Mueller Study Excerpt: Book I

Below is the root of ii excerpts of the Mueller Report that volition eventually look inward Howard Gillman, Mark A. Graber, Keith W. Whittington, American Constitutionalism (Vol. I): Structures together with Powers (Oxford University Press: New York).  The questions are for students, but besides for the full general public.  

Feel gratis to circulate, but delight entirely utilization together with quote with proper attribution. And allow me know if y'all are instruction together with would similar an exam re-create of GGW.

@2019

Robert S. Mueller, “Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference inward the 2016 Presidential Election (Volume I) (2019)

Evidence emerged during the summertime together with autumn of 2016 election that the Russian authorities was attempting to interfere with the presidential election inward the United States.  Russian entities conducted a social media crusade that favored Republican candidate Donald Trump together with sought to discredit Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.  Russian news services hacked the computers of persons involved inward the Clinton crusade and, through the intermediary of Wiki-leak, released information damaging to the Democratic Party together with Clinton.  Evidence besides emerged that links existed betwixt the Russian crusade functioning together with the Trump campaign.  On May 2007, the Trump direction agreed to appoint Robert S. Mueller III every bit a special counsel to investigation ‘“the Russian government’s efforts to interfere inward the 2016 presidential election,’” including whatever links or coordination betwixt the Russian authorities together with individuals associated with the Trump campaign.”


The excerpts below are from the root book of the ii book study Mueller issued on Apr 2019.  The uncontroversial sections of the Mueller study documented extensive together with illegal Russian efforts to influence the 2016 national election.  Few persons disputed Mueller’s conclusion that “numerous links” existed “between the Russian authorities together with the Trump Campaign.”  Partisan disputation erupted over the nature of those links.  Volume I of the Mueller Report concluded, 

Although the investigation established that the Russian authorities perceived it would practise goodness from a Trump presidency together with worked to secure that outcome, together with that the Campaign expected it would practise goodness electorally from information stolen together with released through Russian efforts, the investigation did non found that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian authorities inward its election interference activities.

Did this finding demonstrate exonerate President Trump?  Did Mueller conclude entirely that his investigation failed to honour plenty prove to run across a reasonable uncertainty standard?  Is the presidential demeanor described inward the root component of the Muller study impeachable fifty-fifty if non a crime, or should a president live on impeached entirely if at that topographic point is prove the president has committed a law-breaking together with the prove is convincing beyond a reasonable doubt? 

Executive Summary to Volume I

The Internet Research Agency (IRA) carried out the earliest Russian interference operations identified yesteryear the investigation- a social media crusade designed to provoke together with amplify political together with social discord inward the United States. . . . The IRA afterward used social media accounts together with involvement groups to sow discord inward the U.S. political scheme through what it termed "information warfare." The crusade evolved from a generalized computer program designed inward 2014 together with 2015 to undermine the U.S. electoral system, to a targeted functioning that yesteryear early on 2016 favored candidate Trump together with disparaged candidate Clinton. . . .  At the same fourth dimension that the IRA functioning began to focus on supporting candidate Trump inward early on 2016, the Russian authorities employed a minute course of study of interference: cyber intrusions (hacking) together with releases of hacked materials damaging to the Clinton Campaign. The Russian news service known every bit the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Army (GRU) carried out these operations. In March 2016, the GRU began hacking the electronic mail accounts of Clinton Campaign volunteers together with employees, including crusade chairman John Podesta. In Apr 2016, the GRU hacked into the calculator networks of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) together with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The GRU stole hundreds of thousands of documents from the compromised electronic mail accounts together with networks. Around the fourth dimension that the DNC announced inward mid-June 2016 the Russian government's role inward hacking its network, the GRU began disseminating stolen materials through the fictitious online personas "DCLeaks" together with "Guccifer 2.0." The GRU afterward released additional materials through the scheme WikiLeaks.

 . . . .

