Mega-Thread: Mueller investigation

[Blur4stuff]

Popadopoulos was cooperating with the investigation for months. I wonder if he supplied Mueller with inside info/notes/possibly wearing a wire.

They might have some folks saying special stuff on tape.

[Skroe]

Okay I'm back. And I've litterally had "From Russia With Love" in my head all day.


So anyone commit any treason in the last few hours?

[Milchshake]

Okay I'm back. And I've litterally had "From Russia With Love" in my head all day.


So anyone commit any treason in the last few hours?

Here's something from the wayback machine. Well last year.

Papadopoulos, sitting at Trump’s “National Security” table AFTER having met with the Russians.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...25628465680386


I spy the Christmas Elf That Recused Himself as well.

[Realitytrembles]

Formal charges:
-Conspiracy against the United States (count one)

This seems vaguely worded.
what exactly does this mean? All i get is a bunch of gibberish when I google it.

[Skroe]

So I was reading this on and off between work meetings today. In my opinion, this is the essential and definitive "Prominent Lawyer explains it" Twitter thread of the day. It's super long but very informative. I can't possibly post all of it, but here are the highlights. The entire thing is worth the read.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/sta...88111880417280









The next 30 tweets unspool the case. Very interesting. But too big to post here.

[Ripster42]

Holdup... it appears Manafort and Gates pleaded "not guilty"?

Seriously?

Well - that certainly doesn't seem to fit into a plea-bargain deal like we thought it may. >_<

Gates had a publicly appointed attorney. If I had to guess, he and manafort were sharing an attorney and didn't exactly see eye to eye on how to proceed, so gates decided he'd better get his own council, but couldn't in time.

[Deleted]

This seems vaguely worded.
what exactly does this mean? All i get is a bunch of gibberish when I google it.

Manafort laundered huge amounts of money for Russia, lied about it, lied about absolutely everything. He represented one of Putin's homies illegally to launder the money. And lied about it. Also there was no collusion.

[Breccia]

Gates had a publicly appointed attorney.

The fuck? What kind of shit show is this? Isn't he a millionaire?

[Skroe]

This seems vaguely worded.
what exactly does this mean? All i get is a bunch of gibberish when I google it.

Good explainer:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41807131

In a 1924 case, Hammerschmidt v. United States, Chief Justice William Taft (who was US President from from 1909 to 1913) defined "defraud".
"To conspire to defraud the United States means primarily to cheat the Government out of property or money," he said.
"But it also means to interfere with or obstruct one of its lawful governmental functions by deceit, craft or trickery, or at least by means that are dishonest."

What is the punishment?
A maximum of five years in prison. "If found guilty, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both," the law says.
The maximum fine is $250,000 (or $500,000 for organisations).

But - if found guilty of other offences - longer sentences can apply.

When has the law been used before?
The broad nature of the law means it has been used against a wide range of people.

In 2005, computer hacker Jeanson James Ancheta was indicted under section 371 for using "botnets". He pleaded guilty in 2006 and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Section 371 was also used against Jeff Skilling, the former chief executive of energy firm Enron. He was jailed in 2006 for 24 years, which was reduced on appeal to 14 years.

Basically it's an extremely broad charge (intentionally) that allows prosecutors wide leeway to accusing individuals of "defrauding" the United States in some way, defrauding not necessarily meaning money.

- - - Updated - - -

Here's something from the wayback machine. Well last year.

Papadopoulos, sitting at Trump’s “National Security” table AFTER having met with the Russians.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...25628465680386


I spy the Christmas Elf That Recused Himself as well.

Seth Abramson in my post (2 above) directly references that picture/meeting in his superthread. This may be the meeting that is the one that ties everything together.

[GreenJesus]

FINALLY there is some ACTUAL collusion evidence with that PandaLapDance guy. GG guys. Trump presidency = rekt. What is really strange here is that all these people came directly from the RNC. Bigger investigation seems warranted.

[Blur4stuff]

Looks like more reporting coming out indicating the likely hood that Popadopoulos was wired for 3-4 months for phone calls/meetings etc...

