13 Russians criminally charged for interfering in US election, Mueller announces
🔹All were charged w conspiracy to defraud the US
🔹Three charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud
🔹Five defendants charged with aggravated identity theft theguardian.com/us-news/2018/f…
🔹All were charged w conspiracy to defraud the US
🔹Three charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud
🔹Five defendants charged with aggravated identity theft theguardian.com/us-news/2018/f…
2/ This is the tip of the iceberg
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3/ Let’s roll up our sleeves and dig into these indictments, shall we? 
4/ As I reported in mid-October, Prigozhin’s troll factory played a key role helping Trump win the election. He and his company have just been indicted by Mueller.
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5/ But first, consider who is NOT in this indictment, because he was already indicted in April 2017: Pyotr Levashov. Levashov was arrested for involvement in the hacking of DNC servers and other Kremlin operated attempts to destabilize the US Democracy. justice.gov/opa/pr/russian…
6/ The first named defendant is the Internet Research Agency (“the Agency”). The NYT exposed the Agency’s interference in our democracy in June 2015: mobile.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/mag…
7/ The catering company (now under indictment) owned by Evgeniy Prigozhin (“the Kremlin’s chef”) was subject of US sanctions in 2016 nytimes.com/2017/06/20/wor…
8/ Obama imposed the sanctions on Prigozhin wsj.com/amp/articles/u…
9/ Mueller has alleged that the Russian government was involved. More background. Alexey Mitrofanov, Chairperson Putin Duma Committee on Info Policy, IT & Communication at Trump 2013 Miss Universe pageant💥
10/ I need not repeat myself in setting up the background information. I did a comprehensive thread on Prigozhin months ago:
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11/ Let’s begin. The indictment alleges that a conspiracy began “from in or around 2014” to interfere in US political processes. Large sums of $ was dedicated to the conspiracy. Conspirators infected US social media, and travelled to US to gather intelligence.
12/ In July 2017, I began circulating a Twitter moment, in which I adamantly argued that Trump, himself, conspired with the Kremlin to interfere in the election back in 2014. Mueller’s indictment today does not allege Trump collusion.
13/ In reading the indictment, I believe it swings the door wide open to additional persons charged AND to a superseding RICO indictment. Paragraph 6 alleges expenditures were made “in the names of US persons and entities” but does not say “unwitting” as to those persons.
14/ Paragraph 6 continues, by alleging “unwitting” communications with Russians who were concealing their identities. So, we have 2 sets of persons alleged here: “unwitting” and (likely) knowing and complicit.
15/ I want to put this right here, because MSM is softening the Trump conspiracy angle. Today’s indictment is the beginning. There WAS “collusion” by the Trump campaign and there was a conspiracy.
16/ Paragraph 7 alleges the defendants made expenditures without required regulatory disclosure, failed to register FARA, and fraudulently obtained visas.
17/ Count One is Conspiracy to Defraud the US. The Agency was formed in July 2013.
18/ What was Trump doing about that time? He was being courted by a Putin-friendly Russian oligarch, with whom he signed (at least) 2 business deals in June and July 2013.
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19/ From July 2013 through 2014, detailed plans were made to interfere in the US election via “information warfare”.
20/ What was Trump doing from July 2013 through 2014? Trump went to Moscow in December 2013, where “all the oligarchs were in the room”. He visited St Petersburg, Russia in February 2014. St Petersburg is where Prigozhin’s Agency is situated.
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21/ Trump’s journey to the WH, by his own admission, began in 2011.
22/ Trump expressed interest in running for President well prior to 2014: tvguide.com/news/donald-tr…
23/ The Agency sent spies into the US in 2014 to gather intelligence.
24/ This is important. This paragraph references an unnamed co-conspirator (who would also not be one of the named defendants). It is safe to assume that this individual may likely be a cooperating witness.
25/ The unnamed co-conspirator went to Atlanta in November 2014. Trump Tower Atlanta went into foreclosure in 2010, and was sold December 3, 2013. Trump has “friends” in Atlanta. bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2…
26/ A US citizen from a Texas grassroots organization, told the Russian spies to focus on “purple states”.