The social media crusade together with the GRU hacking operations coincided with a serial of contacts betwixt Trump Campaign officials together with individuals with ties to the Russian government. The Office investigated whether those contacts reflected or resulted inward the Campaign conspiring or coordinating with Russian Federation inward its election-interference activities. Although the investigation established that the Russian authorities perceived it would practise goodness from a Trump presidency together with worked to secure that outcome, together with that the Campaign expected it would practise goodness electorally from information stolen together with released through Russian efforts, the investigation did non found that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian authorities inward its election interference activities.

 . . . .

In reaching the charging decisions described inward Volume 1 of the report, the Office determined whether the send it found amounted to a violation of federal criminal constabulary chargeable nether the Principles of Federal Prosecution. The measure prepare forth inward the Justice Manual is whether the send constitutes a crime; if so, whether admissible prove would in all probability live on sufficient to obtain together with sustain a conviction; together with whether prosecution would serve a substantial federal involvement that could non live on adequately served yesteryear prosecution elsewhere or through non-criminal alternatives.
           
 . . . .
           
First, the Office determined that Russia's ii main interference operations inward the 2016 U.S. presidential election-the social media crusade together with the hacking-and-dumping operations violated U.S. criminal law. . . .
            
Second, piece the investigation identified numerous links betwixt individuals with ties to the Russian authorities together with individuals associated with the Trump Campaign, the prove was non sufficient to back upwards criminal charges. Among other things, the prove was non sufficient to accuse whatever Campaign official every bit an unregistered agent of the Russian authorities or other Russian principal. 

. . . .

Third, the investigation established that several individuals affiliated with the Trump Campaign lied to the Office, together with to Congress, near their interactions with Russian-affiliated individuals together with related matters. Those lies materially impaired the investigation of Russian election interference. The Office charged some of those lies every bit violations of the federal faux statements statute. Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying near his interactions with Russian Ambassador Kislyak during the transition period. George Papadopoulos, a unusual policy advisor during the crusade period, pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about, inter alia, the nature together with timing of his interactions with Joseph Mifsud, the professor who told Papadopoulos that the Russians had dirt on candidate Clinton .in the course of study of thousands of emails. Former Trump Organization attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to making faux statements to Congress near the Trump Moscow project.  [material redacted]  And inward Feb 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that Manafort lied to the Office together with the grand jury concerning his interactions together with communications with Konstantin Kilimnik near Trump Campaign polling information together with a peace programme for Ukraine. 

. . . .

V. PROSECUTION AND DECLINATION DECISIONS

C. Russian Government Outreach together with Contacts

1.      Potential Coordination: Conspiracy together with Collusion

. . . This Office evaluated potentially criminal send that involved the collective activeness of multiple individuals non nether the rubric of "collusion," but through the lens of conspiracy law. In together with thence doing, the Office recognized that the discussion "collud[e]" appears inward the Acting Attorney General's August 2, 2017 memorandum; it has oft been invoked inward world reporting; together with it is sometimes referenced inward antitrust law.  But collusion is non a specific offense or theory of liability found inward the U.S. Code; nor is it a term of fine art inward federal criminal law. To the contrary, fifty-fifty every bit defined inward legal dictionaries, collusion is largely synonymous with conspiracy every bit that law-breaking is prepare forth inward the full general federal conspiracy statute.  For that reason, this Office 's focus inward resolving the query of articulation criminal liability was on conspiracy every bit defined inward federal law, non the unremarkably discussed term "collusion." . . . The investigation did non found whatever understanding alongside Campaign officials or betwixt such officials together with Russia-linked individuals-to interfere with or obstruct a lawful business office of a authorities way during the crusade or transition period.

. . . .

2.      Potential Coordination: Foreign Agent Statutes . . .

. . . .

Under xviii U.S.C . § 951, it is to a greater extent than often than non illegal to human activeness inward the U.S. every bit an agent of a unusual authorities without providing notice to the Attorney General. . . . The investigation uncovered extensive prove that Paul Manafort's together with Richard Oates's pre-campaign operate for the authorities of Ukraine violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

. . . .

