Thelong - awaited reportfrom Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Russia ’s incumbrance in the 2016 election is more than 440 pages farsighted and offers gritty details about the Russian government ’s efforts to penetrate Democratic arrangement and obtain material damage to Hillary Clinton ’s presidential effort . One thing that ’s notable is what is n’t present : A definitive account of how Wikileaks obtained stolen e-mail from the Democratic campaign .
The report does not soften words . The purpose of these onset , it understandably states , was to help elect President Donald Trump , whom the Putin government activity present a clear preference for in the election . The probe established that the Russian governing perceive that hacking the Democrats would benefit Trump and that , in good turn , a Trump presidency would benefit Russia .
Russian intelligence operation , therefore , worked to “ ensure that effect , ” allot to the report ; while the Trump campaign itself was hopeful all along that it would “ benefit electorally from selective information stolen and released through Russian efforts . ”
Then FBI Director Robert Mueller testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2010, before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
In the close , however , Mueller ’s team was unable to establish that any appendage of the Trump cause cabal with the Russians in the commission of any illegal act — despite more than100 known contactsbetween the president ’s associates , include 17 drive functionary , and Russian subject , several of whom have established ties to the nation ’s military and intelligence help .
substantial portions of the report are dedicated to analyzing the theft of popular emails , oppositeness inquiry , and fundraising data by Russia ’s main intelligence directorate , the GRU ; and in particular , Russian military cyber unit 26165 and 74455 . It further summarise the seek to disseminate the stolen stuff through GRU ’s own false personas , as well as through WikiLeaks — which at one point claim to have proof that Russia was not take .
Notably , the report bespeak that Mueller ’s squad faces unresolvable issues in piercing through the secrecy surrounding WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange . The report accept at one peak that it continue ill-defined how the ill-famed publisher of classified U.S. material incur all of the steal popular single file . While it does let in book of facts to at least one encrypted file send via Twitter to WikiLeaks by Guccifer 2.0 — a fictional hacker identity make up , according to U.S. intelligence , by the GRU — it does not rule out other source being involved .
“ Both the GRU and WikiLeaks sought to hide their communication , which has specify the Office ’s ability to call for all of the communications between them , ” the report put forward . “ Similar communication occurred between WikiLeaks and the GRU - operated persona DCLeaks , ” it also says .
Assange was check in London last week after living nearly seven years there in the Ecuadorian embassy . He was subsequently constitute guilty of failing to surrender himself after go against his bail condition in connection with extradition proceeding take on by accusal of violation in Sweden . He has beenchargedby the U.S. government activity for allegedly conspiring with former U.S. Army intelligence psychoanalyst Chelsea Manning togain accessto a Defense Department web used to store classified documents and communications .
If deport to the U.S. and found shamed , Assange faces up to five years imprisonment . To escort , none of the make out charges against him relate to the 2016 election .
Last July , the special counsel issued an bill of indictment of 12 Russian intelligence agency officer — also known as theNetyksho indictment — in the hacking of Democratic organizations , including the private e-mail account of John Podesta , chairman of the Clinton campaign .
Mueller ’s report reiterates the assessment of the U.S. intelligence residential district that the hack operations against the Democrats were carry out by Russia ’s chief intelligence activity board of directors , the GRU . As with the Netyksho indictment , the report card describes the GRU ’s use of various customized malware , including X - Agent , a crabbed - platform remote access toolkit , which activate the GRU to record thousands of keylogging sessions , and X - Tunnel , a connection tunneling tool that enabled big - musical scale data transportation from the Democratic National Committee ( DNC ) and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ( DCCC ) networks to GRU - controlled computers .
The malware section of the study is heavily redacted cite investigative techniques .
The report states :
The GRU began steal DCCC data shortly after it gained access to the internet . On April 14 , 2016 ( roughly three daytime after the initial intrusion ) GRU officers download rar.exe onto the DCCC ’s document server . The following day , the GRU searched one compromise DCCC computer for files containing search terms that include “ Hillary , ” “ DNC , ” “ Cruz , ” and “ Trump . ” On April 25 , 2016 , the GRU collected and compressed PDF and Microsoft documents from folders on the DCCC ’s shared file server that have-to doe with to the 2016 election . The GRU appear to have compressed and exfiltrated over 70 gigabytes of information from this file waiter .
