** Mueller assembling criminal charges against Russians for hacking & leaking during 16 campaign**

[DemocratSinceBirth]

PER MSNBC

[fleur-de-lisa]

1. NBC News article:

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/mueller-eyes-charges-against-russians-who-stole-spread-democrats-emails-n852291

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is assembling a case for criminal charges against Russians who carried out the hacking and leaking of private information designed to hurt Democrats in the 2016 election, multiple current and former government officials familiar with the matter tell NBC News.

Much like the indictment Mueller filed last month charging a different group of Russians in a social media trolling and illegal-ad-buying scheme, the possible new charges are expected to rely heavily on secret intelligence gathered by the CIA, the FBI, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), several of the officials say.

Mueller's consideration of charges accusing Russians in the hacking case has not been reported previously. Sources say he has long had sufficient evidence to make a case, but strategic issues could dictate the timing. Potential charges include violations of statutes on conspiracy, election law as well as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. One U.S. official briefed on the matter said the charges are not imminent, but other knowledgeable sources said they are expected in the next few weeks or months. It's also possible Mueller opts not to move forward because of concerns about exposing intelligence or other reasons — or that he files the indictment under seal, so the public doesn't see it initially.

The sources say the possible new indictment — or more than one, if that's how Mueller's office decides to proceed — would delve into the details of, and the people behind, the Russian intelligence operation that used hackers to penetrate computer networks and steal emails of both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The release of embarrassing Democratic emails through WikiLeaks became a prominent feature in the 2016 presidential election, cited at least 145 times by Republican candidate Donald Trump in the final month of the campaign. At one point he publicly urged "Russia" to find and release emails Trump believed were missing from Democrat Hillary Clinton's private server.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. If the names Konstantin Rykov or Artem Klyushin pops up, things will get very interesting.

Can't wait to see how this unfolds.

[SoCalMusicLover]

3. I Realize It's All Part Of The Long Endgame

But I just can't get excited about indictments for people who will Never be held accountable. It's like California issuing a warrant against someone who will never visit the state, and has no chance of being arrested outside of it.

[pnwmom]

7. These Russian indictments are very important for establishing the foundation

that the prosecution of American conspirers will be based on.

[former9thward]

10. In the first set of indictments they said no Americans were knowingly involved.

Can't prosecute anyone on that.

[pnwmom]

12. No they didn't exactly say that. They said something like

"unwitting Trump campaign people and other political activists."

That ambiguous language can be interpreted in multiple ways. Those other political activists could be almost anyone -- including witting political activists with the Trump campaign.

[former9thward]

18. Well let's see what the DOJ said.

And I will copy and paste directly from the DOJ website which anyone can link to rather than using quote symbols that you did.

There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.

They established social media pages and groups to communicate with unwitting Americans.

According to the indictment, the Americans did not know that they were communicating with Russians.


https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/grand-jury-indicts-thirteen-russian-individuals-and-three-russian-companies-scheme-interfere

[pnwmom]

20. The key words there are IN THIS INDICTMENT -- an indictment which specifically

mentions unnamed co-conspirators.

They left the door wide open for future indictments naming co-conspirators in the DT campaign.

[WhiteTara]

15. they said "in this indictment"

[former9thward]

16. Which is what I am posting about.

Did you not read the post?

[greyl]

22. Thanks for your post #18, that makes it clear. Adios. nt

[WhiteTara]

24. Do you think that this is the only or last indictment

Mueller is handing out? Don't be obtuse. That statement from Rosenstein was to buy time, not lay to rest the criminality of anyone.

[former9thward]

25. Don't be obtuse.

The poster I was replying to said "these indictments" and specifically included the first one as proving her point. The first one does the opposite.

[WhiteTara]

27. Are you just asking someone to fight with you?

I don't appreciate you being rude to me. And I can also tell that no one will be able to say anything that does not provoke another argument. So, you're right. What ever you say.

