Posted on 02/22/2018 6:48:13 AM PST by Kaslin
Last Friday, a federal grand jury sitting in Washington, D.C., indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian corporations for conspiracy and for using false instruments and computer hacking so as to influence the American presidential election in 2016. The indictment alleges a vast, organized and professional effort, funded by tens of millions of dollars, whereby Russian spies passed themselves off as Americans on the internet, on the telephone and even in person here in the U.S. to sow discord about Hillary Clinton and thereby assist in the election of Donald Trump.
Though an indictment is a charge only, it presumably relies on hard evidence of a wide and deep Russian project -- so wide and so deep that it could only have been approved and paid for by the Kremlin. President Trump's national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, characterized the allegations in the indictment as "incontrovertible." The New York Times reported over the weekend that its Russian sources have now revealed that more than 1,000 people in Russia were involved for over three years.
The project was run out of an office building in St. Petersburg, Russia, which also houses the Kremlin's favorite caterer, a company owned by one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's close friends. The techniques outlined in the indictment include using false and fictitious names, bank accounts and websites; organizing rallies and marches in the U.S.; making thousands of phony web posts; and aggressively revealing embarrassing data about Clinton.
The Russian work even included the orchestration of a few pro-Clinton rallies so as to deflect suspicion away from all these new pro-Trump entities that appeared to have come out of nowhere.
Though Donald Trump told folks as far back as 2011 of his interest in running for president and though Clinton ran in the Democratic primaries in 2008 and 2016, as well as in the general election in 2016, the Russian scheme appears to have materialized at some point in 2014.
The dates are important because we know from the revelations of Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency, the federal government's domestic spying apparatus, began its pursuit of capturing all electronic data on everyone in the U.S. in 2001 and succeeded in mastering the capture of all keystrokes, telephone calls and digital traffic by 2005. We also know that the NSA traffic proceeds through FBI computers and that the CIA keeps constant tabs on Russian spies in Russia and elsewhere.
Why didn't the CIA or the NSA or the FBI pick this up?
That is the $64,000 question that the indictment does not address, and we may never know the answer to it. If the purpose of all the warrantless spying -- in direct contravention of the Constitution, no less -- is to keep the country safe from foreign assault, whether by bombs in a subway or by guns in an office building or by hacking into computers, why didn't our 60,000 domestic, and God only knows how many foreign, spies catch this Russian interference?
One answer is information overload. By spying on everyone all the time, the spies have too much data through which to sift, and they miss the evidence of coming terror -- just as they did with the killings in Orlando, in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon, on a New York bike path and even recently at a school in Florida, all of which were preceded by internet chatter that would have tipped off a trained listener to the plans of the killers.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's efforts to uncover the Russian interference are not a "hoax" or a "witch hunt" as President Trump has argued. They are serious and professional efforts that have now borne fruit. But Mueller was not appointed until after the election -- after the Russians ran unchecked through our computer systems and the American marketplaces of ideas.
The joke in the D.C. legal community this week is, "We all want a front-row seat at the arraignments of the Russians." That's a joke because a defendant must be physically present at his arraignment, meaning -- since the Kremlin will surely not send its indicted spies here -- no arraignments will occur. And no trials will occur.
These folks the grand jury indicted could be lured to other countries and arrested or even kidnapped there, but that would be very dangerous and would most likely invite violent retaliation. Even if these defendants ended up in a federal courtroom by murky or illegal means, that would not impair their prosecution.
However, because the American intelligence community has done similar "disinformation" projects in foreign countries (though not on this scale), these defendants and these indictments will go nowhere.
That leaves a question: Why would Mueller seek indictments of folks he knows he cannot prosecute? He did so for a few reasons. One was to reveal the scope of the unlawful activity that he has found. The American people are entitled to know what went on under our noses and who knew about this and looked the other way. As well, this indictment gives credibility to Mueller's work.
The other reason for the indictment is to smoke out any American collaborators. He has identified American collaborators, but not by proper name, and the Department of Justice has said -- not in the indictment, in which case it would be bound by what it says, but in a press statement, which binds no one -- that the American collaborators were unwitting dupes of the Russians. My guess is that Mueller's American targets are under electronic and visual surveillance and that he is listening to their (premature) sighs of relief.
It is a felony for foreign nationals to participate in American federal elections, and it is a felony for any Americans knowingly to assist them.
This is not the end of these indictments related to the 2016 election. It is the beginning.
Sloppy article, poorly analyzed, speaks more of his personal opinions than facts.
