This has more characters than a Russian novel. Wait a second. That's exactly what it is.
10
Yes we know a lot, almost none even related to Russian collusion. A nothing burger.
3
This article and many of the commentaries are laundry lists against Trump that as such could be much longer. However, does Mueller have any evidence on Trump being Putin's puppet?
1
Its fascinating to consider the mindset of people who screamed treason for two solid years, and are now reduced to arguing about allegations of financial crimes, not collusion. Not a single allegation made by Steele regarding the Trump-Russia stuff has proven out.
Through a fishing expedition, you were able to nail a couple associates about making false statements through a series of interviews, none having anything to do with the Trump-Russia conspiracy alleged. Manafort's crimes were years-old and for some reason only now prosecuted.
But yeah, the mantra about Russian intelligence officers being charged with crimes, and Papadopoulos making a false statement that got him two weeks in jail....congrats. . The mental gymnastics must be Olympic level.
5
Reading this while keeping in mind the actually time in history, the transition team of hogs to the trough couldn't wait until inauguration day for top-tier communications that are actually legal once you're in office. So these jokers were setting up "back channels" all over the place, tripping over each other to grab the ring. Putin received this barrage of keystone cops intelligence, and along with his closest staff, stroked his chin and had a hearty belly laugh.
5
What the democrat leadership did not plan on is the diversion. Said differently, the democrat leadership started this Mueller investigation for several reasons including to find dirt on Trump, ease the wound of the Presidential loss, and create a gap between their constituency and the current President. What they did not count on is that all this energy and focus would detract from their ability to find a message, a strong message, in order to win back the Presidency. Well, the time has come for the Mueller findings and the democratic leadership is non-existent, the driving message not there, and any hope to win the White House in 2020 exceptionally remote. Congratulations.
5
For those questioning Robert Mueller's ability to present a report based on the truth and nothing but the truth, please, please Google:
washingtonpost.com/politics/mueller-and-trump-born-to-wealth-raised-to-lead
Trump will most likely dismiss this article as 'fake news'. But, really?
Mueller has proven himsel, time and time again, as a man of integrity, from his earliest years in college through his years serving in the military, volunteering to serve his country, a man who risked his life fighting as a Marine during the Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star with emblazoned 'V' for valor while leading his men to retrieve a mortally wounded marine.
Mueller's service time in Vietnam is one chronicled with stories of bravery, dedication, and selfless actions of bravery.
This is recorded history, no matter how Trump will try and spin this saga, especially once Trump is forced to try and derail the fallout from Mueller's Report.
4
Still to fall under Mueller's Guillotine: Don Jr., Jared Kushner, Julian Assange and Trump himself as an un-indicted co-conspirator. Trump is already showing great stress. If Don Jr. and/or Kushner are charged, his tweet rampages will only get worse. He may try a Saturday Night Massacre II and try to fire Mueller.
5
Where is the mention in this article of the Russian sources uses to create the so called "dossier?"
Why are most articles so one-sided?
3
How many witches does it take to form a coven? Reading this in-depth article about the Mueller investigation makes it all the more vital that this enquiry be concluded without threat of obstruction.
Why would any American citizen not want an investigation into foreign adversaries interfering in our elections? Unless, of course, you or your candidate of choice benefitted from these crimes against our nation. Not contacting the authorities and lying to the public about their dealings with Russian sure look like a conspiracy to me. Trumps attempts to impede and discredit the Mueller report speak for themselves.
7
It is essential that the American public understands the magnitude and far-reaching extent of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller's investigation. This investigation - just on its merits alone from this article- shows very clearly the extensive and entangled web of Russian interference in our democratic government. Special Counsel Mueller has done an outstanding job to date and will continue to do so until completion. Please do not - in any way - think this investigation can compare to Watergate and its timeline. This is far beyond what anyone ever would have dreamed possible as obstruction of justice in the United States of America. Just be patient - Special Counsel Mueller and his team are doing their job and our job is to let him do it until he believes the task is completed. Thank you Special Counsel Mueller for your efforts on behalf of this country and the rule of law.
8
we are governed by the un-educated. the presidents' top two advisors, rush limbaugh and sean hannity brag about getting rich without going to college. meanwhile, our world-wrestling foundation POTUS never sat in a college classroom. all of his degrees were bought with daddy's bribes to protect his chickenhawk orange hiney from the viet nam draft that only snagged us poor pomona kids; never the rich, new york spoiled brats.
5
The piece fails to name a veritable Who's Who of Russian mobsters (including contract killers, drug mafiosi, human traffickers, etc) who ran a massive money laundering operation out of Trump Tower on behalf of Russia's "boss of bosses" Simeon Moglievich.
3
New York Times should be congratulated for this brilliant exposition of Muller’s report to the public, a colossal job requiring considerable expenditure of time and money. Given this, we need to ask: what’s next?
All these are serious issues, and need a thoughtful approach. In our zeal to expedite the rest of the process on a renewed momentum, the people should never forget the fine line of demarcation between the Office of Presidency and the person, the President himself. Whatever we decide to do next should never be allowed to impinge on our sense of continued respect for this venerable office and the foundation it stands upon, the two legs of Congress. As a person, the President needs to answer all these charges as they seem to implicate him yielding to his due as a normal human being. Was he not allowed to joke as a candidate Trump asking Russians for Clinton emails, if they had them somehow?
I might be wrong in my assessment – the pundits, who have already combed it thoroughly, might have a different take. Still, my appeal to us all is simply this. Let us not hurt America by seeking a partisan solution as it does come back often with a vengeance on an opposite momentum. Let us ask, instead, how we could enrich this historically honored and revered office even further without any more bickering.
Trump will do everything in his power to never let this report go public.
He'll cry executive privilege, national security or declare another emergency act, but he and certain members of his team will not let it get out.
At that point everybody in the GOP better climb on board with the rest of the country and call for impeachment.
4
The Constitution gives the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment which is why Presidents can't be indicted. Mueller must release not only his report but everything he has collected in his investigation -- all entirely unredacted -- to the House. The Justice Department is not Constitutionally authorized to make decisions about whether their boss, the President, has or has not committed crimes, only to collect evidence.
3
Not only that but it would be helpful to see the actual Mueller report, not some summary that's been thrown together by the president's newly appointed AG. The American public should see the actual report that our taxpayer dollars have spent hard earned money on and waited over a year for a report.
3
This exhaustive report indicates there is every reason to impeach,or indict Trump or put in jail in NY so he cannot make another run for the Presidency. After all, a waiter's job is difficult to come by if you have a rap sheet! How can one believe that Trump was unaware of all the corruption and crimes considering the players - his immediate family, his inner consortium of advisers, cons, lawyers, lying with the caveat Trump knowingly does not know. Keeping up appearances when consistently there is proof-positive evidence. But I don't have any expectations anymore. If a felon like Manafort can get away with 71/2 years in prison, all the others with crimes amounting to treason might just get a rap on the wrist!
"Let all the poisons that lurk in the mud, hatch out!" Tiberius Claudius Caesar, via Robert Graves, I, Claudius.
2
The implications in this article are staggering. Has the world forgotten that had Nixon not resigned, he would have been impeached for much less egregious actions than the activities in which Trump is involved?
11
There is some inflation when you write that THE WORLD is waiting for the Mueller Report. As if this was the major topic that interests the planet!
1
well. I highly doubt that all this administrations' twitter followers are Americans. So yes, the world is waiting.
1
Latest polls, 87% of Americans want it made public. The first dominoe to fall, the rest will follow suit. Simply put, just too Irresistible.
