Mueller deflates Trump's claim that Russian role was a hoax
President acknowledges ‘anti-US campaign’ by ‘bad actor’; Russia calls allegations baseless
Donald Trump has insisted for more than a year that Russians didn’t try to get him elected. Special Counsel Robert Mueller put an end to those claims on Friday, declaring definitively that they did.
A federal grand jury indicted 13 Russian nationals and a so-called “troll farm” in St Petersburg on Friday for a broad campaign to sway the 2016 election in Trump’s favour. The indictment alleges that the operation was funded to the tune of $1.25 million a month by companies controlled by a Russian businessman close to the Kremlin.
The indictment means that Trump can no longer credibly cast doubt on alleged Russian election meddling. And if he was still harbouring dreams of firing US Special Counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, something many Republicans already have warned against, such a move may be politically impossible.
The White House seized on Rosenstein’s declaration that Friday’s indictment didn’t allege “that any American had any knowledge” of the Russian interference, declaring “NO COLLUSION” in a statement. But the special counsel is still probing whether Trump or his campaign colluded with the Russians, a person familiar with the matter said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Munich on Saturday, said no facts back up the allegations Russia meddled in the vote. “Until we see the facts, everything else is blather,” Lavrov said at the Munich Security Conference. He cited comments by Vice President Mike Pence and other US officials who said the allegations were baseless.
The indictment reverberated from the White House and Congress across foreign policy and diplomatic circles. It represents a fundamental shift. The US intelligence community’s assertions that Russia interfered in the election, based on classified evidence never revealed to the public, was easily dismissed by Trump and his allies. Now there are concrete charges that Russians defrauded the US government, with memos and other evidence to back up the allegations.
Trump seemed to recognise the changed landscape himself. In a tweet, he acknowledged a Russian “anti-US campaign,” and in the White House statement he called the country a “bad actor.” He has previously — and frequently — described allegations of Russian meddling in the election as “a hoax.”
His lawyers complimented Mueller in statements, though they used the past tense — “did” — to describe his work, suggesting optimism that the investigation has concluded.
It has not. Rosenstein, at his news conference, said nothing about future indictments.
Some even saw in the indictment new doubt about Trump’s presidency.
Rosenstein said the indictment does not allege “that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election”.
Aslund predicted a “deep freeze” on US-Russian relations; none of the indicted Russians are in US custody. Rosenstein said the US would request their extradition.
Allen, a former adviser to President George W Bush and House Intelligence Committee Republicans, said the indictment makes it harder for Trump to challenge the FBI, Justice Department and intelligence community, and gives Rosenstein “sort of a bulletproof vest” against being fired or undercut. Such moves now would look like punishment.
Allen and others said that to avoid being weakened, Trump should immediately stop publicly doubting the Russian election meddling. “It’s still not too late to pivot and say, ‘No one is more upset about this than I am and here’s what I’m going to do about it,”’ Allen said.
But Trump’s political stature is entwined with the narrative he has built that Mueller’s probe is a “witch hunt” precipitated by Democrats. “No, Russia did not help me, that I can tell you,” Trump told supporters at an Alabama political rally in September. “Any Russians in the audience? I don’t see too many Russians.”
He’s also repeatedly cited personal assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin in maintaining his scepticism. “Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn’t do that,”’ Trump said after a November meeting with Putin in Vietnam. “And I believe — I really believe — that when he tells me that, he means it. I think he’s very insulted by it, if you want to know the truth.”
He can only regain credibility if he abandons such public naivete, said Steve Sestanovich, a senior fellow for Russian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former State Department official.
“Trump has got to stop using that ‘he-says-he’s-innocent’ line about Putin,” Sestanovich said. Pressure is mounting on the FBI director to resign after his agency admitted it failed to investigate a warning that the man accused of killing 17 people at a Florida high school possessed a gun and the desire to kill.
The disclosure spread angry disbelief among residents of the Miami suburb of Parkland where Wednesday’s massacre unfolded, and led Florida’s governor Rick Scott to call for FBI chief Christopher Wray to resign.
“The FBI’s failure to take action against this killer is unacceptable,” Scott, a Republican, said in a statement. “We constantly promote ‘See something, say something’, and a courageous person did just that to the FBI. And the FBI failed to act.”
Scott’s comments came after the FBI said in a statement that a person described as someone close to accused gunman Nikolas Cruz, 19, called an FBI tip line on January 5, weeks before the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, to report concerns about him. “The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behaviour, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting,” it said.
That information should have been forwarded to the FBI’s Miami field office for further investigation, but “we have determined that these protocols were not followed,” it said.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he has ordered a review of FBI procedures following the shooting, carried out by a gunman armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and numerous ammunition cartridges. “We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy,” Wray said in a statement.
The FBI has also separately been criticised by some Republicans over its investigation of allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, heaping further scrutiny on the agency led by Wray since President Donald Trump fired James Comey last year.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel told a news conference his office had received about 20 “calls for service” in the last few years regarding Cruz and would scrutinise all of them to see if they were handled properly.
But Israel said law enforcement should not be held responsible for Wednesday’s tragedy. “The only one to blame for this killing is the killer himself,” he said.