were running secret communications channels for this affair. He was being blackmailed by the Kremlin, which had collected incriminating information on his personal behavior during Russian trips, including tapes of bizarre liaisons with prostitutes. Trump, in its depiction, was a Manchurian candidate, someone bought and paid for by Russia and totally under its control. Trump in the 2016 election, that there were communications and interplay between Trump figures and Russia – remains largely accurate.īut on this foundation the intelligence in the dossier spins a grandiose array of assertions that don’t appear to be true and in isolation might seem preposterous and lurid. Their bare bones structure – that Russia was interfering in American politics by computer hacking and other means, that the Kremlin favored Mr. The memos consist of raw, unverified intelligence, not vetted and finished conclusions. But a law firm connected to the Hillary Clinton campaign was paying for the investigation by the time Mr. The project began as opposition research into Donald Trump funded by a Republican opponent. Steele, a former British intelligence official, did this work under contract with the U.S. It is group of more than a dozen individual memos composed by Christopher Steele between June and December 2016, based on conversations with Russian sources. The Steele dossier might more accurately be called the Steele dossiers. “The more useful document at this time is the Mueller report,” says Chris Edelson, an assistant professor of government and a fellow at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University. To the president’s detractors it is a credible guide to the outline of the Russia probe’s inquiries and nothing more.įleeing Sudan: Evacuation challenge tests nations’ values To Trump defenders it is a hoax, the “witch hunt” made concrete, and a corrupt document that launched a corrupt investigation. Trump met clandestinely with Russian government-linked officials during the presidential campaign.īut mostly the Steele dossier’s renewed prominence is due to the fact that both Trump supporters and critics claim it as a symbol of their preferred interpretation of today’s fraught political moment. Mueller, including its conclusion that figures connected to Mr. Partly it’s because some of the dossier’s general points were echoed by Mr. The special counsel didn’t confirm many of the dossier’s most sensational specific assertions. Partly that’s because it’s barely mentioned in Mr. But with dueling partisan narratives, it’s worth looking at what that does and doesn’t mean. It was his anger that caused what occurred on January 6th,” he said.Ī 2016 dossier of alleged intelligence about the Trump campaign and Russia is getting renewed attention, partly because it’s barely mentioned in the Mueller report. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally for their roles prior to the riot.After all, in closing arguments at the Proud Boy trial, defense lawyer Nayib Hassan said the attack wasn’t the Proud Boys’ fault. “It was Donald Trump’s words. 6 seditious conspiracy cases.The question is whether special counsel Jack Smith will indict former President Donald Trump and other political organizers of the Jan. It is possible the Justice Department is becoming increasingly confident in its ability to win complex Jan. Followers of two extremist groups have now been convicted of seditious conspiracy: Oath Keepers in March, and yesterday, Proud Boys. But more than 400 have faced prosecution for higher-level crimes, and at least 237 have been sentenced to prison.Second, Thursday’s conviction hints at prosecutions that may come. ![]() As of April, law enforcement had arrested 1,020 people for participating in the Capitol assault. Most of those brought to trial have faced only minor charges. First, it’s a symbol of the grinding Justice Department effort to hold accountable those responsible for Jan. government.The verdict is important for two reasons. The juror told Vice News that it was the Proud Boys’ own texts and messages that convinced the jury the men had engaged in seditious conspiracy – an effort to “overthrow, put down, or destroy by force” the U.S. and the fact they wanted to do so much in secret.”That’s what a juror said following Thursday’s conviction of four members of the Proud Boys far-right extremist group for plotting to attack the U.S.
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