Another nail in the Russiagate coffin...

Aaron's other tweets

- This is a major blow not just to Mueller but to the entire "Russian Active Measures" talking point. As the judge acknowledges, the IRA (which, btw, put out juvenile clickbait mostly unrelated to the election) is a private entity & Mueller never establishes a Kremlin connection.

- I point out this disconnect in my latest piece: Mueller says the social media operation was the 2nd major component of a "sweeping and systematic" Russian gov't interference campaign -- yet he never actually shows how it's connected to the Russian gov't.

- This inconsistency, confirmed by a DC judge, raises new Qs about the validity of Mueller's claim of a "sweeping and systematic" Russian gov't interference campaign. If Mueller was disingenuous in falsely trying to link it to Russian gov't, what else was he disingenuous about?

- For more on why the IRA was a juvenile operation mostly unrelated to 2016 election, see also:
Hyping the Mueller Indictment

Here is the DC Judge's order that I'm quoting from. Judge rebukes Mueller & DOJ for falsely suggesting a link between IRA & Russian government, and for suggesting that IRA carried out a Kremlin "Active Measures" campaign -- a "central" Mueller allegation.

I should clarify re: validity, above: given how disingenuous Mueller is overall -- ignoring Steele dossier; obscuring how weak the official Papadopoulos predicate; omitting Kilimnik's extensive State Dept ties & falsely hyping him as GRU indictment -- this is only latest example.

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Another nail in Russiagate coffin? Federal judge destroys key Mueller report claim

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s claim of “sweeping and systematic” Russian meddling in the 2016 US election just took another body blow, as a federal judge ruled that his indictment of a ‘troll farm’ is not actual proof of it.

Mueller’s charges against Concord Management & Consulting, the Russian company accused of running a “troll farm” and “sowing discord” on US social media in 2016, do not establish a link between that private company and the Russian government, US District Judge Dabney L. Friedrich pointed out.

Yet the special counsel’s much-publicized final report claims to have “established” and “confirmed” Russian government activities based in part on the indictment against Concord, which is a breach of prosecutorial rules, Friedrich said.

For example, Mueller’s report says that Concord CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin “is widely reported to have ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.That’s an assertion, not evidence.

The special counsel’s report argued that Moscow sought to meddle in the election by Concord’s “sowing discord” on social media while Russian intelligence stole Democrat emails and released them through WikiLeaks, but neither of those assertions is backed by actual evidence, and now the insinuated link between Concord and the Kremlin has been rejected, Lazare pointed out.

Americans assume that Russians and Russia are the same thing. But they’re not, any more than an individual American and the Trump administration are the same thing,” he told RT.

The ruling is “a major blow to the entireRussian Active Measures’ talking point,” journalist Aaron Maté argued on Twitter. The Internet Research Agency put out “juvenile clickbait mostly unrelated to the election,” and is a private entity whose connection with the Kremlin Mueller never established, he added.

If Mueller was disingenuous in falsely trying to link it to Russian government, what else was he disingenuous about?

Whoboy! This is a major dent in the Russia Gate saga isn't it?

Oh yeah..let's not forget that 60% of the Russian Internet Troll agency's ads were placed after the election! I'm still waiting to see how cute pictures of puppies and a few about Jayzus could get people to change their vote.

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Alligator Ed's picture

Within hours of its release, any one with integrity realized that the report had more holes in it than Hillary Klinton's conscience (terra incognita to her neuroscience).

Why didn't Müller's goon squad question a very willing Julian Assange about Russia supplying him with emails? Right--because this never happened. One conspiracy theory is that Trump has had Assange set on track to at some point, pound the final nail in the Russiagate hoax, by testifying to DOJ or Senate or House that his information had no connection with Russia directly or indirectly. Müller's squirmy innuendo that "Russia did it" has never been substantiated--anywhere--at any time--by anyone.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

snoop, I'm a skoshy bit confused here. In my world, "the IRA" is The Irish Republican Army, the militants who fight/fought to restore the entire Island of Ireland to rule by its rightful indigenous inhabitants.

So what is this "IRA" of which you speak, the alleged Russian trolls? Your Essay has no help for those who face my particular dilemma. I confess I haven't been a Russiagate follower; I know that the reason Her Heinous wasn't elected President in 2016 is that she's, well, Her Heinous. And that was that as far as I was concerned. Biggrin

Thank you for your help!

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

edg's picture

@thanatokephaloides @thanatokephaloides

Internet Research Agency. They're a clickbait advertising agency based in Russia. They do those online quizzes, "25 actors you didn't know were still alive", and similar sidebar ads that seek attention and clicks. The Russiagate believers claim that IRA helped elect Trump by running Internet ads that in actuality had nothing to do with either Trump or the election.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@edg

IRA... Internet Research Agency. They're a clickbait advertising agency based in Russia.

Multo grazie, amice!

Give rose

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

snoopydawg's picture

@thanatokephaloides

The ruling is “a major blow to the entire ‘Russian Active Measures’ talking point,” journalist Aaron Maté argued on Twitter. The Internet Research Agency put out “juvenile clickbait mostly unrelated to the election,” and is a private entity whose connection with the Kremlin Mueller never established, he added.

You might have been absent during the time we talked about this agency. Basically what they are is an ad agency that got its start when the guy running was a caterer and he supplied hot dawgs to the public that made lots of people sick. So he hired people to go online to say nice things about his dawgs and lo and behold it worked. He quit doing catering stuff and created an ad agency. Apparently he might have cooked something for Vlad once and now people call him Vlad's chef and that he is Vlad's BFF.... and I updated the essay to say that 60% of the ads were placed after the election had been decided. Russia supposedly spent $100,000 on the ads that were placed on Fakebook. Zuchenburger at first told congress that he didn't see any interference from Russia. But Obama took him aside and told him to look again. Whola.. Zucchini found the ads.

In case you didn't know everything that someone does in Russia is by Vlad's orders. According to the Russia Gaters who have swallowed Russia Gate whole.

The other thing that people miss is that just because someone has been indicted doesn't mean that they are guilty. It's just that a grand jury has said that they found enough evidence to go to trial. But attorneys that run grand juries can withhold evidence from the jurors that would show that the person didn't do what they are accused of doing. Hence the grand juries can indict a ham sandwich.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@snoopydawg

Multo grazie, snoop! Give rose

But attorneys that run grand juries can withhold evidence from the jurors that would show that the person didn't do what they are accused of doing. Hence the grand juries can indict a ham sandwich.

So that's what happened to my beloved ham and Swiss!!

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

mimi's picture

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boriscleto's picture

Was pushing the Mueller report yesterday. Even mentioned the IRA...

And Whoopie even admitted that Meghan McCain is tolerated because she brings in the ratings...

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

gulfgal98's picture

on the Mueller report and Russiagate. No one has done a more thorough job of analyzing the report and pointing out its gaping holes and inconsistencies than Aaron Mate.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Pluto's Republic's picture

@gulfgal98

....Aaron Mate establishes his career and sets 21st century standards for the craft of investigative journalism. It's a new bar.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato