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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMueller just obtained a warrant that could change the entire nature of the Russia investigation
Mueller just obtained a warrant that could change the entire nature of the Russia investigation
Robert Mueller obtained a search warrant for records of "inauthentic" Facebook accounts
It's bad news for Russian election interference "deniers"
Mueller may be looking to charge specific foreign entities with a crime
FBI Special Counsel Robert Mueller reportedly obtained a search warrant for records of the "inauthentic" accounts Facebook shut down earlier this month and the targeted ads these accounts purchased during the 2016 election.
The warrant was first disclosed by the Wall Street Journal on Friday night and the news was later confirmed by CNN.
Legal experts say the revelation has enormous implications for the trajectory of Mueller's investigation into Russia's election interference, and whether Moscow had any help from President Donald Trump's campaign team.
"This is big news and potentially bad news for the Russian election interference 'deniers,'" said Asha Rangappa, a former FBI counterintelligence agent.
Rangappa, now an associate dean at Yale Law School, explained that to obtain a search warrant a prosecutor needs to prove to a judge that there is reason to believe a crime has been committed. The prosecutor then has to show that the information being sought will provide evidence of that crime.
Mueller would not have sought a warrant targeting Facebook as a company, Rangappa noted. Rather, he would have been interested in learning more about specific accounts.
"The key here, though, is that Mueller clearly already has enough information on these accounts and their link to a potential crime to justify forcing to give up the info," she said. "That means that he has uncovered a great deal of evidence through other avenues of Russian election interference."
It also means that Mueller is no longer looking at Russia's election interference from a strict counterintelligence standpoint rather, he now believes he may be able to obtain enough evidence to charge specific foreign entities with a crime.
http://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-obtains-warrant-for-russia-linked-facebook-ads-and-accounts-2017-9
pbmus
(12,422 posts)orangecrush
(19,617 posts)on one of the morning shows.
forgotmylogin
(7,530 posts)orangecrush
(19,617 posts)emulatorloo
(44,182 posts)orangecrush
(19,617 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,627 posts)Analytic too? After watching this video posted last week on DU I was wondering why it hasn't gone viral yet.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10029595857
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)A forum for people who've worked for government security agencies, no less. Some of the people with serious gov credentials were kicked out of the group in the behest of rando Russian apologists. Some were reached out to in real life by people who knew things about them that could only come from investigating their profiles. They go wherever the conversations about Russian interference are happening.
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)How Russia Is Using LinkedIn as a Tool of War Against Its U.S. Enemies
By Jeff Stein On 8/3/17 at 7:00 AM
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)This is new info for me!
Ligyron
(7,639 posts)That is some scary stuff. The Russians are way ahead of us on this and virtually nothing is being done by Trump or the GOP to counteract it.
bettyellen
(47,209 posts)orangecrush
(19,617 posts)He is doing what he built his reputation on - slow, methodical, and airtight.
certainot
(9,090 posts)trump aide sam nunberg told gabriel sherman for new york magazine 4/3/16 that in 2014 he listened to 1000s of hours of talk radio and reported to trump.
he should be asked more detail. talk radio does the base repetition for all their big lies and unlike fox it is a lot more local when it needs to be. states avg over 20 rw stations per state. the russians the first batch of gov walker emails showed that he coordinated with local wisconsin blowhard charlie sykes and others. the gop and their think tanks used to do most of the coordination, with drudge etc, for the MIC, but then breitbart came along before 2008 elections. why not use breitbart.com and others to feed putin sabotage to US talk radio? and after that maybe limbaugh started doing freelance work for the russians - like creating 'climategate' from a russian hack in 2009 and trying to get debt default in 2011. was he doing freelance work?
right around benghazi rw radio blowhards screamed obama and sos clinton had ordered embassy marines around the world not to carry live ammo - so they were basically encouraging terrorism - like debt default, would some koch think tank push that to them? most of them are stupid enough to repeat it just to trash obama/clinton but.... even after the marines spokesman had to denounce the lie some of them kept repeating it.
