audiences, the IRA purchased advertisements from Facebook that promoted IRA groups on the newsfeeds of the US audience members. According to Facebook, the IRA purchased over 3500 advertisements, and the expenditures totaled approximately $100,000. Mueller Report Volume 1, page 25 The Internet Research Agency, LLC (IRA), only needed to contribute about $100K to Facebook's bottom line in order to disrupt the 2016 election. Though there...

April 21, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Trump promoted various IRA rallies

President Trump promoted or retweeted various rallies that were organized by the IRA. On September 10, 2017, President Trump's personal account @realDonaldTrump responded to a tweet from the IRA-controlled account @10_gop (the backup account of @TEN_GOP, which had already been deactivated by Twitter). The tweet rad: "We love you, Mr President!" Mueller Report Volume 1, page 34 With a following in the tens of millions on Social media, a "re-tweet" or mention of a tweet, is normally considered an approval. And this is even more true when the...

April 21, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Trump chased Russian Business between 2013 and 2016

One of the biggest accusations of the Trump Campaign during the election was Trump's involvement with Russia. The love-affair between Trump and Putin (Russia President) was evident; from Trump's choice of words when referring to Putin, to his denial of interference (even after all US intelligence offices had confirmed it), to his portrayal of "the hacker" being a 400-pound guy. As long as it was not the Russians, that is all that mattered. Yet, when asked if he had any business interests in Russia, Trump's immediate response was...

April 24, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Trump stood to make millions in Russian deal

As I described in a previous post, Trump never intended to be President. During his 2016 Presidential campaign (which began in June 2015) there were many reports that Trump had Russian interests and as the Mueller Report confirmed, they at least began in 2013. Those Russian interests had tremendous potential and a reasonable person could consider them to be the overriding motive for his favorable stance on Russia. The LOI (Letter of Intent) called for the Trump Organization to receive 5% of all gross sales up to $100...

April 25, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Proven Russian Interference was denied by the President-Elect

There is certain information considered to be top-secret. This is information so important that only certain people in the world have credentials to discuss it, and even less have access to it. One such piece of information was the coordinated interference by the Russian Government of the 2016 US election. The US government knew about the interference in early 2016, but this information was considered to be top-secret and could not be shared with candidate Trump. Once a nominee from each party emerges, certain information is shared with...

April 25, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Ignorance of the law IS an excuse

That old saying "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" only applies to certain people and/or crimes. According to the Mueller Report, though the investigation was able to prove the Trump Tower meeting that Trump Jr., Manfort and Kushner attended to obtain "information of value" would have constituted a prosecutable violation of campaign-finance laws, the Special Counsel did not feel confident they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt Trump Jr., Manfort or Kushner knew its illegality. There are reasonable arguments that the offered information would constitute a "thing...

April 26, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Why indict if you cannot prosecute

In Volume 1, the special counsel investigated the potential coordination between the Russian government and the Trump campaign. In that volume, the Special Counsel concluded there was not enough evidence to reach a conclusion of coordination (aka collusion). Volume 2 of the report focuses on obstruction of justice by the President of the United States. And this volume of the report is more discreet in its conclusion. In fact, it is so discreet as to state: ... if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts...

April 27, 2019

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Doug Dlod

MRF: Trump's own team ignores him

The job of a President is something only 45 people in the history of the U.S. have ever experienced. So to say that it's a tremendously difficult taks is an understatement. This means that in order to even attempt to do this job, you need to have people you trust around you. People that will say and do what you ask them to do. I'm not talking about "talking heads" that repeat the mantra of the day or week. That's easy. I'm taking about the real work of...

April 28, 2019

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Doug Dlod