5
One thing we don't know is which state will indict Trump, his children, and the rest of his accomplices first. It's important that those justice department memos be struck down when the Supreme Court rules that Trump can be indicted. The only way to do that is for New York State, for example, to indict Trump, bypassing the federal policy of not indicting Trump. The country needs to know, as soon as possible, whether or not Trump can be indicted. There will be grave consequences, one way or the other, for the Supreme Court to rule on this matter, but for the good of the country, we must know now.
The depth of corruption surrounding President Trump's administration is staggering. And while there's a political savvy to Nancy Pelosi's hesitation to commence impeachment proceedings in the House - I can't see how she can claim to be fulfilling her Constitutional duty if she doesn't. Republicans who shy from standing under this bitterly icy shower also fail to fulfill their sworn oath 'to support and defend the Constitution of the United States' The magnitude of Congressional evasion (in particular by Republicans) of their duties is beyond disgraceful - it borders on treachery.
6
Don't underestimate Nancy Pelosi and the democratic leadership in the House.
"The wheels of justice turn slowly" and since we suffered through 2 years of Republican leadership in both Houses where this administration was not held accountable for anything - we need to be a little more patient that the new leadership will see this through and the crimes the courts are able to prosecute will be prosecuted.
4
Considering he headed the Trump transition team, why does VP Mike Pence go unmentioned in media recaps of illegal or immoral behavior by Trump campaign associates? Who honestly believes the claims that Bible Boy's sole involvement in campaign and transition crimes was getting lied to by Michael Flynn?
3
I prefer my Presidents un-compromised, okay?
3
Given there are 9 investigations surrounding and/or directly involving him, Trump will inevitably be prosecuted and have to testify under oath as a matter of course.
If Trump is in office while testifying under oath he'll profit by whatever decorum/concessions are afforded to any President.
If Trump is no longer President while testifying under oath he's in jail/ prison within a year.
This means that Trump will be going full-metal-jacket with his sociopathic liar, race-bating, Putin/GOP election tampering, Democracy killing horror show to win again in 2020 and remain within the protections & privileges the Presidency alone affords.
But Pelosi says she opposes impeachment in this term of Trump's presidency?
2016 was the year Putin stole the Presidency.
2020 will be the year he kept it.
1
An enlightening recap! Hard to imagine that this laundry list of corruption only relates to Russian bad acts and obstruction. Then there is the overlapping list of other bad acts such as:
campaign finance violations - Stormy Daniels
witness tampering / intimidation - Michael Cohen and others
abuse of power - constantly
emoluments violations - Trump hotel in Washington to name only 1
tax evasion - If payments to Cohen were deducted
bank fraud - Deustche bank
inaugural fund abuse
And no doubt much more as other investigations turn up more of the President's true nature.
Another 4 Years of this guy and America as we knew it will be gone.
3
I don't know how anyone looks at this bounty of evidence and labels the Mueller investigation a "witch hunt"? Yet the entire Republican Party stands in obsequious defense of the president and his complicit cohorts.
Unable to refute the damning evidence they engage in character assassination and false narratives. Meanwhile the Mueller Team remains silent; speaking only through their criminal indictments of the guilty.
Robert Mueller and his professional team should be lauded for their efforts.
2
This trough of rotten swill that is the trump administration only proves the point that the US has elected Putin as the first Russia President of the United States. As trump constantly calls her "crooked Hillary" and trump always accuses others of what he is guilty of, this shows how there was a concentrated effort by trump and his flunkies to discredit the real winner of the election by 3 million voters. Smears, lies, corruption, and evilness are all on display in the trump freak reality tv side show!
Enough "anticipation"!
It's time for the wheels of Justice to grind out some indictments, convictions, and (real) punishments of the criminal perps. Starting with #1...
4
Trump said "...let it {the report} come out, let people see it," then Trump said. "That's up to the attorney general..." Clearly Trump has influence over the Attorney General and Lindsey Graham who is trying to stop the report from being public. Let the Senate vote!
1
My guess is the president is just playing politics when he says that. More games....
1
"..the Trump team pushed a false narrative about the reason for holding it. " ?
The Trump Tower meeting--didn't Don Jr send you his whole whole e-mail string related to it?? What was false?
2
I simply do not understand why the overall American population isn't up in arms about all of this collusion, greed, lies, and pandering to Russia? Why doesn't this matter, when so many are appalled by rich/famous people lying, cheating, and paying for their kids' to get into prestigious colleges? It doesn't make any sense; everything is so wonky I feel like I've fallen down the proverbial rabbit hole.
2
Well Jelly Bean maybe the country isn't up in arms over this is because it involves politicians. Everyone knows that politicians in general, both sides of the aisle, are liars and cheats. They all operate under the banner of me first party second and country third. If you think that the democrats are any different than the republicans than you are living in a fantasy world. Who ever is not in power will do anything to unseat those in power.
The Democratic Party right now is almost a laughing stock. They lost the Presidential election so instead of fielding a candidate that has a chance to win they, instead, want to change the Constitution by eliminating the Electoral college, stack the Supreme Court, try to drive the country into socialism, and investigate instead of legislating, and open our southern border in the hopes that Central America will move to the United States and register as Democrats. Absolutely nothing constructive. It has become the party of "make believe".
As far as the colleges, that has been going on for years. Rich dad graduated so under the legacy program son get's preference whether he is qualified or not. Everything is for sale if you are rich enough. Not to worry though, when Bernie becomes President college will be free to all.
Sorry to be so sarcastic but as an Independent voter this is turning into a cartoon.
1
Wow --- thank you for this! One of the most challenging aspects of experiencing this GOP descent into organized crime and oligarchy is keeping all the people and events straight. It strains the brain and the soul.
I realize this doesn't touch on all of the other sleaze -- the porn star payments, the credible molestation accusations against Trump, the shady business dealings, the many dog whistles to white nationalists, the inciting to violence -- but it does the heavy lifting of sorting out the confusing network of influence peddling and, essentially, the selling of the presidency and America.
2
Was the translator of the 45 minute Trump Putin meeting in Helsinki ever questioned by Mueller?
3
As the saying goes: "A fish rots from the head down."
This is a staggering list, one that will most likely grow, especially with the following big names:
Mike Pence - Head of Transition Team
Vladimir Putin - How could he not have known?
Republicans (some) in Congress - Enabling and in some cases complicit. Vote them all out in 2020!!
3
Mueller will find exactly what the House and the Senate found.
There is no evidence of "collusion" with Russia.
Democrats will ignore the obvious and continue with their own sham investigations led by the Democrats latest super heroes, willing to investigate where no crime exists.
Jerry Nadler as Moe.
Adam Schiff as Larry.
Bob Sherman as Shemp.
The resemblance is uncanny.
In the name of inclusiveness, Maxine Waters will guest star as Curly.
3
Ken, Robert Mueller is a man of integrity. Please Google:
washingtonpost.com/politics/mueller-and-trump-born-to-wealth-raised-to-lead
Please try and put your prejudices aside and read the story at this web address I afforded you. It is recorded history, not spin, lies, or exaggerations. Thank you.
2
If ever a President needed impeaching, it's this one!
3
Whether Mueller is wrapping up, what we've read in news reports is tip of an iceberg & public indicators show much of his focus for Trump-Russia is what I've covered in-depth here: Manafort, Ukraine, Kushner, Deutsche, Cohen & much more: https://realcontextnews.com/articles/trump-russia-chart-dossier/
1
Why leak all of this (mostly speculative) stuff, and thus give Trump's cronies lots of ammunition and time to prepare?
Keep the information to yourself until the report is officially unsealed, and keep your editorial mouth shut so that the thunderbolts can do their job in an unmitigated manner!!