[former9thward]

30. You accuse me of being obtuse and then complain I am being rude.

Ok, nice double standard.

[LanternWaste]

31. It's bemusing watching how relevant you're attempting to make your correction of a mere oversight.

It's bemusing watching how relevant you're attempting to make your correction of a mere oversight.

Dig in! Draw the line! Tell people the double-standard they keep! Put it on a t-shirt! It's not petulant at all...

[Hortensis]

14. Not no chance. As someone pointed out,

their lives have changed. Prosperous Russians like to travel and to invest money outside Russia. The first would be very dangerous for any of these to try and the second...not wise.

[FreepFryer]

4. We should NOT be hearing about this ahead of time. It's disconcerting, but I remain optimistic. (nt)

[SonofDonald]

5. Everything I've read says Mueller

Is the one leaking these stories about what he's doing, I think if he didn't want this out there it wouldn't be out there.

He has his reasons to release tidbits.

[SonofDonald]

6. And what was said last time about the 13 Russians

Is that Mueller is laying the groundwork to show that a crime has been committed, who is responsible and what was done.

I think it's the same with these new charges, then later he'll be able to link all these charges to persons in the United States who were involved, set the stage then introduce the actors.

It's going to be worthwhile to wait.

[former9thward]

11. Did you forget what the indictment said?

It said there were not any Americans knowingly involved.

[SonofDonald]

13. Yes but as Rosenstien said...

"In this indictment", this doesn't mean it can't be linked to other indictments later on, they are establishing a certain crime committed by certain people.

Why do this if these people will never face an American court?, unless you are laying groundwork for future indictments tying persons to the same crime after you've established that it occurred.

This is what I've read in the available opinions on why these indictments were brought out.

[greyl]

17. False. nt

[former9thward]

19. Your post is false.

And I will prove it by linking to the DOJ website post on the matter. I notice that you did not link to anything.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/grand-jury-indicts-thirteen-russian-individuals-and-three-russian-companies-scheme-interfere

[greyl]

21. No, you're reading too much into it, adding words that aren't there.

Unless I missed where it says "there were not any Americans knowingly involved".

I interpret your post to say the indictment cleared Americans.

[NewsCenter28]

23. No collusion

No collusion, no collusion, NO Collusion, NO CoLLusION, NO COLLUSION!

[LanternWaste]

32. A handful of people worldwide may even believe it pertinent.

Keep throwing that baby at the wall! A handful of people worldwide may even believe it pertinent. Setting up a red herring often takes a great deal of patience. Keep at it. You will overcome!!!!

[Scurrilous]

8. Good!

[smirkymonkey]

9. K&R

[Hoyt]

26. Hopefully this will spill over and wash trump away. Until then, not sure it does us a lot of good

going after Ruskies. I suppose we have to, but it's not going to change a thing until it's tied to trump collusion or Kush, his boys and girls, etc.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

28. Any sturdy building needs a foundation.

The foundation might not be as evident as the walls, roof, windows and doors, but it's every bit as important.

Taking it another way, did you ever watch Bob Ross paint on television? If so, you remember when he would first start on a painting and he would make a bunch of lines and dots and you think to yourself, "Well, what's that supposed to be?" And yet he would just keep on painting and half an hour later those dots and lines would be part of an impressive landscape portrait?

Yes, Robert Mueller is Bob Ross.

[Hoyt]

29. I hope he's not like Ross, but it's time he ties things together. Otherwise, the evidence is going

to be so tenuous I just don't think we'll get convictions, any chance of impeachment, etc. Nor do I think those inclined to vote for trump will likely care when it comes time to vote unless there is evidence that shows trump and Ruskies colluding to take America down, particularly white wing trump supporters.

Not saying I feel that way, but what we feel really doesn't matter. It's those who voted for trump, Congress, and the millions of Democrats who are just rocking along.

I think there has been plenty of evidence to get rid of trump and his criminal, greedy family. But so far neither Congress, trump's supporters, etc., have demanded it. That's a problem.