27/ While Kremlin spies were canvassing our country in 2014, Prigozhin’s bots were tuning up their chaos methods—one effort included spreading hysteria about ebola via fake news. In 2014, Trump mirrored the St Petersburg trolls’ false Kremlin narrative. nytimes.com/2015/06/07/mag…
28/ Of importance is the repeated use of the phrase “Defendants and their co-conspirators” when describing unlawful acts. This is a broad net, indicating that others (not charged herein) are criminal co-conspirators, who may (or may not) be charged, or who may already be charged.
29/ As part of the criminal enterprise, the conspirators targeted Americans with precision to influence citizen vote choices in favor of Trump.
30/ Meanwhile, as Kremlin spies, trolls and bots were undermining our democracy, there were US citizens coordinating with them and furthering the *CONSPIRACY* (thread): twitter.com/i/moments/8631…
31/ Will resume thread later this evening. I need a break ✌🏼
32/ Most concerning is that the conspirators organized physical rallies. They paid for rally expenses. They also organized ANTI-TRUMP rallies. Rallies were also held after the election.
33/ Top campaign officials from the Trump campaign were contacted by the conspirators as “March for Trump” in August 2016 AFTER the campaign had been warned by the FBI. Yet, the Trump campaign retweeted tweets and information from the Kremlin-sponsored group anyway.
34/ Here is one example of the social media ripple effect from the Florida rallies held by the Kremlin.
35/ After it became public that they were under investigation, the Kremlin conspirators destroyed evidence: “The FBI has busted our activity. So I got preoccupied with covering tracks together with the colleagues,” wrote one conspirator in an email.
36/ Note that the Overt Acts (in furtherance of the conspiracy) alleged in the indictment begin on June 1, 2016, which is one week prior to the June 8 Trump Tower meeting and 2 days prior to Don Jr’s (known) email contacts with Rob Goldstone.
37/ For background and a timeline, see:
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38/ Troubling is a Kremlin rally held in West Palm Beach, FL, where a US citizen was paid to wear a costume portraying Hillary in a prison uniform. The FL Trump campaign chairman assisted them in finding venues for other FL rallies.
39/ The Kremlin conspirators collaborated w 2 FL Trump campaign officials —planning rallies & a large cage to display with a Hillary look alike in prison garb. These communications took place in August, AFTER the Trump campaign had been warned by the FBI of Kremlin interference.
40/ FWIW, Putin pulled these same shenanigans in Ukraine. He is still doing it in Ukraine. bbc.com/news/blogs-tre…
41/ Putin is also manipulating citizens with fake news attacks throughout the Baltics. foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/12/rus…
42/ Putin also deluges his own citizens with fake news to manipulate them: rferl.org/a/russia-fake-…
43/ The Kremlin conspirators paid for pro-Trump grassroots organizers in FL to hold a Miami rally. The wire transfer was sent 9/11/16.
44/ For context, here is what was going on June 1-August 31, 2016, with the Trump campaign.
45/ If you are wondering what the next phase of Mueller’s investigation will reveal, it will center on the US co-conspirators:
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46/ Also, on September 4, 2016 (the day he sent this tweet), Don Jr received the Wikileaks encryption key. All the while, Kremlin conspirators were wiring money to Trump surrogates to plan rallies.
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47/ Buzzing in the background was the constant hum of Trump and his campaign’s direct collaboration with Kremlin efforts:
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48/ On July 27, 2016, Trump publicly asked Russia to find Hillary’s 33,000 emails. Here is more evidence of Trump campaign as co-conspirators with the indicted Kremlin conspirators:
49/ Also, on September 16, 2016, Roger Stone announced that Wikileaks was about to dump Clinton emails, after he communicated with Guccifer 2.0.
50/ All the while, the Kremlin conspirators were paying US citizens to act politically against other US citizens, while recruiting US citizens to act out a literal #ActiveMeasures Passion Play
51/ Count Two is Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud. The Kremlin conspirators stole the identities of US citizens and used *PETER THIEL’S* Paypal as a vehicle to further their illegal enterprise.
52/ Here is the interesting thing about Count Two: US citizens (likely, the Trump campaign and its surrogates), PAID THE KREMLIN conspirators to disseminate pro-Trump information.
53/ This begs the question: Who was paying Trump for his digital ads? $230 million.