You can unload your fusillades immediately upon release of the report.
Re: "...The Mueller Report Is Highly Anticipated...Here’s What We Already Know..."
Here's what I, (as a middle-aged, caucasoid, hetero-male U.S. voter-citizen'!!), already know:
1.) This is an amazing amount of criminality, and national betrayal by an administration that can't, quite bring itself to say anything negative, 'bout the homicidal, ("Jew will not replace us!" chanting...), Charlottesville mob!
2.) In 2020 I will do what I've ALWAYS done:
I WILL vote; And...I will AVOID voting for anyone connected to the Republican Party / party_platform!!
1
What you come away with is a very sour taste in the mouth, and feelings of nausea combined with more than a soupcon of horror and disgust!
Such odious swine.
1
Wow! The world sure hates Hillary. I'm almost glad she did not become our president as surely she would have shot by now.
Independent
Yes, the Mueller Report is indeed highly anticipated, but it looks to me that the report will appear later than sooner. I cannot imagine we could see it before Ivanka, Kushner, DT Junior and the DT Senior himself is interrogated and/or charged and this will take some fighting over.
What bothers me is that the prosecutor Andrew Weissmann departed recently. This might have been a concession forced on Mueller by the new AG to accommodated the Trump’s requests – another instance of obstruction of justice by the POTUS?
4
Donald's love for Vladimir Putin is really complete servitude. The Russians bailed Trump out when US banks would not lend him another nickel. For years Trump has been receiving hundreds and hundreds of millions in laundered Russian money from investor friends of Putin via the Bank of Cyprus (where Wilbur Ross was a major shareholder and officer) and transferred with the help of Deutsche Bank.
The Russians own and control Trump. It is no coincidence that Putin ordered his digital agents to hack the DNC to get “dirt” on Hillary. It is no coincidence that the Russians spent tens of millions to post fake news on Facebook and other social media targeting Democratic voters in order to help elect Trump. It is no coincidence that Manafort shared Republican polling data to help Putin in this intense effort. It is no coincidence that there are such strong links between Russia and Trump's current and former cabinet members and associates including George Papadopoulos, Wilbur Ross, Felix Sater, Roy Tillerson, Jeff Sessions, Mike Flynn, Carter Page, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and the entire cast of characters listed in this comprehensive article.
The real question is how to cleanse the White House of Trump and Congress of the grovelling Republicans that support him for their own anti-democratic purposes. The answer: let the Democrats thoroughly investigate every criminal aspect of Trump's behavior. There is a smoking gun, ten smoking guns.... Putin owns Trump!!
11
Nothing would give me more satisfaction than seeing the trump organized crime family in orange jumpsuits, clanking in their handcuffs and leg irons. That would be something I'd pay to see on Pay Per View (PPV) television, and I don't think I'm alone here. If enough Americans, and indeed world citizens turned in, we could probably pay a significant portion of our debt down, and make a healthy deposit on Medicare for all. Just a thought.
9
I doubt that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for president in 2020.
3
The Russia investigation happened because of the fake Steele dossier, produced by a MI6 spook paid by the Clinton machine as opposition research (euphemism for smear campaign) and because enough congress people, who are all lobbyists for the war industry were spooked by Trump's election campaign propaganda, in which he represented himself as American isolationist. Dems screamed for 2 years constantly there was collusion with Russia and Trump is a Putin puppet. Now you are not sure. Oh really? No WMD in Iraq found yet either, right? Strange, how could that happen? We all know, who benefits from this. NATO contractors, DNC, CNN etc. no solutions to offer, how to fight corruption in general. He outplayed you. He is President and Clinton not. He was supposed to be the pied piper candidate by the Clinton campaign, which they can trample down easily. It backfired big time. A clownish reality TV talk show host won the Presidency against your candidate. It can't be true, but it is. Your own incompetence made it happen.
6
good grief Max. do you really believe the stuff you are writing?
2
Hats off to the wonderful job by the New York Times in pulling the details together! I really appreciate the effort.
7
Sorry folks, but guilty by association is not corruption.
Otherwise, the Mueller Report would have been released months ago.
And despite all the convictions, they lied to save themselves, not the President, because there's nothing there to suggest collusion, just optics of one.
5
Unless you are clairvoyant or have personal access to the investigation, yours is just another opinion -- when what we need is FACTS!
As for the "optics" ... they don't look too good.
1
This article is reminiscent of the Watergate investigation. See George V. Higgins' historical account of Nixon's chicanery and criminality, THE FRIENDS OF RICHARD NIXON (1975). But it pales by comparison to the Trump corruption. And this is just the beginning!
3
From the beginning of his trip down the escalator at Trump Tower - well, actually WELL BEFORE - until now, Trump & Co. has been nothing but a criminal enterprise - much more than the "infomercial" Michael Cohen said it was. The entire GOP is guilty by association and endorsement. Lock 'em up.
7
What is missing is the the transcripts of the private conversations Trump had with Putin at Helsinki and several other international meetings. One of which he confiscated the notes the translator had generated.
There are higher ups in the Republican Party who are aware of all of this even before it became public. Maybe Mueller has the goods on them too. That would be lovely.
7
I'd go even further with obstruction charges. Donald Trump fired numbers of US attorneys who were involved in investigations of his questionable sources of financing. Preet Bharara is among them. He was investigating Deutsche Bank and other groups.
5
This is what we expect from Trump and his horrible family. The far more disturbing thing is that the GOP has enabled Trump to 'flourish' with his destruction and hatred and shredding of our constitution. The GOP enablers belong in prison, too. They certainly don't deserve their pensions and lifetime healthcare.
7
He's on tv right now, crowing that he won the Electoral College.
He never mentioned the 3 million MORE votes that Clinton got.
What a whack case.
3
... and yet an astounding majority of republican base, at close to 90%, stands by nation's Corrupt in Chief.
... and yet, the republican lawmakers in the Capitol Hill are reluctant to fire Trump. Democrats and the legal system can't do anything about it.
... and yet, we call ourselves a literate, more aware society on the planet.
Sad irony.
2
Thank you, NYT. This article is the reason I subscribe. The research is mind-boggling. Good on you.
2
Incredible job by the NY Times. Thank you for telling the American people the truth!
5
He charged 34 of tens of thousands, who work for foreign governments. None of those charges was for collusion with Russia.
Well, I guess the Mueller investigation soon has dried the swamp and we can move on. This is a political investigation. If the same happened to the Clinton apparatus, they would also catch some lobbyists, who were sloppy with their bureaucratic paper work or similar white color crimes. Of cause for white color crimes you only get minor punishment.
Meanwhile tens of thousands of mass murderers and war criminals, I am talking about those, who committed these crimes, really killed innocent people, and those, who ordered it, walk around free and are celebrated as heroes.
2
good grief Max.
2
Why no mention of Mike Pence? He had to have known what was going on even though he looks like a robot who isn't paying attention to anyone.
6
Pence was the one who took over after Chris Christie was fired.
He knew.
1
We are way past waiting for "the other shoe to drop" ..... congress do your job
4
These seem like some pretty wicked folks. Amazing our culture has sunk this low.
3
Who needs a smoking gun? Maybe not full on "collusion," but contact, coordination, and cooperation with a foreign government *proven* to be trying to influence our election. These people are dirty, and attempted to corrupt our democratic process, which is treasonous. They should be removed from power.
5
I am sorry NY Times, as much as you want to believe it, the world is not awaiting this report. Most of us couldn't care less.
2
I guess you're one of the folks who would support Trump if he really did shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in plain sight, with hundreds of witnesses.
2
Most of us do.