Can't wait to find out what they caught...

[mvaliz]

Of course they would plead not guilty. Don't get it why people seem surprised about that.

We can't know how far negotiations between Manafort, Gates and the Mueller team have gone, or if they have even started yet. But before there is a plea agreement in place, there is absolutely no reason for any defendant to plead guilty. They can always change their plea later.

Hrmmm... I guess that does make somewhat sense I suppose. =/

[unfilteredJW]

Looks like more reporting coming out indicating the likely hood that Popadopoulos was wired for 3-4 months for phone calls/meetings etc...

Definitely time to kick the trash can and see what scurries out.

[Breccia]

defrauding not necessarily meaning money.

Shot in the dark: could Russia have asked Trump for the compounds Obama closed?

[cubby]

I'd actually be suprised if Trump doesn't escape this. And i don't mean just because he probably only has about 8 summers left before old age gets him. Billionaires do not face the same justice as the rest of us.

I have a nagging feeling that he will as well - but not because of the reasons you list.

This isn't a huge takedown (otherwise the entire establisment would be shaking).

I'm not sure what it would take to constitute a huge take down. Out of the gate he gets a guilty plea - from a guy they've been talking to since July. Much can be said from this alone.

The fact that Manafort is going to fight it and tie up courts for years is pretty telling.

Mueller isn't going to be tied up - Manafort is. And as he's facing his trial, he can think about how much time he wants to spend in jail protecting someone who no longer acts as if he's alive.

Theres still a huge amount missing. (also will anyone go after where the dodgy Manafort money came from?)

And this is why I think the establishment IS shaking - there is still so much more to go. And, again, not to beat a dead horse, but a guilty plea out of the gate is YUGE.

[Edge-]

Looks like more reporting coming out indicating the likely hood that Popadopoulos was wired for 3-4 months for phone calls/meetings etc...

Can't wait to find out what they caught...

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/ex-...-dial-a-crook/

Relevant link/context.

If he's been wired for months, then there is likely going to be a lot of soiled undergarments in need of changing and a lot of people replacing sweaty sheets every night for a while.

[Skroe]

Somewhat related but breaking news in the Washington Post.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.dde31bd1aa4a

I'm going to repeat what I said. If it turns out Zuckerberg, any Facebook executives, or individuals at Google Leadership knew or found out about Russian interference in the campaign, and then chose to cover it up either in 2016 or 2017, they must leave the company.

And we need to start having a serious discussion about breaking up Facebook and Google. And probably Microsoft and Apple while we're at it. But thats a larger issue.

Lastly, will some patriotic Billionaire do the right thing and buy Twitter, just to shut it down by the end of the week?

[Adam Jensen]

Well remember, he retroactively predicted them. Give him some credit, his hindsight is as 20/20 as everyone else's.

- - - Updated - - -



Podesta.

No really. It's all they have.

Manafort -> Podesta -> Hillary -> Pizzagate -> Birf Certificate -> Obama assassinated Kennedy in '63.

[Edge-]

Lastly, will some patriotic Billionaire do the right thing and buy Twitter, just to shut it down by the end of the week?

FOREVER.

That giant 140 part tweet you linked part of earlier (135, plus 5 PS posts) is a prime example of why it's a completely useless platform.

[GreenJesus]

Somewhat related but breaking news in the Washington Post.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.dde31bd1aa4a

I'm going to repeat what I said. If it turns out Zuckerberg, any Facebook executives, or individuals at Google Leadership knew or found out about Russian interference in the campaign, and then chose to cover it up either in 2016 or 2017, they must leave the company.

And we need to start having a serious discussion about breaking up Facebook and Google. And probably Microsoft and Apple while we're at it. But thats a larger issue.

Lastly, will some patriotic Billionaire do the right thing and buy Twitter, just to shut it down by the end of the week?

I read that picture you linked with the chain of 140 tweets that could have been just one Facebook post. That is absurd. Twitter is a horrible way to communicate information and needs to just die. Please.

All twitter leads to is people only reading 140 characters without any facts.