how did the russians know what the best talking points and memes were and coordinate with trump on their trolling? if they asked the trump guys for guidance (they would not have told them what to use) those city boys, who were not part of the republican establishment, would need to figure it out. not only that, there would need to be some way to coordinate without direct communication. anyone who has observed talk radio knows trump is the talk radio president. his base actually believes that crap from limbaugh and sons.
the russian trolls and trump geared their campaigns to piggyback 25 years of anti hillary/dem/liberal talk radio/fox.
the russians would recognize a propaganda operation even tho US media and analists ignore it. talk radio was the most important component of the trump rise, with limbaugh attacking rubio and bush on immigration and making excuses for trump whenever needed - like every day.
the investigators need to ask limbaugh hannity savage levin coulter etc if they cyprus bank accounts, altho limbaugh would be the main fish.
Girard442
(6,084 posts)...but I have this recurring nightmare that Mueller investigates all things Trump and then announces he found nothing and then nobody can ever lay a finger on Trump.
emulatorloo
(44,182 posts)If there is something there he is not gonna cover it up.
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)Mueller completely destroys his reputation and credibility.
The man is nobody's fool.
Don't hold your breath.
jl_theprofessor
(95 posts)that if Mueller finds nothing worth pursuing, that will be fine. I'd rather follow evidence than my desire for evidence.
LudwigPastorius
(9,170 posts)I'm pretty sure Mueller is going to provide evidence of that to everyone.
The more realistic nightmare is that the Attorney General won't file charges against his boss and his bosses buddies, even with evidence of crimes. Nor, will the Republican congress move to impeach, even with evidence.
Iggo
(47,565 posts)Botany
(70,581 posts)And how much of that money came from Russia?
It was treason and we had a coup.
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)is probably dangerous, and will do great damage to our institutions.
but I see no other choice, this is removing a cancer.
Botany
(70,581 posts)video @ link ...... if Trump's campaign used Russian money to pay facebook to post
content of stolen computer files from HRC and the DNC then they are sunk
http://www.palmerreport.com/politics/facebook-employees-trump-office/4784/
* Digital Content Director
In an online BBC video, Theresa Hong, the Donald Trump campaigns Digital Content Director, has made a number of startling confessions that she seems to think were bragging points. Shes revealed that Cambridge Analytica, the company suspected of having used voter data stolen by the Russian government to plot its online marketing strategy on Trumps behalf, ran its operations out of the same offices where the Trump campaign itself was plotting its paid Facebook ad strategy. But the truly shocking revelation is who else she admits was in the building, which Trumps people called Project Alamo.
The BBC interviewer asks Hong, What were Facebook and Google and YouTube people actually doing here? Why were they here? She responds by saying They were helping us, you know. They were basically our hands-on partners as far as being able to utilize the platform as effectively as possible. Shen then bragged When youre pumping in millions and millions of dollars to these social platforms, youre going to get white glove treatment. So they would send people, you know, representatives to the Project Alamo to ensure that all our needs were being met. Watch the shocking BBC video below
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)Quite interesting.
I appreciate the information, there is so much corruption with these people it's hard to keep up.
LudwigPastorius
(9,170 posts)pay Michael Flynn AND to pay for pro-Trump Facebook ads.
If Mueller can tie those transactions together, he's a magician.
Botany
(70,581 posts)Russia paid Carter Page too. No magic there it is a matter of record.
Page, Flynn, Manafort, and even Kushner will all be under pressure to flip and save their
asses.
Roy Rolling
(6,933 posts)The hubris of the Trump campaign IT operation is their weakness. Trump doesn't even use a computer and many of his supporters don't know an IP address from a PO box. They are easily fooled by techies who tell them nobody will find their fingerprints on the vast and anonymous Internet.
They think they are smarter than everyone, but I guarantee there are technical people smarter than them. And Bob Mueller has hired them.