2
Sorry, Charlie. You're hardly in the position to speak for "most of us".
Because the MAJORITY of us care a great deal -- which is also why we didn't vote for Donald Trump.
2
Keeping in mind that a jaundiced personality and low- character person has spent his entire life believing he was above the law, in any of its iterations..... is the president of this much reduced nation.... makes me sick to my stomach.
2
Trump would have us believe that he is a super hero, a meld of Mohammed Ali (but white) and Jesus Christ (also white). It brings me comfort that every other word out of his mouth is "no collusion" and endless blithering about his delusional achievements. Only a lying narcissistic sociopath who is guilty of many crimes would do that because actual truth would speak for itself. We all know better anyway but it's good to se the weight of reality taking its toll on this madman.
In reality he is merely a pitiful loser, a coward, or as George Conway would say "crazy". Trump's delusional world cannot accept the fact that he LOST the election popular vote by 3 million (which he NEVER acknowledges) and is the subject of almost infinite criminal investigations for excellent reason - he's a documented crook. Were we able to qualify the effects of Russian hacking I think there would be no doubt that he is also quite illegitimate. His narcissism blinds him to any truth and his absence of morality of ethical compass makes him an abomination to our Democracy. He "rules" over his small base of zealots, many of whom would be unacceptable in any civilized society.
Just another reminder of who is sitting in OUR White House. Time for some serious house cleaning!
5
I'll wait for Mueller's report. I trust his judgement and objectivity...not the Times.
3
The NYT has built a little cottage industry in guessing what is inside Mueller's report.
2
so many bad, treasonous people in trump's orbit. he is either a complete moron, unaware and unknowing of these events, or a criminal who has ordered and been clearly aware of all these actions . there is no third option.
1
he's no moron - he knows exactly what he's doing.
This is not a headline fit for the scope and range of the Mueller investigation. Get with it, NYT!
Some of your opinion writers and contributors have headlines that are too divisive, but this - when the obvious is so obvious - where is the shocking headline it deserves?
2
Left out of this summary: Missing tax returns that were promised to the American people. Fake charity arms to pay for internal / personal expenses. Fake colleges propped up in the attempt to rip off students. Payments to silence numerous porn stars. Victimizing beauty pageant constants. Countless sub-contractors who "donated" blood sweat tears and materials to the Trump properties around the globe without proper compensation. The list goes on and on. No moral decency and no qualities I would want my children embody. I remember when aspiring to become POTUS was held in high regard and was a great thing to aspire too. Not anymore. What happened to us? This President has been allowed to damage our democracy and great nation to it's core. It will take a generation to undo this damage.
81
Your points (while well taken) are not part of Mueller's mandate.
House Congressional Committees are actively looking at Drump's corruption as well as New York AG and the SDNY.
1
absolutely. what we eventually find out all the details to is only the tip of the iceberg.
Very well said. Just hope that retribution is something we get to see!!!
It's absolutely stunning to see the range and number of people involved in this scandal. Words fail me except to express profound gratitude for Mr. Mueller's investigation team and their hard work.
16
This summary of the Special Counsel investigation is so ver strikimg in its breadth and complexity. Most notable of all is the “Russian Contacts” section - 39 people (!) and more than 100 known contacts.
So even with the departure of seven lawyers from the Special Counsel team, I don’t think the Mueller investigation(s) is/are winding down. I am as eager as everyone else to see what has been found, but more concerned that a thorough and thoughtful job is done in untangling this spiders web.
And, another noable thing, this doesn’t include the SDNY investigation or any other as yet unknown spinoffs. The potential totality of Trump related investigations is head spinning.
Thanks New York Times for laying this out so thoroughly.
12
Not only that but just now the president saying the report should be made public is highly questionable since for the last 2 years he's been denigrating Mueller and Mueller's team while at the same time firing people right and left to align his cabinet and inner circle with people that will cow tow to his efforts to demoralize and diminish the FBI and all the intelligence agencies. This stance he is stating today is politics at its best. Remember when he took the stance he wanted to testify before the special counsel and Mueller's team - after months of denigrating them and rearranging his counsel members - knowing full well his team would protect him and prevent him from testifying.
1
What about Mike Pence? He's not mentioned at all. He was head of Trump's transition team, which was involved with Michael Flynn's contacts with Russians. There is speculation that Pence defended (lied?) to the public and law enforcement in defending Flynn.
36
The Times is doing a super job of organizing the “players” and the time-lines and the dastardly deeds of this massive investigation (and its spinoffs) of what looks more and more like a criminal conspiracy at its base and a conspiracy to Obstruct Justice overlaying all the crimes below it.
It’s so huge no one person can really grasp all of it.
But, as I said above, the Times is doing a marvelous job of organizing it across multiple arcticles.
Thanks so much! From this former print subscriber. Now digital.
18
This piece mentions Randy Credico, and does not mention Peter Strzok. Sums it up pretty well.
Its almost beyond-belief how poor, misleading, and flat out dangerous the reporting of this story from this paper has been. The only possible explanation for the utter gullibility and refusal to inspect other angles, at this point in March, 2019, is an active cover-up for political allies and co-workers who spent 2 1/2 years carrying water for a Democrat hoax.
6
Surely you jest.
2
You want every law enforcement officer involves in the Trump-Russia investigation listed as well (including Strock)? That is not only impossible but just imagine how huge the list would be —multiple pages I imagine.
Brilliant! Now that we've got you on the line, Dan, could you explain your belief that the Mueller investigation is, as you call it, a "hoax"? Do you believe that Robert Mueller is a real, living person? Do you believe that federal judges exist, or that they orders issued by them can be relied on to state their legal judgments? Do you believe that an actual investigation has been taking place? What, precisely, do you mean by "hoax"? What, in your mind, is false or fictional about this whole process, and what is the extent of your belief in reality?
1
Thank you for compiling this extensive (but not yet complete??) list of members of the Republican Party who crossed the line into criminal, or at least, questionable, behavior around things having to do with Russia and other nation / states seeking favor with the Trump presidency.
The longer this draws out the less I remember, so the NY Times provides a great service with this review.
I know some Democrats are involved (one of Podesta brothers) in colluding with Russia, but it is the Republicans who are basically, totally at fault.
Will the voting public remember enough going into November 2020 to make a moral choice and choose representatives who will put the constitution above money and influence?
2
Great summary! Illustrates in an easy to read format that my Trump true believer friends might actually comprehend!
4
What America needs, I think, is a moving pixel-board in the heart of every major city. Or, a crawl at the bottom of all major networks. On it, a rolling list of crimes committed, criminals convicted, and active prosecutions of the Trump crime family. Also, a link, where people can scroll through the 5000 proven lies and 4000 misstatements since he's seized power. One interesting artwork would be to stitch this together and see how many states the work passes through, while being updated each day or each hour. I also think the folks from the Guinness Book should be on this, as well as the UN Agency on Human Anomalies.
4
I just keep wondering, where is the name Allen Weisselberg in all this? As the CFO of the Trump Organization he was at the center of all the conspiracy and criminal behavior outlined here, manipulating the accounts and facilitating the cash flowing in and out, and he still is today. You don't mention him here at all, and Congress seems to be deliberately leaving his name out of the news, too.
6
"Here's what we know already"
It's not a comprehensive list of everything in the Mueller report, because we don't have the full report yet. His name might be prominent in the final report, or it might not. It depends on pieces the public doesn't know. The NYT is reporting on confirmed pieces of information, not those that are merely plausible, but not yet in public evidence.
2
March 20, 2019
Awesome reporting - thank you!