The GRU also stole document from the DNC meshing in brief after gaining access . On April 22 , 2016 , the GRU re-create single file from the DNC web to GRU - ensure computers . Stolen document included the DNC ’s opposition research into campaigner Trump . Between approximately May 25 , 2016 and June 1 , 2016 , GRU officer get to the DNC ’s chain armour server from a GRU - check information processing system leased inside the United States . During these connections , Unit 26165 officers appear to have steal chiliad of electronic mail and adhesion , which were subsequently released by WikiLeaks in July 2016 .
The report describes the Russian administration ’s efforts to disseminate the hacked stuff through fictitious online personas DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 , as well as through WikiLeaks . “ DCLeaks victims included an advisor to the Clinton Campaign , a former DNC employee and Clinton Campaign employee , and four other campaign volunteers , ” the report says . The GRU also lock a Facebook Thomas Nelson Page , it say , dole out through several other pre - existing Facebook accounts , which was used to promote the release of the materials .
The report notes that the Guccifer 2.0 account was in contact with a former Trump effort phallus , though the name of the individual is couch citing possible harm to an ongoing matter . That somebody has beenpreviouslyidentified by news sources as Roger Stone , a Republican operative and advisor to longtime friend President Trump . ( Prosecutors said in a court filing Wednesday that details related to Stone , whose case wo n’t be learn until November , would be redacted in the account . ) Stone , who sold himself to the Trump campaign as a conduit to WikiLeaks , was indicted on felony charge in January for allegedly lying to investigators for the House Intelligence Committee and seek to carry a witness to provide false testimony .
The written report goes on to identify how the GRU made inter-group communication with WikiLeaks for the function of further disseminating the stolen popular documents . “ GRU officer used both the DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0 personas to communicate with WikiLeaks through Twitter secret electronic messaging and through encrypt channel , ” it says , “ include possibly through WikiLeaks ’s private communication system . ”
The report makes clear that Mueller ’s team struggled to visualise out how all of the slip file were reassign to WikiLeaks . It was ineffectual to determine , for exercise , if WikiLeaks obtained the stuff from an intermediary , identify by the written report as Andy Müller - Maguhn . The focal point of a 2018Washington Post article , Andy Müller - Maguhn is described as “ one of Assange ’s few connections to the outside world . ”
The article remark that , in 2016 , Müller - Maguhn , himself a computing machine drudge , cede a thumb drive to Assange allegedly control “ personal messages , ” as by that time , Assange had ceased use of most electronic communications .
The news report states that investigators were able to discredit the claims of WikiLeaks and its Republican ally regarding the source of the stolen material . On the false claims made by WikiLeaks , the report states :
After the U.S. intelligence activity residential district publically announced its assessment that Russia was behind the chop cognitive process , Assange go on to refuse that the Clinton materials issue by WikiLeaks had come from Russian hacking . According to medium reports , Assange told a U.S. congressman that the DNC cab was an “ inner business , ” and purported to have “ forcible proof ’ that Russians did not give cloth to Assange .
The “ reports ” abduce by Mueller includea CNN articlefrom May 2018 , in which GOP Congressman Dana Rohrabacher , a steadfast defender of Assange , claimed that the hack was an “ inner job ” and that Assange distinguish him personally that he had “ physical proof ” the leak did not grow with the Russians .
A section of the report describing contacts between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks is heavy redacted but includes character to testimony by Michael Cohen , Trump ’s former special counseling and longtime fixer , who pleaded guilty last year to create false argument to Congress . Multiple quotation mark attributed by Cohen to Trump are also redacted .
The report further describes several know contact between Donald Trump Jr. , the Chief Executive ’s son , and the WikiLeaks Twitter score , including a petition by WikiLeaks to squeeze “ a link alleging prospect Clinton had recommend using a poke to point Julian Assange . ”
Trump Jr. react to WikiLeaks say he had already “ done so , ” it says .
Ultimately , the composition simply concludes what has been obvious since October 2016 , when then - nominee Trump beganpraising WikiLeaksfor publishing material stolen by a alien adversary from his political rivals : “ The presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump demonstrate interest in WikiLeaks ’s releases of documents and welcome their potential to damage candidate Clinton . ”
“ Under applicable law of nature , publication of these types of materials would not be criminal unless the publishing firm also participated in the underlying hacking conspiracy , ” Attorney General William Barr said in a affirmation Thursday . “ Here too , the Special Counsel ’s report did not rule that any person associated with the Trump campaign lawlessly take part in the dissemination of the materials . ”
you may read a full , searchable copy of the Mueller reporthere .
Julian AssangeWikiLeaks
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