The investigation did not, however, yield prove sufficient to sustain whatever accuse that whatever private affiliated with the Trump Campaign acted every bit an agent of a unusual main inside the pregnant of FARA or, inward price of Section 951, discipline to the management or command of the authorities of Russia, or whatever official thereof. In particular, the Office did non honour prove probable to examine beyond a reasonable uncertainty that Campaign officials such every bit Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos , together with Carter Page acted every bit agents of the Russian government-or at its management control, or request-during the relevant fourth dimension period.  

. . . .

3.      Campaign Finance

. . . .

"[T]he U.S. has a compelling involvement ... inward limiting the participation of unusual citizens inward activities of democratic self-government, together with inward thereby preventing unusual influence over the U.S. political process.” To that end, federal crusade finance constabulary broadly prohibits unusual nationals from making contributions, donations, expenditures, or other disbursements inward connector with federal, state, or local candidate elections, together with prohibits anyone from soliciting, accepting, or receiving such contributions or donations. As relevant here, unusual nationals may non make- together with no i may "solicit,' accept, or receive" from them-"a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value" or "an limited or implied hope to brand a contribution or donation, inward connector with a Federal, State, or local election."

The Office considered whether to accuse Trump Campaign officials with crimes inward connector with the June nine meeting. . . . The Office concluded that, inward lite of the government's substantial burden of proof on issues of intent ("knowing" together with "willful") , together with the difficulty of establishing the value of the offered information, criminal charges would non run across the Justice Manual measure that "the admissible prove volition in all probability live on sufficient to obtain together with sustain a conviction."

In brief, the cardinal facts are that, on June 3, 2016, Robert Goldstone emailed Donald Trump Jr., to plough over along from Emin together with Aras Agalarov an "offer" from Russia's "Crown prosecutor" to "the Trump campaign" of "official documents together with information that would incriminate Hillary together with her dealings with Russian Federation together with would live on really useful to [Trump Jr.'s] father." . . . This serial of events could implicate the federal election-law ban on contributions together with donations yesteryear unusual nationals.  Specifically, Goldstone passed along an offering purportedly from a Russian authorities official to furnish "official documents together with information" to the Trump Campaign for the purposes of influencing the presidential election. Trump Jr. appears to induce got accepted that offering together with to induce got arranged a coming together to have those materials. . . .

The Office considered whether this prove would found a conspiracy to violate the unusual contributions ban.  There are reasonable arguments that the offered information would constitute a "thing of value" inside the pregnant of these provisions, but the Office determined that the authorities would non live on probable to obtain together with sustain a conviction for ii other reasons: first, the Office did non obtain admissible prove probable to run across the government's burden to examine beyond a reasonable uncertainty that these individuals acted "willfully," i.e., with full general noesis of the illegality of their conduct; and, second, the authorities would probable encounter difficulty inward proving beyond a reasonable uncertainty that the value of the promised information exceeded the threshold for a criminal violation.

. . . .

On the facts here, the authorities would unlikely live on able to examine beyond a reasonable uncertainty that the June nine coming together participants had full general noesis that their send was unlawful. The investigation has non developed prove that the participants inward the coming together were familiar with the foreign-contribution ban or the application of federal constabulary to the relevant factual context. The authorities does non induce got strong prove of metro demeanor or efforts at concealment at the fourth dimension of the June nine meeting. While the authorities has prove of afterward efforts to foreclose disclosure of the nature of the June nine coming together that could circumstantially furnish back upwards for a showing of scienter, that concealment occurred to a greater extent than than a twelvemonth later, involved individuals who did non attend the June nine meeting, together with may reverberate an intention to avoid political consequences rather than whatever prior noesis of illegality. Additionally, inward lite of the unresolved legal questions near whether giving "documents together with information" of the class offered hither constitutes a crusade contribution, Trump Jr. could mountain a factual defense forcefulness that he did non believe his reply to the offering together with the June nine coming together itself violated the law.