Trump and Russia: the investigation thus far
Lauren Dibble, Staff Writer
Graphic courtesy of Matt Stromlund.
Allegations of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential campaign have been repeatedly denied by President Trump and the Kremlin, but the investigation into suspicions of Russian meddling continues on.
Multiple investigators are determining if the foreign nation had any involvement with the Trump movement during the election in 2016 as well as looking at the possible financial ties between some Trump associates and the Russian government.
Fox News reported that several congressional committees have launched probes into Russia’s attempts to influence the election. The Department of Justice appointed Robert Mueller as its special counsel overseeing its investigation in May 2017. Mueller was appointed after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation.
On Jan. 6, the director of national intelligence released a declassified report that concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an influence operation to “undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process,” damage Hillary Clinton’s election prospects and bolster Trump’s. The campaign included the hacking of top Democrats’ emails and fake news distributed by Russian sources, according to McClatchy Washington Bureau.
In March, Rep. Mike Conaway reported the end of the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation, telling Fox News it found no evidence of collusion. Mueller’s investigation has led to multiple charges – although none are directly related to misconduct from the campaign.
Reporter for Fox News, Kaitlyn Schallhorn, wrote, “Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, and Richard Gates were indicted on Oct. 27 on multiple counts, including: conspiracy against the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, false statements and failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts. Manafort and Gates initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.”
In addition to the charges against Manafort and Gates, Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has also been charged in light of the Russian investigations. Flynn pleaded guilty in December to one charge of lying to the FBI about his talks with a Russian ambassador.