I will surely study this report in in depth and reflect on my dedication to doing right for my citizen integrity:
“Ask not what your country can do for you…Ask what you can do for your country.” » John F. Kennedy
5
Reading the piece from top to bottom, it is truly shocking to see the scope of apparent corruption at play in virtually everything Donald Trump touches. Equally shocking is the seemingly limitless defense given to him by nearly everyone in the Republican party. This is not the United States that I know and love.
149
The New York Time’s exhaustive list of “connections” is a variation of the once popular “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” parlor game. It is a game anyone can play. For example, Paul Manafort also worked for Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Bob Doyle, and George H.W. Rush.
There also is a Barrack Obama-Paul Manafort and Bill Clinton-Paul Manafort connection. Gregory Craig, who was a White House lawyer in both the Obama and Clinton White Houses, worked for Manafort’s consulting firm. Hillary Clinton is connected to Paul Manafort though her connection to her husband Bill, who is connected to Manafort through Craig.
See how this works?
5
The investigation goes where the evidence leads.
The evidence does not lead to any of these other people you mention therefore they are not involved.
Now do you see how it works?
21
Keep up William Case. The investigation is about the person currently occupying the Oval Office. Geez.
4
Most of the "events" listed are not crimes. Only a few of the people listed have not been charged with crimes. You could make easy make up a similar list for any administration. You could easily make up a similar list of foreign nationals contracted by members of any previous administration.
1
There's more smoke here than in an Amsterdam cafe. Still, the cultists claim "fake news" as they have been indoctrinated to do so.
Regardless of what outcome the report will produce, the ancillary crimes that the #IPOTUS's organization has committed will be prosecuted in state courts for years.
Sadly, there is little that can be done about the cultists whose ignorance remains a malignant cancer on our country.
15
Thank you for such a clear succinct summary. Seeing it all together it is jaw-dropping. One wonders when or if Republicans will recognize that to protect and continue to rally around this president is to turn its back on this country as well as our democracy.
10
When the breathtaking scope of the corruption being ignored by the Republicans is revealed in such stark terms, the core message is this: they do not care about anything except gaining absolute control of the Supreme Court. Everyone needs to understand that. It is the ultimate, absolute and only non-negotiable goal. Once that is accomplished, they keys to the kingdom will have been handed over to the plutocracy that has been planning this coup of democracy for decades, and the 1% will have freedom to do whatever they want.
12
Rather than saying that the "Trump team" pushed a false narrative about the Trump Tower meeting, please state the established admitted fact that Trump himself dictated a false statement about it on Air Force One saying that the meeting was about "adoptions", which was found to be a lie.
11
Indeed. And plenty of people suspect that Trump's statement was actually suggested to him by Putin; the two had, after all, recently discussed "Russian adoptions" at a summit meeting.
1
It would help a lot if you differentiated between the legal and illegal. You've got Kelly down for talking to Russians. That wasn't illegal. It was the lying about it that was.
3
Fake News. It's funny how you can claim they spun "false narratives" without a single shred of evidence. This is a partisan hit piece. It's what the NYT is famous for. No mentions of the fact that the Clinton campaign commissioned the Steele dossier that started this whole mess. A collection of fake stories that even Steele, himself, can't commit to being accurate.
6
Funny.
A person who clearly uses fake news sources as thier "news" claiming actual news is fake news.
The head spins!
14
The Steele "dossier" was commissioned by a conservative Washington newspaper, then picked up by Jeb Bush's campaign before the Clinton camp ever touched it. I guess they don't mention that fact on Fox and your loca AM radio hate station.
5
Sorry! Check your facts. The Steele Dossier was first commissioned by the conservative political website The Washington Free Beacon to provide opposition research.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump%E2%80%93Russia_dossier
2
Whew! Wide ranging and very thorough. And, not so surprisingly, nowhere amidst all the names and photos of people involved in these COLLUSIONS is ERIC TRUMP to be found!! He's either the sole honest person (unlikely) or so dumb (even dumber than as portrayed in Saturday Night Live) that it was agreed by all to leave him out of this.
2
Really nice summary, but the authors left out the election law violations relating to Stormy Daniels
12
We know that the only crimes so far attributable to the Trump campaign or Trump administration is one “process crime.” Process crimes are offense against the judicial process, They include failure to appear, false statements, obstruction of justice, contempt of court and perjury.
Michael Flynn was suspected but acquitted of violating the Logan act during his transition-period conversation with the Russian ambassador, but nevertheless was charged with making a false statement about the conversation. Although the sentencing guidelines for someone like Flynn, who has no previous offenses, call for zero to six months, Flynn will probably serve no jail time.
George Papadopoulos was not a member of the Trump campaign when he misled FBI agents about his lawful but unsuccessful attempts to arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. He served 10 days of a 14-day sentence.
Roger Stone were not a member of the Trump campaign when he allegedly made false statements Congress about his apparently lawful contacts with WikiLeaks.
4
If the Mueller investigation were limited to criminal wrongdoing by Americans, then you'd have a point.
2
Helpful synopsis of the tragicomedy of Trussia.
Missing, though, are the ties these characters have to the RNC and control over the GOP. Looking forward to that.
Until this abscess is lanced and fully flushed, the nation is continuing on a path to overwhelming sepsis and democratic death.
9
For what’s been called a “Nothingburger” by some named in this article, there seems to be enough red meat in it to clog a nation’s worth of arteries.
17
After reviewing all this just remember folks: Trump says no evidence of collusion. Laughable and appalling. The biggest liar, heathen and cheat ever to occupy the White House.
16
After two years, Mueller is still silent? I am beginning to think trump is right - this search is a fantasy. Mueller has nothing to say, so all he can do is keep searching.
4
I thought those indictments and guilty pleas said quite a bit.
10
He's silent because he's not finished. It's called professionalism.
3
The Times does itself a disservice by trying to excite its readers with the Mueller report. Nothing will come of it in relation to Trump colluding with Russia. If Trump had colluded with Russia or done anything that would merit impeachment, we'd know about it. Impeachment proceedings would be underway. Mueller and the Dems wouldn't be this patient! Besides it's time to start investigating Comey et al for their handling of Hillary's emails. Now that's a tangled web that needs a special counsel!
4
But Trump has been colluding in public ("Russia, if you're listening...") and the Republicans have consistently looked the other way. The fact that Trump is not in jail is no evidence that he hasn't abused his power sufficiently to warrant impeachment.
2
Wow. This is a long, long list.
A lot of people think that the cover up is worse than the crime, but I'm not so sure anymore. True, the public lies and verbal attacks on investigators, including attempts to undermine the institutions that keep us safe (FBI, CIA, DOJ), and the attempts to paint Republicans (e.g., Mueller, Comey, etc.) as part of some liberal witch hunt, are so ridiculous and shocking, that it is tempting to say it is worse.
But the crime is looking like treason. The crimes might actually be worse.
24
The Mueller report will surely raise questions about Trump's competence, utter disregard for security protocols and bad judgement. But as I read this the key element of conspiracy still seems missing.
There's also a great deal of piling on as Julian Assange is mentioned, but no mention is made that the NYTimes and WaPost, published the same allegedly stolen document that Wikkileaks did.
And there are the Russian indictments that can allege anything because everyone knows none of the charges will ever be contested in court.
Trump, like most oligarchs surrounded himself with liars, grifters and the greedy who expected to make a fortune off of his presidency. Trump himself proclaimed that if he couldn't make money off of the office then it wasn't worth it.
But just as in the Godfather film, where the Don says "make them an offer they can't refuse" Trump did his dirty deeds by innuendo, seldom by direct order. For a conspiracy charge to stick they will need more than innuendo.
