THREAD: As the summer winds down, we've seen some potentially significant and interesting developments in the Mueller investigation this week. There are some big open questions still remain and fresh evidence about Mueller is specifically pursuing....
Particularly in light today of CNN's new reporting about the departures of two Mueller prosecutors—which might indicate the probe isn't close to wrapping up—it's worth revisiting some of the areas of investigation still open/unanswered.... cnn.com/2018/08/31/pol…
September looks like it's going to a big month in the investigation. Here are six things I'm still wondering about as we head into the weekend....:
1) What happens to Roger Stone? He says he's ready to be indicted, and next Friday, we know there's a subpoena for more testimony related to him. What does Mueller *not* know about Roger Stone that he still needs to know? wired.com/story/manafort…
2) The Qatari angle—We've seen more investigative moves surround Qatar than perhaps any other area of inquiry that hasn't become public yet. And the @WSJ has a big new story this week about how deliberate the Qatari lobbying was that targeted Trump: wsj.com/articles/the-n…
I rounded up some of the Qatar questions earlier this summer, including the Seychelles and Erik Prince: wired.com/story/what-rob…
3) What's the deal with the sketchy money and the Russian embassy? We saw more excellent reporting this week from @JasonLeopold @a_cormier_ on the money trail: buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonl…
We haven't seen any of this stuff become public yet—does this tie into the question of whether and how Americans were involved in the Russian attacks in 2016?
4) What happens with Manafort's NEXT trial? His September trial seems ever a worse hand to play than his last, where he was convicted in every area charged. There was word this week that he sought a plea deal—and Mueller wouldn't do it. wsj.com/articles/manaf…
5) How much of this intrigue is related to Russian organized crime? The great @natashabertrand pointed out this week how much Trump's attacks on DOJ appear targeted against Russian organized crime experts like Bruce Ohr: theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
I looked earlier this summer at some of Russian organized crime's tentacles in the US—it is a strange area that overlaps Ohr, McCabe, and Lisa Page, among other targets of Trump's vitriol. Coincidence? Seems unlikely.
My piece from earlier this summer: longreads.com/2018/06/04/a-v…
Here's more on the Russian organized crime angle from this week by @justsecurity: justsecurity.org/60528/understa…
6) And the big one: What's next for "Individual-1"? It's worth emphasizing, again, that the President appears to be an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal crime. And Trump Org employees, like the CFO, have been granted immunity. Yikes. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
