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Okay, it's too hot to go anywhere so I am going to read over the #Mueller report and tweet anything that I think is interesting. I'll try to include the page numbers. It's going to be from this file, because it's a PDF and therefore easier for me to read. assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5955…
It is linked from this story and others, in case you're wondering where I found it:
npr.org/2019/04/18/708…
npr.org/2019/04/18/708…
I won't be offering any legal analyses or breakdowns, because I wouldn't know what the hell I was talking about. Instead, I'll just point out things that from my perspective - a journalist working hip-deep in the anti-disinformation field since 2015 - are interesting or of note.
If you have legal insights, feel free to jump in! Aaaaand here goes. (I may also take breaks.)
The very second graf of this report begins: "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 Presidential campaign in sweeping and systematic fashion." 
This is still just the introduction and it's already a doozy.
Page 2, aka as far as Bill Barr seems to have read before he announced (followed by the usual journalistic lapdogs) that it was "a total exoneration"
Sorry, Barr just slow-walked it. It was the WH that announced the "exoneration" part. Super aspirational, guys!
vox.com/policy-and-pol…
vox.com/policy-and-pol…
This part is extremely specific, which seems to have been missed by many:
Page 4 talks about the origins of the #Pizzagate conspiracy theory without mentioning it by name
"The Russian contacts consisted of business connections, offers of assistance to the Campaign, invitations for candidate Trump and Putin to meet in person, invitations for Campaign officials and representatives of the Russian government to meet...."
Note specific language again
Note specific language again
Lots of insight into interpersonal connections on pps. 5 and 6. Check out Carter Page's first appearance
pp. 7, Erik Prince makes his first appearance
pp. 9: "...the investigation established that several individuals affiliated with the Trump Campaign lied to the Office, and to Congress, about their interactions with Russian-affiliated individuals and related matters. These lies materially impaired the investigation..."
Bet you didn't hear that when people were screeching about how there wasn't enough evidence!
I fucking hate New Twitter. It's the New Coke of social media. It keeps breaking my threads and showing me malformed opinions from objectionable people.
On pp. 10 the report says they couldn't find out more because key people weren't cooperating. Sounds familiar
lol "taint team." Moving on...
The next few pages lay out procedural background that is probably a lot more interesting to legal analysts than I'm giving it credit for, but I'm leaving it be for now. However, this is on pp. 13. Dang.
Remember the specificity about the Internet Research Agency upthread? This is a precisely worded document. The first form -- not the only form. Also, footnotes. (pp. 14)
On pp. 15 there are some startling statistics, including a footnote that seems a far cry from how @Facebook downplayed these numbers a year or so ago.
@facebook These redactions are making my mouth water. (pp. 16)
@facebook lol. (pp. 18)
@facebook Here on pp. 22 is what I walked into when I took that job at Snopes, four years ago. I had no idea what I was in for, but this was some of it.
@facebook pp. 23-24. Now shit's getting good
@facebook "Securing Borders," isn't that an interesting name? Almost as if there was a pattern of seizing on divisive topics?
@facebook The return vs. the investments made was really good here, apparently. (pp. 25)
@facebook But here we are! Disinformation laundering powers, activate. (Also: why I spend so much time yelling at people on Twitter. I can't emphasize enough how important using your voice is.)
@facebook These people interacted normally, chatted with people, and had almost everyone fooled because others were acting in good faith. Of course, we're now more aware of this shit... right? (pp. 27)
@facebook Disinfo laundering and how it works (pp. 27-28) and you bet your ass this was done deliberately. I watched it unfold in real-time myself. We all did.
I see I have already broken this fucking thread
Here's where I continue:
@facebook And I broke the thread again. I hate New Twitter
@facebook On pp. 29, online starts to spill over into the real world as the IRA, apparently delighted by its success, starts organizing rallies on the ground:
@facebook The footnotes here look familiar, who remembers seeing this stuff? I do, but of course I would. (This is still page 29, btw.)
@facebook This is the entirety of pp. 30 hahahahahahhahahahha
@facebook More about those astroturfed rallies (pp. 31)
pp. 31-32 details how the operation expanded:
@facebook Now the good stuff begins! I broke another thread and just gave up so starting again here. Here's where we see the interactions and cross-promotions beginning in earnest. (pp. 33-34)
On page 35, the report hints that people with the Trump campaign were possibly recruited as useful idiots. Either way, they were recruited.
Page 36. Yes, this happened. Yes, it's in the report. I've heard plenty of denials. The next few pages go into the way it was done, which is interesting from a technical perspective but I'm going to skip it because I'm more focused on the interpersonal for now.
Page 40. That's a hell of a lot of data that GRU managed to snag in April 2016. It was released by WikiLeaks in July 2016.
