Interference review – team behind the Mueller Report describe the 2016 political maelstrom

The Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, also known as the Mueller Report, stated, "The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion." A social media campaign favorable to and critical of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was carried out by a Russian entity.

Contrary to the erroneous assertions made by Bill Barr, Trump's attorney general, in a letter dated March 24, 2019, which is also known as the Barr Report, the special counsel, Robert Mueller, did not charge Trump with a crime and did not give him a clean bill of health.

Mueller and his team, including prosecutors Aaron Zebley, James Quarles, and Andrew Goldstein, were enraged by Barr's bad faith action. So much so that the three of them have written a book about their time at the center of American politics.

In their retrospective of their time working in the special counsel's office, the three men write, "The purpose of appointing a special counsel was to shield the investigation from political interference so there would be public confidence in the outcome." That necessitated that the public view our actual analysis and conclusions, not those of an attorney general appointed by politics.

According to Robert Mueller, the United States is still unprepared for Russian election interference. Read more in Zebley, Quarles, and Goldstein's new book, "The Inside Story of Trump, Russia, and the Mueller Investigation," which sheds new light on the decisions not to subpoena or indict Trump, who Mueller nonetheless regarded as a "subject"—someone whose conduct is "within the scope of the investigation."

Interference has a serious, not brisk, tone of voice. The writing is dry. Establishmentalist lawyers wrote this book. The nickname "Bobby Three-Sticks" was given to their boss, a former US Marine and director of the FBI. The nickname is a reference to his name and the three-fingered Boy Scout salute.

Equity division conventions banished government investigators from charging an occupant president, yet questions waited. " The authors acknowledge that "the department had twice taken the position, in writing, that a sitting president could not be indicted." However, "the public interest in an indictment might be so great as to warrant pushing the department to revisit the [Office of Legal Counsel] opinion in order to safeguard the nation" if "the special counsel's office had evidence proving Trump truly was a Manchurian candidate, a puppet who was being directed by Russia in a way that was an immediate and ongoing threat."

Also, Rod Rosenstein, the Janus-faced deputy attorney general who oversaw Mueller after Trump's first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, recused himself, reportedly told Mueller to focus on criminal activity related to Russia's interference in the election.

Mueller is said to have been informed by Rosenstein that "this is a criminal investigation." Finish your work by closing it.

The investigation into Trump's previous ties to Russia was not within Mueller's purview. Zebley, Quarles, and Goldstein now reveal that a "scope memo" between Rosenstein and the special counsel on August 2, 2017, gave the deputy attorney general the authority to veto new lines of investigation.

The plot twist is established. Trump wasn't arrested. Associates were found guilty, then pardoned. Paul Manafort and Roger Stone remain in Trumpworld. Zebley, Quarles, and Goldstein portray Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani as unreliable. Mueller "decided he would never again meet or speak with Giuliani – and he never did" by the end of the investigation. For his part in Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election, Giuliani is currently facing charges in Arizona and Georgia.

Zebley, Quarles, and Goldstein were not well received by all Mueller employees. Zebley has been criticized by Andrew Weissmann, a former Mueller deputy who is now a law professor at New York University and a MSNBC commentator, for being overly cautious and adhering to a narrow interpretation of the special counsel's mandate.

Where the Law Ends: Weissmann compared Zebley to the "timorous" George McClellan, who was reluctant to fight the Confederates while presenting himself as a hero, an approximation of Philip Sheridan and Ulysses S. Grant, in his 2020 memoir, The Mueller Investigation. Zebley, Quarles, and Goldstein, on the other hand, regard Weissmann as a zealot. Even though Mueller and Zebley were familiar with him, the decision to bring him aboard sparked debate.

According to the authors, "he had a reputation for being unduly harsh with some defendants." Additionally, "almost as if it had been a hobby," Weissmann was already gathering data on Manafort. Perhaps "that ought to have made us consider whether he was too intrigued by the examination".

After the newsletter was promoted, the authors talk about Weissmann's unsuccessful attempts to get the Manhattan district attorney to reopen the federal case against Manafort after he got a pardon from Trump.

The United States is involved in yet another bloody election as interference approaches. The Kremlin is involved once more. Two RT employees were charged earlier this month by the Justice Department as part of "a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to US audiences." American pawns in the Trump campaign are said to have reaped the benefits.

Trump keeps boasting about his friendship with the Russian leader and others of his kind. During the debate in September, he announced, "I know Putin very well." I get along well with her.

Dimitri Simes and Anastasia Simes were indicted by federal prosecutors in September as part of a scheme to avoid sanctions and launder money for Channel One Russia. Dimitri Simes recently drove a research organization with binds to the Kremlin and Trumpworld. Dimitri Simes and the Center for the National Interest got a whole section of the Mueller Report because his name was mentioned dozens of times.

Trump is unhinged and unrestrained as he competes for a second term as president. He tells his supporters, "I am your retribution." I am being charged on your behalf.

In his introduction to Interference, Mueller states, "We were not prepared then, and, despite many efforts of dedicated people across the government, we are not prepared now." Every American should pay attention to this threat. Russia has previously attacked us and will do so again.

Interference: HarperCollins published The Inside Story of Trump, Russia, and the Mueller Investigation in the United States.