And I believe they would have had more, a lot more. But the Democrats basically overrode the FBI with their very loud and public claims of Russian tampering. I believe that but for that, the a conspiracy that could be proven would have unfolded and the press wouldn't have to rail about collusion, which is unethical, but not criminal.
And Trump doesn't care a wit about ethics.
2
Hopefully the Mueller Report contains enough actual and implicated felonies that Republicans cannot ignore during the campaign to 2020. If so, the death by a 1000 cuts to Trump may be too disastrous for the Repubs and they may need to find a back door in the oval office for Trump to leave...with a guarantee of no prosecutions for him or his family.
And they and the Dems will hold back a few criminal cases for state and local Law Enforcement to keep Trump from claiming it was a "Fake Coup".
62
Dan, my husband has a theory that Trump is deliberately being as awful as he possibly can so that everyone will give him immunity for everything if he just leaves. Under this theory, not just Pence as the replacement President who will pardon Trump, but also the NY and Florida state governors have to be on board to pardon him for his state crimes.
That is so insane that you couldn't even make it the plot of a book. But then Trump starts attacking the late Senator McCain, and I'm thinking, Trump is either profoundly unhinged or he really is trying to be deliberately vile and awful.
I can't believe Trump sent those hateful tweets, and now the widow is getting hate mail. It is too disgusting to comprehend.
It is a nightmare that Trump is President. A nightmare.
11
And then you woke up...
Trump and his followers are "unhinged", as in outright crazy.
The current extra erratic behavior of President Trump makes me think he must know something back is about to happen. I suspect it has more to do with his business dealing than the Russian thing. We is see.
6
It's almost always about money, especially in the case of Trump.
Good effort at summing up the state of the Russia meddling investigation.
But the NYT has left out two important aspects:
1. Mueller and his team know far more than has been made public. If you look at court documents, there are usually a very significant amount of redacted material. One of the judges who saw the redacted material with regards to Michael Flynn was going to toss him in jail despite the p request for no jail time from the prosecutors.
2. We also know that Trump has been trying to stop the investigations into Russian meddling from the beginning, that, while his administration has been tough on Russia, Trump has been equivocal, that Trump has not pushed his Intelligence heads to come up with plans to defend against Russian and other foreign countries’ interference, and, that Trump’s posture towards Russia and Putin and antagonism towards traditional allies have never been logically and coherently explained. All of which points to a consciousness of guilt.
We know enough now to suggest very strongly that we have a President who can’t be trusted to be acting in the best interests of this country when it comes to Putin.
21
and it's clear this administration and the Republican party want the same type of criminal activity to occur in the next election because it benefits them.
12
At this point, it's probably a better idea to report on the efforts to make sure the Robert Mueller report goes public instead of re-treading what's been reported and second-guessing its outcome.
It's already driving Donald Trump crazy, there's no need to follow suit.
4
Democrats can chew gum and walk at the same time. This should remain a continual multi-front effort. Keep the investigation going, make any reports public, and also ensure Trump's "witch hunt" propaganda efforts fail. This case will be tried in the court of public opinion as well as State and Federal courts. While the 20% of "deplorable" American voters' opinions may be unchangeable, we need the other voters motivated to show up at the polls in 2020 in high numbers to counter the inevitable GOP vote theft efforts.
7
It's the sensationalist 'horse-race' aspect that is most worrisome.
And seeing as Americans tend to favor entertainment over fact (i.e. unable to chew gum and walk at the same time), which is how we ended up with Donald Trump to begin with -- I'd caution all to keep the eye on the prize....And that "prize" is making the findings of the Mueller investigation available to the public.
1
What an ugly parade. Who wants to bet that something is going on behind the scenes, trying to get Trump to resign without having to carry him out in chains, and the Trump is trying to extort his best deal while gleefully creating as much havoc as he can along the way?
7
Trump Tower Meeting
There have been no indictments connected to the Trump Tower Meeting because there was nothing unlawful about the meeting.
Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort, and Jared Kushner attended the meeting in the anticipation that Russian attorney Natalia Veselnitskaya would present disparaging or incriminating information about Hillary Clinton. The meeting would not have been unlawful if Veselnitskaya had produced documents incriminating Hillary, but she had no “dirt” to offer. Instead, she talked about the Magnitsky Act, whose sanctions affected her corporate clients. Since Russia reacted to the sanctions by barring U.S. citizens from adopting Russian orphans, Vesenitskaya urged the Trump representatives to make repeal of the Magnitsky Act a campaign issue. They disagreed.
Trump Jr., subsequently told the New York Times that the meeting had been mostly about Russian orphans, which was true. He did not tell the Time they had expected Veselnitskaya to reveal damaging information about Clinton, but he was under no obligation to do so. Under oath, Trump Jr. and others who attended the meeting told the full story.
4
If I recall correctly, during the latter part of the Campaign, Trump did suggest that relief of auctions might be appropriate.
How do you know that your last sentence is correct? Were you at the meeting?
If the meeting was so innocuous, why did Junior not tell the truth about it to The NY Times?
8
lies and more lies. it's the coverup that got them. just like in the Nixon crimes.
7
Suggesting that living sanctions might be appropriate was not inappropriate or unlawful. Trump campaigned on promises to improve U.S.-Russia relations.
All the participants in the Trump Tower Meeting, including Veselnitskaya, have testified beforeCongress or in writing about the meeting. The transcripts of their testimony is available on the congressional committee website. The testimony is convincing.
Why do you think Muller has not charged anyone in connection with the Trump Tower meeting.
1
Not even Trump's legal demise permits the use of 'pleaded'. Have all linguist standards gone the way of the Herald Tribune. It's 'pled'. Older is better. Look that up in one of your "indexes"
4
Simply put, the Trumps sold the U.S.A. to Russia, for their financial gain.
Our so-called president must think Russia admires him, when the truth is, he's their useful idiot.
Russia is our hostile enemy. Easing tensions looks good on the surface, and that's the excuse Trump has used.
38
You left out Cambridge Analytica and the potential link to Steve Bannon and others in the Trump campaign.
23
And what about the NRA?
1
I am surprised that Brad Parscale has remained almost entirely unscathed through this whole saga.
"....only the best creeps, crooks, criminals, cretins and cravens..."
TRUMP 2016 - 2019
Lock them all up.
49
@NYT - Thank you for organizing this history into such an easy to absorb summary. At times it's been difficult to keep track of all the moving parts with this issue and the resulting investigation, and this is the most comprehensive yet easy to understand summary. As a newspaper, your function is to report on the news, but as true professionals, it is also to make sure the news is clear and concise - and this summary accomplishes both. Thank you.
25
Under the heading “Russian Sanctions,” the New York Times list conversations between Russians and members or former members of the Trump campaign and administration regarding sanction and the Ukraine-Russia conflict as if they were crimes, but they were not crimes. It is no unlawful to discuss foreign policy with foreign nationals. Hillary Clinton met personally with the president of Ukraine during the 2016 campaign and promised her support if she became president.
4
not secretly though. The Republican campaign didn't have their emails stolen and their covert operation they were involved in revealed to the American public and if it had been the election would have gone quite differently. Not only that but if all of the tax evasion and corruption and lies of the Republican campaign had been made public as we know it now - the election would have gone differently. Question is are we going to allow our next president and the 2020 campaign be based on lies and cheating and defrauding the American public OR not. Will it be a true and free election?
9
The conversations were not secret just because the participants need not invite reporters. Do you really think it odd that Paul Manafort discussed the Ukraine-Russia conflict with the manager of his Kiev office?
