“hand“The Russian government thoroughly and systematically interfered in the 2016 presidential election,” said the Investigative Report on Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, also known as the Mueller Report. “A Russian group conducted a social media campaign supporting presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaging presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.”
Special Counsel Robert Mueller, in contrast to misleading claims made by President Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr in a March 24, 2019 letter (also known as the Barr Report), said that Trump Although no criminal charges were filed, he did not submit a medical certificate.
Barr’s dishonesty infuriated Mueller and members of his team, including prosecutors Aaron Zebree, James Quarles and Andrew Goldstein. As such, they wrote their books at a time that was once a central turmoil in American politics.
“The purpose of appointing the special prosecutor was to protect the investigation from political interference in order to gain public confidence in the outcome,” the three men said, looking back on their time in the special prosecutor’s office, and writing in Interference. is written in. “To do that, we needed the public to see our actual analysis and conclusions, not the analysis of a politically appointed attorney general.”
Under the subtitle “Trump, Russia, and the Inside Story of the Mueller Investigation,” Zebree, Quarles, and Goldstein still subpoena and indict Trump, whom Mueller considered a “subject,” or “a person whose conduct falls within the scope.” It sheds new light on the decision not to. scope of investigation.”
The tenor in “Interference” is plain and not stuffy. The prose is dry. This is a book by a pro-establishment lawyer. Their boss, a former U.S. Marine and FBI director, was nicknamed “Bobby Three Sticks” after his name and the Boy Scout’s three-fingered salute.
Although Justice Department protocol prohibited federal prosecutors from indicting a sitting president, suspicions remained. “The department twice took the position in writing that a sitting president could not be prosecuted,” the authors acknowledge. But “if the Office of the Special Counsel had evidence proving that Trump was indeed a Manchurian candidate and a puppet who was being directed by Russia in a way that was an immediate and continuing threat. , the public interest in prosecution has become so great that prosecution may be warranted.” Urging the department to reconsider the opinion (of the Office of the General Counsel) to protect the nation. ”
And after President Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, resigned, the Janus-faced deputy attorney general who oversaw Mueller, Rod Rosenstein, decided to focus his investigation into criminal activity related to Russian election interference. He reportedly instructed Mueller to limit the investigation to only
“This is a criminal investigation,” Rosenstein reportedly told Mueller. “Do your job and then shut down.”
An investigation into President Trump’s past ties to Russia was outside Mueller’s purview. Additionally, a “scoping memorandum” signed between Rosenstein and the special counsel on August 2, 2017, gave the deputy attorney general the power to veto any new investigation direction, Zebree said. Mr. Quarles, Mr. Goldstein, and Mr. Goldstein made this announcement.
We know how the story ends. Trump was not indicted. The employee was convicted but pardoned. Roger Stone and Paul Manafort remain in Trumpworld. Zebree, Quarles and Goldstein portray President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani as untrustworthy. By the end, Mueller “decided never to meet or speak to Giuliani again, which he ultimately did not do.” Giuliani is currently facing charges in Arizona and Georgia for his role in President Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Not everyone who worked for Mueller was excited about Zebrey, Quarles and Goldstein. Mueller’s deputy, Andrew Wiseman, now a New York University law professor and MSNBC commentator, criticized Zebrey for sticking to a narrow interpretation of the special counsel’s mandate and being too cautious.
In his 2020 memoir, The End of the Law: Inside the Mueller Investigation, Wiseman listens to the generals who served with Abraham Lincoln, calling Zebree a “coward” who was reluctant to fight the Confederacy. He tried to make himself look like a hero by comparing himself to George McClellan, but that was only an approximation. of Philip Sheridan and Ulysses S. Grant. Zebree, Quarles, and Goldstein, on the other hand, view Wiseman as a fanatic. Mr. Mueller and Mr. Zebree knew about him, but the decision to bring him onto the board sparked controversy.
“He was known to be overly harsh with some defendants,” the authors write. Additionally, Wiseman was already collecting information about Manafort “as if it were a hobby.” Perhaps “it was necessary to consider whether he was too interested in the investigation.”
The authors then describe Mr. Wiseman’s unsuccessful attempt to get the Manhattan district attorney to reinstate the federal case against Mr. Manafort after he was pardoned by President Trump.
As interference arrives, the United States will once again be embroiled in a brutal election. The Kremlin also comes into play here. Earlier this month, the Justice Department indicted two employees of Russian propaganda agency RT as part of a “$10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences.” Trump’s pro-American cronies allegedly benefited from such largesse.
Trump continues to boast about his ties to the Russian leader and his ilk. “I know President Putin very well,” he declared during a debate in September. “I have a good relationship.”
Also in September, federal prosecutors charged Dimitri Sims and Anastasia Sims with conspiracy to evade sanctions and launder money at the behest of Channel One Russia. Dimitri Sims previously led a think tank with ties to the Kremlin and Trumpworld. His name appeared dozens of times in the Mueller report, earning it an entire subsection called “Dimitri Simes and the Center for the National Interest.”
Trump, who is seeking a second term as president, is unperturbed and uninhibited. “I am your revenge,” he tells his supporters. “I’m being prosecuted for you.”
“We were not ready then,” Mueller writes in the preface to Interference. This threat deserves the attention of all Americans. Russia has attacked us before and will attack us again. ”
“Interference: The Inside Story of Trump, Russia, and the Mueller Investigation” will be published in the United States by HarperCollins.