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54/ In reading today’s indictment of the Kremlin conspirators’ targeting of US voters, a familiar song kept running through my head. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
55/ I detailed the Mercer/Cambridge Analytica voter targeting efforts back in April 2017. My Mercer Mania Moment and my Parscale Moment have vanished from my account 😳, though the threads are still available:
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56/ Mueller ends his indictment with a forfeiture allegation, wherein he pledges to pursue the Kremlin conspirators to the ends of the earth to seize their assets (I paraphrase 🙃).
57/ I found my Parscale Moment in the Twitterverse, though it is no longer in my Moments que. twitter.com/i/moments/8630…
58/ Gates (whom I believe may have pleaded guilty today in a closed hearing) is tied directly to Parscale. 🔨🔨🔨
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59/ Parscale has time and time again incriminated himself.
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60/ Parscale is a co-conspirator
61/ This pro-Kremlin blogger says Trump himself collaborated with Kremlin efforts:
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63/ Alexandr Dugan (Putin's Moscow Rasputin), tweeted this out the Sunday after the election:
64/ A good analysis:
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65/ The Kremlin groomed Trump beginning in the 1980’s. This thread details those efforts:
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66/ One important factor to consider in reading Mueller’s indictment of the Russians is how their efforts to destabilize our election mirrored that of Manafort’s work in Ukraine. Manafort was paid $600k p month to destabilize Ukraine for Putin. usatoday.com/story/news/wor…
67/ Manafort used identical tactics in Ukraine—ground protestors who instigated chaos on the ground, mass fake news campaigns, and political narrative which attacked the foundations of Ukraine’s institutions. rferl.org/a/manafort-ind…
68/ Manafort knows no other way of influencing change. Indeed, after his indictment, Manafort attempted those same tactics, but was caught by Mueller. cbsnews.com/amp/news/paul-…
69/ Manafort (like Trump) was in debt to pro-Russia interests. nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/…
71/ Recall, Manafort was at the June 9 Trump Tower meeting with Kaveladze.
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72/ But here’s the thing: U.S. investigators wiretapped Paul Manafort under FISA orders **before and after the 2016 election** reuters.com/article/us-usa…
73/ On July 26, 2017,
investigators raided Manafort’s home, office and storage facility. washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-c…
investigators raided Manafort’s home, office and storage facility. washingtonpost.com/politics/fbi-c…
74/ Manafort was under investigation by federal investigators **BEFORE** his May 2016 appointment to lead Trump’s campaign team, for money laundering and FARA violations. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
75/ Anticipate more Russians being indicted. Mueller’s indictment does not cover the activities of other Russian groups, like the Fancy Bear hackers who broke into the DNC’s emails, or Russia's probing US election infrastructure.
76/ The Russian troll factory actions are just one piece of Russia's extensive playbook for hacking elections in the US and abroad wired.com/story/russia-e…
77/ “The IRA are not amateurs, they're clearly familiarizing themselves w content that resonates w target audiences,” says Renee DiResta, researcher with Data for Democracy, a nonprofit group that has been digging into the data on Russian-linked accounts. medium.com/data-for-democ…
78/ Russia’s playbook is about spreading disinformation, propaganda, counterfeit official documents to increase confusion. The goal is broader than the election & includes the long-term objective of weakening the US & undermining America’s reputation in the eyes of the world.
79/ Mueller’s indictment CLEARLY indicates the Kremlin was trying to influence the election against Clinton, and in favor of Trump and Bernie Sanders, which they began working on as early as 2014.
80/ Ru operatives were instructed to “use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump—we support them).” (indictment). The Russians running FB group “Secured Borders” were criticized for not having enough posts dedicated to disparaging Clinton.
81/ The Russians encouraged African Americans to stay away from the polls. In October 2016, an Instagram account called “Woke Blacks” published a message saying voting for Hillary was “the lesser of the two devils...we’d surely be better of without voting AT ALL.” (indictment).
82/ The Kremlin propaganda was gradual and insidious over a 2-yr period. One ad innocuously instructed people to follow a FB page if they were a follower of Jesus, but later spread a meme of Hillary with devil horns.
83/ Facebook estimates that 10 million people saw paid ads. Up to 150 million people saw other content from fake accounts. Posts on six of the IRA’s most popular FB pages received 340 million shares & nearly 20 million interactions, according to Albright’s analysis (supra).