The two evasion charged giants Paul Manafort, rick Gates and Michale Cohen are not related to the Trump campaign or 2016 election. Manafort and Gate were not paid for their work on the Trump cspaing.
2
But conspiracy to defraud the U.S. is a crime, and those conversations, in which it was suggested that Trump would ease up on sanctions against Russia, are evidence of the quid. They are also highly suspicious; contrary to the spirit at least of the Hatch Act; contrary to the public statements of Administration officials; contrary to some officials' sworn statements before Congress; and certainly worthy of note in the context of the counterintelligence investigation that is still running in parallel with the public side of the Mueller investigation. It is entirely appropriate for the Times to describe all of the Trump administration's shameless Russian dealmaking.
2
Key to public understanding will be the revelation of Trump’s motive to pander to Putin. Much more than a hotel deal in a Moscow, (kept secret as Trump never expected to win) - the Russians had decades of financial leverage over Trump. Their sly compromat tactics were forcefully in play as they meddled in the election, but their real corrupting power was the truth of Trump’s fiscal weakness, vulnerability, incompetence & deceitful business scams.
While Trumps base may want to see a savvy street fighter, most Americsns will smell a rat...a president cornered into betraying the best interests of the nation by his sleazy past.
13
Seems to me you've nailed this in about 100 words. Watching Trump's interactions with Putin even Ray Charles would think that something was off kilter. No way, is it about the tower. Gotta be something much more personal.
1
If it walks like collusion and quacks like collusion it must be collusion.
11
Please call it conspiracy. Collusion is a real estate term.
1
Enough!!! The American public has been subjected to more than two years of investigations into the workings of Donald Trump and his corrupt Administration. It is time for Robert Mueller to take his evidence into the courts and before Congress and into the light of day. We are tired and battered and want these two years of investigation to come to fruition so we can have our nation and our democracy and our self-respect back. Time to cash it in, Robert Mueller, and bring these criminals to justice. We are so very tired and need resolution and rest.
79
Hear, hear! This investigation, and the dozens of others surrounding Trump’s dirty galaxy seem to have become career paths for some lawyers. They employ enough people to populate an annual convention at McCormick Place in Chicago. Meanwhile Trump is still sitting in the chair, still tweeting nonsense every day and still has the same 30-40% of the American public enthralled.
Wrap. It. Up!
6
Patience, young one. Patience.
2
Patience Grasshopper. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but fine.
2
I fully support the concept of an investigator like Robert Mueller, and I understand that these investigations are complex and time-consuming. But if the purpose of this investigation is to reveal wrongdoing, so that action can be taken on a sitting president, then time is running out. Mueller needs to release his report, otherwise Trump will successfully complete a term in office with no consequences for potentially illegal activities. Not only will Trump have avoided responsibility, but the very idea of an independent investigator will be called into question.
4
The problem is that the drafters of our Constitution never predicted that almost an entire party (GOP) would fail to honor their oaths to do their jobs and root out a corrupt president.
4
The revelation of wrongdoing is only one of the purposes of the investigation. The counterintelligence probe into the Trump campaign is aimed at protecting national security, and its results might never be made public.
1
If there's any truth to the saying "where there's smoke there's fire," then the Trump administration is a volcano. With the sheer amount of people involved at this point, it's naivety at best, and complicity at worst to give Trump a pass at this point. He had to have known what was going on in his campaign.
The Muller probe is also an indictment of his supporters, because at the end of the day they're fine supporting the guy who our greatest foreign adversary wanted to win.
9
The only member of the Trump administration to have been charged with a crime is former national security advisor Michael Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBIK about his transition period conversations with the Russian ambassador, although the FBI determined the conversations did not violate the Logan Act.
When the FBI asked Flynn if he had told the Russian ambassador that Russia should not retaliate for against the United States for sanctions imposed by the Obama administration, Flynn answered: “Not really. I don't remember. It wasn't, 'Don't do anything.’" However, transcripts of the conversations showed Flynn told the Russian ambassador that Russia should not overreact to sanctions imposed by the Obama administration until the Trump aunministrsion had time to review them. As a result, Russia delayed its retaliation until the Trump administration reviewed the sanctions and decided to leave them in place.
FBI Director Andrew McCabe told the House Intelligence Committee that Flynn statement was “inconsistent with our understanding of the conversation that he had actually had with the ambassador.” But McCabe also testified that ‘the two people who interviewed [Flynn] didn’t think he was lying.”
Although the sentencing guideline is zero to six months, it is expected that Flynn will serve no jail rimes. Trump should pardon Flynn if the Mueller investigation reveals no evidence of collusion.
6
Didn't see any reference to who was involved in changing the Republican platform during their convention.
7
Excellent and informative. At the same time overwhelming and mind boggling to see the number of individuals that were so easily corrupted by greed, and desire to enrich themselves and have power over others.
2
No member of the Trump campaign has been charged for anything they did as a member of the Trump campaign.
George Papadopoulos was not a member of the Trump campaign when he made false statements to the FBI about his lawful but unsuccessful efforts to arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. The meeting would not have been unlawful if it had been arrange; both candidates met privately with the heads of foreign governments during the 2016 election camping. Tump even flew to Mexico City to ask the president of Mexico to tone down his anti-Trump rhetoric.
Roger Stone was not a member of the Trump campaign when he allegedly lied to Congress and the FBI about his contracts with WikiLeaks. Stone wasn’t charged for contacting WikiLeaks because that is not illegal.
The charges against Paul Manafort and Rick Gates have nothing to do with the Trump campaign or administration. Manafort and Gates also are connected to political campaigns of Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and John McCain.
7
You just keep sticking to that distinction without a difference and we'll see where it gets you... and Individual-1.
2
Actually, your facts aren't correct. Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen has been indicted & will soon be serving jail time. He was Treasurer of the Republican National Committee, which ran Trump's campaign. After the 2016 election Rick Gates was a member of Donald trump's inaugural committee & member of his transition team. Also, Roger Stone has a very long history of advising Donald Trump, & for a short time he was a member of Trump's campaign team. After Stone & Trump had a disagreement, Trump fired Stone in Aug. of 2015:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/roger-stones-long-history-in-trump-world/581293/
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/rick-gates-relationship-to-manafort-and-trump-explained.html
1
@ William Case: Your claim that no member of the Trump campaign has been charged for anything they did as a member of the Trump campaign will come as news to Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents in an interview on January 24, 2017, concerning contacts he had with the Russian ambassador in December, 2016.
Your point about Manafort is disingenuous, as most of your letters are. It is common knowledge that Manafort "resigned" from the Trump campaign after his shady pro-Russian Ukraine funds became a Trump campaign liability, yet he continued to provide substantial assistance to the campaign and the Trump Transition team even after his show "resignation".
2
The Russians hacked Hillary Clinton's, as Trump's rival is only one way of looking at the Russians' actions. Another is that they did this under the nose of President Obama. It was President Obama who had responsibility for preventing this action, not President Trump's for causing it.
4
The police are responsible for the bank robbery because they didn't stop the bank teller from giving the robber the layout of the bank and the combination to the safe.
6
Seriously? I thought we were all individually accountable for our own actions.
Could Obama's admin done more? Sure. But they were not the ones breaking the law.
6
Nobody in his right mind blames anybody but Trump for his actions. Trump eagerly became compromised by Russian intelligence, and the fault is entirely his own.
On second thought, there is someone we can blame for directing Trump's actions: Vladimir Putin. What do you think they talked about in Helsinki that was so sensitive that it had to be kept from the U.S. government?
3
There are enough names here to populate the credits scroll of a Star Wars movie.
