David Taylor, London, 25 Nov 2018<\/p>\n
A new urgency surrounds the Russia investigation, with Donald Trump Jr and longtime Trump ally Roger Stone in legal peril<\/em><\/p>\n Donald Trump<\/a> only has himself to blame for Robert Mueller\u2019s return to public life. The former FBI director, now 74, was asked to come out of retirement after Trump fired James Comey, on 9 May 2017.<\/p>\n In March that year, on Capitol Hill, Comey revealed publicly<\/a> that in July 2016 the FBI opened an investigation into Russian interference in the US election and possible Trump campaign collusion. During the election, Comey spoke openly about the FBI\u2019s investigation into Hillary Clinton\u2019s emails. The Trump-Russia probe was kept secret.<\/p>\n Eight days after Comey was fired, deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein appointed Mueller<\/a> as special counsel. Eighteen months later, the inquiry has led to indictments against 32 individuals and three Russian entities on charges ranging from computer hacking to obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s former campaign chair Paul Manafort<\/a> and former national security adviser Michael Flynn<\/a> both pleaded guilty to criminal charges and pledged to co-operate. Donald Trump Jr and longtime Trump aide Roger Stone are in legal peril.<\/p>\n Trump Jr orchestrated the now infamous Trump Tower meeting<\/a> with a group of Russians after being promised \u201cdirt\u201d on Hillary Clinton. Stone has been under scrutiny<\/a> over whether he joined the Russian conspiracy.<\/p>\n Trump, who would himself be in legal trouble if he knew of any conspiracy or obstructed justice, has consistently called the Mueller investigation a hoax and turned \u201cNO COLLUSION!\u201d into a catchphrase.<\/p>\n The investigation, which cost more than $16.6m in its first 11 months, can be broken down into four distinct parts which have all led to indictments:<\/p>\n -Manafort and his business connections to Russia following years of work in support of the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.<\/p>\n -Russian use of fake social media accounts to influence the 2016 election.<\/p>\n -Russian hacking of the Democratic party and the Clinton aide John Podesta \u2013 and the subsequent leak of thousands of emails by WikiLeaks.<\/p>\n -Trump campaign connections to Russia \u2013 including the Trump Tower meeting and the adviser George Papadopoulos\u2019s involvement with a professor who told him the Russians had \u201cdirt\u201d on Clinton including \u201cthousands of emails\u201d.<\/p>\n Anne Milgram, a law professor at New York University and a former prosecutor and attorney general of New Jersey, said Mueller and his 17 lawyers had done \u201ca terrific job\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMonths have gone by \u2013 people think it\u2019s a long time \u2013 it is not in criminal justice,\u201d she said. \u201cHe has moved incredibly quickly, got a lot of co-operation agreements, charges, done an extraordinary job of running down Russian hacking of the election.\u201d<\/p>\n Elizabeth de la Vega, a former federal prosecutor for the northern district of California, said: \u201cComplex charges against nearly three dozen people [and] organizations in less than two years is unheard of. Federal investigations may go on for three or four years before charges are brought against a few defendants. Also despite nearly daily false attacks from the president and his allies, the entire team has just kept its head down and done their work.\u201d<\/p>\n One indictment <\/a>charging three Russian companies and 13 Russians goes into amazing detail about the companies, which had budgets of more than $1.2m a month and hundreds of staff creating fake content aimed at stirring up American voters.<\/p>\n Another indictment<\/a> charges 12 members of the Russian military with hacking the Democrats and the Clinton campaign. The individuals are alleged to have created the site DC Leaks and created the Guccifer 2.0 persona<\/a>, supposed to be a lone Romanian hacker who shared data with WikiLeaks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is really extraordinary, detailed evidence of the way the Russian government hacked the American election,\u201d Milgram said. \u201cWhat is still outstanding is are any Americans charged in connection with that, will Roger Stone be charged, will Mueller write a report on the president, what about Donald Trump Jr?<\/p>\n \u201cHigh-level questions remain \u2013 how close did this come to the campaign? Were they involved in the coordinated release of the hacked emails of Podesta? What about the president\u2019s efforts to fire Comey to allegedly obstruct justice?\u201d<\/p>\n Little is known about the inner workings of Mueller\u2019s investigation, which has been operating out of an office in south-west Washington, not far from the National Mall.<\/p>\n A grand jury has been convened, meeting at the DC federal court on Pennsylvania Avenue, midway between the White House and Capitol Hill. People appear either voluntarily or under subpoena and are questioned without their lawyer. The jury can weigh evidence and say whether charges should be brought.<\/p>\n Rob Goldstone,<\/a> a British PR man for the Russian Agalarov family, fixed up the Trump Tower meeting with a promise of Russian dirt on Clinton<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s what you say, I love it,\u201d Trump Jr wrote, before bringing in his brother-in-law Jared Kushner and Manafort. He had been promised \u201cvery high-level and sensitive information\u201d as part of Russian support for Trump.<\/p>\n Goldstone met Mueller\u2019s team voluntarily. He told the Guardian he was taken in an unmarked car for six or seven hours of interviews in February this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a basic room,\u201d he said, \u201ca long table. I sat on one side and they sat on the other side with my lawyers sat next to me. There was something very methodical and logical about the approach to questions.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were about six people in total, a couple of FBI people and a couple of people from, I suppose, the Mueller team. Over the course of the day they asked me a series of questions about my email, the Trump Tower meeting and about my relationship with my clients, the Agalarovs.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of friends have asked me did you meet Robert Mueller<\/a>? I\u2019ve said even if he came in to change the lightbulb or adjust the air-conditioning I\u2019d probably be horrified by the idea that he was there, considering I hadn\u2019t heard he had been in anybody else\u2019s. So I was thankful of the fact I didn\u2019t see Bob Mueller.\u201d<\/p>\n On 9 March, Goldstone voluntarily appeared before the grand jury. He said there were 22 or 23 people in tiered seating.<\/p>\n \u201cSimilar sort of thing,\u201d he said. \u201cThe difference there, you have no lawyers, you\u2019re on your own, so that\u2019s pretty terrifying. Terrifying even if you know and believe you have nothing to fear.\u201d<\/p>\n All eyes are on Manafort. Due to be sentenced on charges including bank and tax fraud on 8 February, he is co-operating<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mueller\u2019s team asked for a delay in the sentencing of Rick Gates, Manafort\u2019s former partner and a key witness against him. Earlier this month they also asked for a delay before updating a judge about Manafort\u2019s co-operation. <\/strong>On Monday, they will submit a report.<\/p>\n Observers assume that means an indictment is imminent, against someone. If he is not co-operating fully, Manafort could be sentenced more harshly.<\/p>\n\u2018He has moved incredibly quickly\u2019<\/h2>\n
The grand jury<\/h2>\n
Unanswered questions<\/h2>\n