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Mueller' s got my vote of confidence. 👍🏾
Xolodno
(6,401 posts)NOW!!!!!! DAMN IT!!!!!!11111"
"This investigation is too slow! We already know they are guilty because I read on a web site that quoted a web site..... so that's enough to impeach already!!!!!"
"And lets arrest Putin and nuke Moscow!!!!"
-------------------
Amazes me how people do not understand these things take time, no stone must be left un-turned, etc. All the defense has to do is prove you didn't do due diligence and manufacture a situation where you missed evidence to create doubt....and BAM! Your case falls apart. In the insurance industry, for cases of fraud, they don't get video evidence of one example of someone who is supposed to be long term disabled, skiing, playing golf, lifting weights, etc. they get several. To prove that he/she wasn't just having a "good day".
groundloop
(11,522 posts)Xolodno
(6,401 posts)That's just the way the system is, like it or not. There will be long term damage which will take time to repair, but this isn't the USA's first "rodeo", so.....
A number no doubt regret either voting for Trump or not voting at all. They are obviously learning the hard way... The shitty part, are only saving grace is "we told you so".
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)At Muellers stone cold professionalism.
This guy isn't going for publicity or political points, he's going for the throat.
Dustlawyer
(10,497 posts)I would imagine there have been a lot of rabbits given how morally bankrupt, the level of hubris, and how corrupt Trump & Co is. He has ignored the Emmoluments Clause and anything else that is in the way of what he wants to do. Trump seems to have the preconception that as President he can do whatever he wants.
This level of entitlement is begging to be knocked down. When Trump admits he fired Comey for the Russia investigation in the Lester Holt interview we know he had already been told by WH counsel that this was at the very least, problematic, yet he did it anyway!
bluestarone
(17,030 posts)That Mueller is found in the ocean (or never found) He needs LOTS of protection the closer he gets
mobeau69
(11,156 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,282 posts)several indictments, confirmation of a stolen election and hijacked policy, foreign money sloshing through our election system - all dumped in Congress' lap to figure out what to do, and we may have little power unless we retake Congress in 2018.
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)Yes, it will take time.......when the day happens, it will be clear to 75% of this country..Trump and company are crooks...........that other 25 percent, will believe anything Drump says...and he will say, "I am not a crook"...
so, he lies....that means he is a crook.....!!!
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)The results are going to be historical and seismic.
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)That "team" knows that they are going for...the crooks..and the illegal things they did.
The ..team is even looking on Facebook...everywhere is...everywhere.....
I am pretty sure, the team will get Junior, perhaps it will get Pence...indict them both..(remember..we said it here on Sat. 9/16.......That team will get them, ..Why?...
There is a certain incredible arrogance that the Trumpers have..I can say or do...anything, and get away with it, ANYTHING !!!!!!!......................and don't ever need to apologize..
Trump personifies that..He is that, and Junior is that..
......Now what I have read, prosecutors do not like that kind of arrogance.
...The law is the same for everybody..What was that con artist that pulled off that 50 million Pozi scheme?....Where is he now?..in the slammer...he got caught....lots of years in the slammer.....He thought he could get away with it.............he didn't......The Trumpers are the same....
..............................................................Nixon was the same.......................................................................and Nixon didn't get away with it either....
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,895 posts)to have a lot of hope that anything will actually come of all this. Yes, I understand things take time. We were told that about Fitzmas. Leave no stone unturned. Ditto.
And then, zilch. zip. nada. nothing.
I sincerely hope this is different, but I'm not holding my breath.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)False equivalency there.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,895 posts)Maybe.
But it's been the better part of a year and I can't see any real movement towards indictments.
Bernardo de La Paz
(49,036 posts)Sinistrous
(4,249 posts)The specter of Fitzmas lurks.
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)Are worth waiting for.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)in foreign elections and governance.
Unless we tie Trump or GOP to it, it won't make much difference.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)In this case, the Trump campaign colluding with foreign entities.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,020 posts)stuffmatters
(2,574 posts)Does everybody know that Robert Mercer (as formerly Renaissance Technologies) has been battling an IRS investigation for years
(he immediately became a huge anti democracy, RW donor when it started) I believe it's over that company's tax evasion via "basket funds" and Mercer is on the hook for anywhere from 6 to 9 billion dollars to IRS when they release final determination.
It's always follow the money. The Mercers are politically, almost unimaginably, monstrous. But their political savagery is also
generated by billions and billions of dollars at stake for them.
bdamomma
(63,922 posts)of investigation, but Mueller will deliver big time. Why is this trump regime lawyering up??? there is a lot of discriminating evidence out there.
tic.....toc..... tic......toc....etc.
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)Great Point................."Why is this trump regime lawyering up?".....
............................lot of discriminating evidence out there."...............Mueller just added someone new in the last few days............Yes....BIG TIME...............you said it on 9/16/17....We will have a party when the delivery man shows up to this country...14 Pizzas.......or 414 Pizzas???????
Duppers
(28,127 posts)Yes, and citizens participating? - that's called treason.
summer_in_TX
(2,752 posts)If the investigations were just investigations still, then new hires would be more investigators, right??
I love the way Mueller has worked with the NY Attorney General to make state charges likely too so Trump can't pardon everyone to prevent them from testifying. Since doing that, it seems to be less likely Trump will fire him, because he can't overcome that hurdle.
Every sign is one of competence, forethought, and intent. He's not intending to be blocked.That leads me to be optimistic that he and his team has been careful to plan for all kinds of contingencies, including his firing, theft of data, etc.
Following every lead, checking and triple checking, being able to prove in court beyond a reasonable doubt takes time especially since this crime syndicate seems to have a lot of tentacles.
Sure hope I'm reading the signs correctly. Waiting impatiently!
Achilleaze
(15,543 posts)I'm just sayin...
Not Ruth
(3,613 posts)This will change social media for all time
tavernier
(12,400 posts)"This Is It!!! The Big One!!!
I haven't seen anything change yet, so pardon my unenthusiasm.
orangecrush
(19,617 posts)Eyeball_Kid
(7,434 posts)That dozens, and perhaps over a hundred indictments will eventually be issued, and that the GOP, as the "winner" of the 2016 elections, sits on their thumbs and ignores this monstrous heist, with only a special prosecutor holding back a complete victory by Putin's coup, shows how fragile this constitutional republic really is. Only ONE office, Mueller's, keeps Putin from pushing Trumpy aside and assuming the position of chief executive in the White House. All of the claptrap on the MSM and cable news minimizes the severity and scope of what Russia and the GOP have actually done. To the MSM, it's all "infotainment": news for profit. What the executives of the MSM fear most is to send out the alarms that a coup has actually transpired because THEY participated in the coup! The MSM soft-pedaled Trumpy's criminality and made him a media spectacle for their own profit. Most of the telling signs of a coup were known to media corporations during the middle of 2016, but were largely ignored because Trumpy was SO PROFITABLE.
The only way that the nation's institutional strength will become manifest is if Mueller's investigation bags the entire GOP leadership, including Trumpy's inner circle of traitors, AND his allies in the GOP Congress. This coup was MASSIVE in scope and breadth. It is an effort of monumental historical, political, and economic importance.
If Mueller fails, then the coup succeeds, and the Constitution will quickly become a relic of a more secure past.
If Mueller fails, we can begin to assume that fundamental social contracts between the government and the citizens will no longer be held as valid. By way of illustration, if you own a home, you may as well consider your deed to be in jeopardy, because only our legitimate governments make them valid. Once those institutions become weakened, powerful entities can declare your ownership to be invalid, at their whim. THIS IS REAL, folks. If you think "government is the problem", just wait.
bluestarone
(17,030 posts)the decision could come just in time for 2018? that would be GREAT