1) "computer hacking" "hacking into computers"
Napolitano should know better than to equate hacking in to computers with signing up for a twitter account without using your real name. Mueller appears to be trying to criminalize what millions of Americans do every day. If providing inaccurate information to a web page is a crime, then 90% of the people using dating web sites are criminals.
2)"the Russians ran unchecked through our computer systems and the American marketplaces of ideas."
Since when is it a problem, much less a crime, for anybody from any nation to do things like use Facebook, or Google, or Twitter, or publish and promote their ideas? At any instant of time we have billions of people from all over the world running "unchecked" through American computer systems, and putting ideas into "the American marketplace of ideas."
The countries that don't welcome everyone's ideas to be aired are the opposite of America. China and North Korea would be examples of countries where foreign ideas are not allowed.
3)"It is a felony for foreign nationals to participate in American federal elections, and it is a felony for any Americans knowingly to assist them."
Napolitano is stretching the law here, but if he is right then millions of foreign students and immigrants, legal and illegal are felons. And they were assisted by universities, employers, the State Department, and former President Obama's DACA program. So by Judge Napolitano's logic, we should expect to see tens of thousands of foreign college students, H1B workers, and DACA kids charged and convicted of felonies. And of course a lot of university administrators, State Department employees, and a former President being indicted. Plus of course the various media groups that "knowingly assisted them" by providing a platform and coverage, and internet service providers who gave them accounts such as Facebook or Twitter.
If 13 Russian trolls are some kind of danger to our nation and our free marketplace of ideas, then millions of foreign college students, workers, and immigrants is a far greater danger. By Mueller's logic, and now Napolitano's, those foreign college students marching with signs, or posting comments on Facebook are felons, along with the people and organizations that supported them.
In reality, what the Russians did is no different than what millions of foreigners do all the time. The same charges in the Mueller indictment could be levied against immigrants and foreign residents from all over the world. But somehow I don't think that is going to happen, which is proof itself of a witch hunt in progress.
They’ve gotta have the Judge by the short hairies at this point.
They’ve gotta have the Judge by the short hairies at this point.
I like BOOMS ping
“Ignored the tips and warnings? Are you really that naive?”
I was referring to within the context of the judge’s essay.
Of course, this latest shooting was made to order for the Leftist, deep state agenda — if not ordered.
It was amazing to watch the sheriff dodge the issue of his own culpability.
If this was such a vast undertaking could somebody please link one of these alleged Russian internet posts?
Interfered in the marketplace of ideas, by advancing their own ideas.
Does Napolitano even hear his own words? Sometimes irony can really be ironic.
Anyway I have my doubts that any of this happened at all
I love ya but “BOOM”??? NOTHING is going to happen to the CORRUPT MUELLER or any of the other CORRUPT crooks....they are all Deocrats and Barney Fife Sessions is a timid little mouseman who will do NOTHING to them!
Then far more fruitful investigations could begin with La Raza and the state of California.
Because back in 2014, the CIA, NSA, and FBI were all busy with their assigned tasks of spying on, intimidating, and killing law-abiding American citizens.
Multitasking is not exactly a government employee's forte'.
Here's another $64,000 question - - why doesn't the NSA hand over all phone call/computer keystroke etc information to Mueller today? It's not too late to 'share'. What's stopping the release of information? Bad actors being protected?.
Can we thus indict any illegal alien voters, and the people who registered them to vote?
Should say, "If you have installed NSA spyware on your machine"
As reported by TIME on 29 July 2016:
‘Gianni Pittella, a longtime Italian member of the European Parliament, hit the campaign trail this week. Sitting at the back of the Gran Caffe L’Aquila, he warned a group of local businesspeople and supporters of the evils of fascism. Except Pittella wasn’t touring Italy. He was sitting in Philadelphia, trying to convince American voters to oppose an American candidate: Donald Trump.
Traditionally, European leaders attend both conventions. But only a handful of European diplomats announced they would attend Trump’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland last week, most notably UKIP leader Nigel Farage, the man behind the “Brexit,” and far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders. Pittella said dozens of European diplomats from across Europe’s political spectrum showed up in Philadelphia this week.’
How has Mueller missed Clinton and companies connection to the Russians an all that bribe money!
It is like he is crooked or something.
Everyone has 'installed NSA spyware' - either on their machine, or their provider's systems, or some foreign counties servers... The NSA sweeps it all up...
I am not sure whether they can sweep up all the keystrokes without an installed keylogger. But let's assume that all Windows versions in this century have a built in keylogger and snitch service. Certainly windows 10 has one. But it has to be connected to the internet to allow access.
Judge Nappy head has been a longtime gaslighting guinea for the stasi state.
Why would townhall publish anything he has to say? He’s a ball-gargling leftist
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