"The GRU carried out the anonymous release through two fictitious online personas that it created -- DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 -- and later through the organization WikiLeaks." (pp. 41-42)
Enter Guccifer 2.0. (pp. 43)
What's interesting here is seeing how reporters got played.
What's interesting here is seeing how reporters got played.
Page 49 brings us to "Russia, if you're listening..." Russia was indeed listening.
Ahem (pp. 51.) At least one Florida county was hacked in 2016. Florida officials finally admitted that in May of this year, by the way. abcnews.go.com/Politics/voter…
Some juicy but intriguingly redacted info on pp. 53
Page 55 has more, including Corsi apparently gearing up to act as an intermediary. Hi Nigel Farage!
Page 56. Who is "we?" Recall that Roger Stone has a show on Infowars. That means he works with Alex Jones, of course, and Jerome Corsi. More on this later.
"Grab `em by the pussy" apparently caused some consternation, but WorldNetDaily (a far right news and disinfo blog that Corsi wrote for at one point) was there to help! (pp. 58-59)
More on WND: sourcewatch.org/index.php/Worl…
More on WND: sourcewatch.org/index.php/Worl…
Dick move, Jason (pp. 59-60)
Intellectual luminary Trump Jr. weighs in lol (pp. 60)
What a ding dong. It's just breathtaking (pp. 60)
Skipping a few pages here about Peter W. Smith and Barbara Leeden, which are interesting but don't really add much context. However: a year later Smith was found dead in a hotel room the day after speaking to the WSJ. The coroner ruled it a suicide. chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-pe…
Smith did claim that he was in contact with Russian hackers in 2016, though. (pp. 65)
And now to Part IV, "Russian Government Links to and Contacts With the Trump Campaign" (pp. 66).
Broken thread continues here (sigh)
So here's something that's been seized on by people who haven't read the report -- but recall the caveats in the beginning. The report proceeds apace:
Lots of trailing off and false starts through 2013-2014. Then Felix Sater comes into the mix on pp. 69 (heh):
Page 71. These are such thirsty people
Page 71, Sater cont.:
On pp. 73, Michael Cohen reappears. Mind the footnotes!
Cohen lied about this to both Mueller and Congress initially (pp. 74) and then backtracked later and admitted that yes, he had followed up until June 2016.
And page 76 has more:
The rest is a back and forth as they organize trips etc. and is procedural and not particularly juicy.
Enter "coffee boy" George Papadopoulos and Joseph Mifsud (pp. 84)!
Enter "coffee boy" George Papadopoulos and Joseph Mifsud (pp. 84)!
Page 86. Hi Jeff Sessions!
Heh. (pp. 93) interfax.com/interview.asp?…
Carter Page comes across like a man desperate for fame and fortune (pages 97-98):
Like Papadopoulos, Carter Page got fired because he brought too much attention to the Trump campaign (pp. 102)
I'm taking a small break.
Back! Page 113 has become kind of a meme. Page 114 has a bit more:
Page 115. It's super weird how everyone involved has such a bad memory!
On June 9, 2016, there was a particularly important "adoptions" meeting at Trump Tower. It even has its own Wikipedia entry! (pp. 117-118)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Tow…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_Tow…
Page 121 makes Rob Goldstone look as bad as you can make someone who dresses like Rob Goldstone look.
Holy fuck, I'm trying to tweet all the rest of what I have read so far and now it's telling me that the file is empty. I'm so fucking annoyed.
On page 129, Paul Manafort reappears, along with Konstantine Kilimnick. If that name rings a bell, here's why (from June 2018):
yahoo.com/news/mueller-a…
yahoo.com/news/mueller-a…
This is apparently what Paul Manafort did in Ukraine as well. Check out this story from March 2019. Guess who's president now? Check out the footnote too (pp. 130) thedailybeast.com/ukraines-elect…
Oleg Deripaska emerges. Remember him? dw.com/en/sex-power-p…
Page 137:
Page 141. Yet another resignation after media scrutiny. Looks like this is now officially a pattern. Also, let this be a lesson to everyone who fell for the "civility" bullshit. They want to control journalists and keep us in line. THIS IS WHY. Quit fucking falling for it!
As soon as Trump was elected, individuals connected to the Russian government started to contact him through various channels (pp. 144):
"Five days later, on November 14, 2016, Trump and Putin spoke by phone in the presence of Transition Team members, including incoming National Security Advisor Michael Flynn." (pp. 145)
My brain is full, but check out what convicted pedophile George Nader was up to on November 9, 2016 (pp. 150):
That would be Erik, yes. (pp. 152)
Those Seychelles meetings, though (pp. 153-154):
More people with really poor memories! (pp. 156)
Okay, I need to take a break and rest my brain. I'm exhausted. Long day. More to come later.