20
What Erik Prince was doing in the Trump Tower meeting will never be properly illustrated unless Erik Prince, the owner of a militarized private army of all kinds of people from all over the planet is brought up before congress to explain and describe what the heck he is doing while he sends Washington invoices in the billions we pay him without any knowledge of what it is he is doing with all these munitions.
Erik Prince has got to be monitored more carefully. He has been before congress before considering Falluja which resulted in the disclosure of crimes there. You'd think that would be that, we'd know exactly what Erik Prince was doing all the time after having his license pulled for torture. But he is still operating.
Ask any of these Americans stockpiling arms in their basements and they'll tell you it is because they think Washington could create a private army and turn it upon the citizenry. Erik Prince has such an army.
34
hmmmmm..........food for thought.
3
Prince WAS NOT in the Trump Tower meeting.
1
The scope and scale of Trump's corruption is mind-numbing but I fear no prosecutorial measures will be taken until he's out of office. Impeachment is not an option because the Senate Republicans have his back. Indictment won't work because even if the Democrats challenge the DOJ policy of not indicting a sitting president, the Republican leaning SCOTUS will uphold that policy. Two options remain: (1) The NY attorney general can go after him on tax fraud charges while he's still in office. (2) Nominate the right Democratic candidate to defeat him in 2020. Whatever it takes, we cannot endure Donald Trump for 6 more years.
26
You will have to endure whom the voters select. Time to accept this.
5
This is suggesting the election is rigged before it is even here. Hope the forces in place to protect our democracy.
1
The voters who elected him, elected a con man. Time to accept this.
6
All those indictments, sealed indictments, and continuing investigations and cooperating witnesses - must be a witch hunt, right?
This does not even touch the scale and scope of his crime spree. He is also under investigation for financial crimes with SDNY and New York state, facing the Emoluments case, defamation with Summer Zervos, and campaign finance crimes. Am sure am missing quite a bit in addition...
This is not a presidency, it is a crime spree run from the White House
79
I’ll contend that among the best Trump portrayal is by Mick Jagger, done 50 years ago. It comes from the movie “Performance” in the dream / gangster sequence and the song “Memo from Turner” as part of it.
I think it shows the dynamics of the power relationship between a mob boss and his subordinates. I just can’t not see Trump as a version of Turner, although more inept, equally devoid of any morality.
It’s a gritty video, both production values and content, but also great rock & roll (Ry Cooper on slide guitar). Hopefully the link will work & the comment moderators deem it ok.
https://g.co/kgs/RBCRmp
This is like the endless NFL mock drafts on ESPN and other sports websites. Lets all save some time and wait and see what actually comes out. The only difference is that with the NFL draft, we have an actual date when the facts will be known.
4
Terry, every bit of information in this article is a fact. I suppose some people see a dead body on the ground, a person nearby holding a knife dripping with blood yet STILL want to wait for the ALL the facts. Fact is, most can deduce the scene. It's more than clear.
3
Thank you for continuing to update the American People on the latest developments in this ongoing story. The extreme level of corruption and seemingly treasonous actions against the United States of America is staggering. And this is just the "tip of the iceberg" - the only knowledge that is currently public! Thank you to Mueller and the Free Press - the True Patriots who are working to bring the Truth and Justice to the American People. You will be the ones who will go down in History as the True Heros to the USA Constitution and the American People,
81
How extraordinary is the NYT. What staggering research and clarification. True unbiased unpolitical news, facts, explanations, maps and connections. The finest new source in the world. Thank God for the free press. Imagine if all this had remained secret.
177
now if we could just get more Americans to read the NYT and Washington Post.
6
NYT should reprint this daily with each new discovery. Certain articles should be reprinted over and over again with each new detail uncovered by the writers.
3
Consorting with the Russians is like consorting with the Chinese. Neither can ever be trusted. Both have always been rogue nations, all throughout history. Trump had some good ideas, like the wall-without which America will soon look like just another 3rd world country. If he’s guilty, Lock him up.
5
"Both have always been rogue nations", but not the USA? Really?
6
This article pretty well explains why Mueller’s investigation is going on two years. The sheer number of individuals involved and the relationships among them is overwhelming. It’s like a rapidly expanding malignant cancer of corruption. I would hardly know where to begin. What a daunting task!
115
Give the same amount of resources, time & scrutiny on anyone else and I can guarantee you 3 quarters of lobbyists & politicians in Washington would either end up in jail or get fired from their job at the very least. Naive much?
13
Racking up indictments makes Trump's critics feel vindicated. On closer inspection, however, it was really a dragnet of lobbyists with obvious perjury traps laid.
Mueller waded into waters normally untravelled. Were he to have done this under any other president, the results would likely have been the same. Manafort was doing what they all do.
6
Only 3 quarters? LOL
1
This is helpful, although the biggest question that comes out of all these linkages is why. To help fill that picture in more fully, you might include separate lists showing all the potential benefits or things of value that could have been exchanged between Trump and Russia. For example, Russia’s list might include easing up on the Crimea takeover, sanctions relief, a pro-Russian peace deal for Ukraine, flattery of Putin, and undermining NATO and Western leaders, whereas Trump’s list might include the timed release of Clinton emails, targeted social media efforts to weaken Clinton, flattery of Trump, potential business deals, financing sources, and possibly silence regarding past misbehaviors known to Russia.
38
it's all about money and greed. and for some power over others.
1
Were it really all about money and greed, Trump would have stayed out of the race for a job for which he doesn't accept pay, and would be multiplying his $ as a developer/builder.
Russia, Russia, Russia.
And Donald Trump was allowed to meet with Vladimir Putin in private for two hours.
For shame all you people out their who allowed this.
116
And, yet, no collusion, which was the original charge. The bar has now been lowered to "number of indictments".
When Justice wants to get you, it gets you. Anyone who has ever been prosecuted by Justice understands this. Except in Hillary's case, which makes her treatment all the more despicable. Just ask all those sitting in federal prisons.
5
I think Mueller may very well indict trump's son, daughter and son-in-law and there may already be sealed indictments against them. Mueller knows trump will fire him immediately upon such indictments and he will therefore indict or unseal indictments as his last act.
5
AACNY, the original "charge" to Mueller was not actually to find "collusion" (which represents a constellation of crimes anyway). You're following a red herring.
3
Thank you, NYT.
A shameful encyclopedia of traitors to his country and it’s values.
66
One thing the Mueller probe has already revealed is the intense hatred that a large number of Americans have for Constitutional democracy. One thing that the Mueller probe has already revealed is the intense apathy Americans have towards the Constitutional democracy. The fact that 40% of Americans still support Trump shows their actual feelings towards the electoral process and the results that it generates. A perfectly selfish individual is their standard bearer and that's just fine with them. That's revealing a lot about them.
52
This is an outrage that the title of this article does not show in the LARGEST and BOLDEST and most central heading of the online NYTimes at the moment, just like the heading for a storm, or the "winner" of the election. I agree with Richard McLaughlin's comment, the fact that 40% of the country still thinks he's a good president is abhorrent and horrifying. The entire Trump clan, not only DJT but Ivanka and Jared and Eric and Jr ALL need to be imprisoned for crimes against the USA. It is a very serious matter.
61
Can't hold a double standard though. We might all agree on throwing Trump & Co. in jail for reasons of "treason" or "financial misconduct", (crimes that are as American as apple pie by the way), but what about Bush, Cheney & Obama? War criminals at the very worst & war criminal abettors & apologists at the very least. A criminal is a criminal any way you want to look at it. Once Trump & Co are sent off to prison, why stop there?
5
Hillary and Bill. You forgot them. Double standard doesn't begin to describe the Clinton supporters who are now yelling the loudest about morality, etc.
5