The alleged crimes are FEC and FARA violations. Trolling is not a violation. The inditement is filled with gratuitous facts, facts that have NO BEARING on the alleged criminal conduct.
the Russian actors failed to register as foreign agents conducting political activity in the U.S., and made expenditures related to the election without properly disclosing them.
Everything done would have been legal if they had correctly disclosed who they were, in the ads; and if they had registered under FARA (which is a joke, all sorts of foreigners lobby Congress without registering, and nobody gives a hoot about that).
Two good "Law & Crime" web pages to read on the subject...
Takeaways From DOJ's Massive Indictment Alleging Russian U.S. Election Interference
Important Details You Might Have Missed in the Latest Mueller Indictment
The press is of course misrepresenting the indictment. Yellow journalisim.
The alleged crimes are FEC and FARA violations. Trolling is not a violation. The inditement is filled with gratuitous facts, facts that have NO BEARING on the alleged criminal conduct.
Thanks for your take. Always look forward to it, as you decode this stuff for us, so we can see the “ kabuki theater” for what it is...
The guts of the charges are (1) obtaining stolen ID’s to (2) fraudulently open bank accounts and (3) deleting emails and other forms of obstruction of justice.
And for good measure, asset forfeitures are part of the remedy