84/ The Russians were also busy on Instagram: A single Russia-linked account received nearly 10 million interactions from January 2016 to August 2017.
86/ Not completely certain yet, but I think this entity is where the Kremlin conspirators obtained server space in the US. I am still researching.
87/ Something no one seems to talk about is that Trump’s @facebook partnership literally funded almost his ENTIRE presidential campaign. We discuss his donors, but those donors contributed nothing compared to his Facebook revenue:
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88/ If Trump netted $245 million from his @facebook campaign, Facebook directly made over a $billion (at least) from Trump. facebook.com/facebookmedia/…
89/ Beginning in February 2013, Trump started using the hashtag #Trump2016 — in 2013 he used or retweeted it 33x. In 2014 he used or retweeted it 109x. In 2015, he used or retweeted it 190x **BEFORE** his June 2016 announcement of candidacy.
90/ * correction to paragraph 89. Should read “**BEFORE** his June 2015 announcement of candidacy”
91/ On February 9, 2015, Trump tweeted a quote-tweet from the Russian entity “KremlinLife”, along with a Russian journal article about himself, with the hashtag #Trump2016
92/ According to Mueller’s indictment of the Russians, Prigozhin’s St Petersburg trolls were amplifying the hashtag #Trump2016 from 2014 through the election.
93/ Fascinating piece by the @splcenter , exploring the history & people behind Prigozhin’s IRA—a “web of far-right paramilitary groups, think tanks and institutes directed by a trans-national, far right network of oligarchs, politicians and media figures” splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018…
94/ Prigozhin on Feb 16, 2018: “Americans are very impressionable people, they see what they want to see. I have a lot of respect for them. I'm not at all upset that I'm on this list. If they want to see the devil, let them.” ria.ru/world/20180216…
95/ Meet the Russian husband & wife troll team indicted by Mueller. Maria was the 'head' of the translator project, the designated branch of the wider pro-Putin effort which focused on US audiences. Robert worked as his wife's deputy. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5…
96/ Gleb Vasilchenko, indicted by Mueller for leading two subgroups focused on suppressing minority votes and manipulating voters toward 3rd parties, ran Instagram account 'Woke Blacks' and FB/Twitter accts called 'Blacktivist', urging voters to support Jill Stein or to not vote.
97/ Prigozhin was convicted twice of burglary and fraud before becoming a hotdog vendor. A chance encounter as Putin’s waiter ingratiated him to Putin. Prigozhin became Putin’s chef.
97/ Within 5 yrs, Prigozhin was being funneled multi-billion dollar state contracts. He supplies all food to the military and schools. He then established the IRA St Petersburg troll factory. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5…
98/ This is ASTOUNDING. US intelligence has intercepts from January 2018 of Prigozhin communicating w Kremlin before and after (getting permission) Prigozhin’s Russian missionaries attacked US forces in Syria. washingtonpost.com/world/national…
99/ Here is how that matter was resolved npr.org/sections/thetw…
100/ Here are the recordings of the communications of Prigozhin’s mercenaries communicating after getting beaten down by US forces. newsweek.com/total-f-russia…
101/ By Trump’s own admission, he used Twitter and Facebook as his primary means to communicate to voters. Thus, the efforts of the Kremlin conspirators had the effect of amplifying his primary means of communication.
102/ Putin increases his bot attacks on Western democracies:
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103/ #LockThemUp
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104/ This phone number promoting Trump for US president was registered on 12/11/2013, the day after Trump returned from the Miss Universe Moscow trip. @FBIWFO
105/ Interestingly, Trump began campaigning in 2011, exactly when (the now indicted) Prigozhin was mobilizing his propaganda army on behalf of Putin for Russia’s 2012 election. Thread:
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106/ From a cell in Moscow, Konstantin Kozlovsky reveals more about the software he claims disrupted the 2016 election. fastcompany.com/40538571/jaile…
107/ In December, Kozlovsky claimed his role in hacking the DNC in the 2016 U.S. primary season, saying he was acting on the orders of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB).
108/ In a recent post, Kozlovsky confirmed his involvement in the attacks on the U.S. Democratic Party, the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Olympics Committee, and FIFA on the orders of FSB Major Dmitry Dokuchaev, who worked at the agency’s Center for Information Security.
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