Proof of Collusion

by Seth Abramson

  40. Ibid.

  41. Kenneth P. Vogel, “Manafort advised Trump team on Russia scandal,” Politico, May 25, 2017, https://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/25/manafort-trump-russia-advise-238803.

  42. Evan Perez et al., “Exclusive: US government wiretapped former Trump campaign chairman,” CNN, September 19, 2017, https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/18/politics/paul-manafort-government-wiretapped-fisa-russians/index.html.

  43. Howard Fineman, “The ‘state’ of Donald Trump? He thinks it couldn’t be better,” NBC News, January 30, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2018-state-of-the-union-address/state-donald-trump-he-thinks-it-couldn-t-be-better-n842501.

  44. Sharon LaFraniere, Paul Manafort, Trump’s Former Campaign Chairman, Guilty of 8 Counts,” New York Times, August 21, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/us/politics/paul-manafort-trial-verdict.html; Sarah Fitzpatrick et al., “Michael Cohen pleads guilty, says he paid hush money at Trump’s direction,” NBC News, August 22, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/ex-trump-lawyer-michael-cohen-discussing-plea-deal-prosecutors-n902571.

  45. David A. Fahrenthold et al., “ ‘He can’t get rid of any of this’: Trump’s wall of secrecy erodes amid growing legal challenges,” Washington Post, August 25, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/he-cant-get-rid-of-any-of-this-trumps-wall-of-secrecy-is-eroding-amid-mounting-legal-challenges/2018/08/25/93d417dc-a7c6-11e8-8fac-12e98c13528d_story.html?utm_term=.367ae6a49005.

  46. Katelyn Polantz and Stephen Collinson, “12 Russians indicted in Mueller investigation,” CNN, July 14, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/13/politics/russia-investigation-indictments/index.html.

  47. Ibid.

  48. Jen Kirby, “Poll: only 32 percent of Republicans think Russia interfered in the 2016 election,” Vox, July 19, 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/7/19/17586390/poll-russia-trump-election-interference-republicans.

  49. “Debate Fact-Check: Reviewing What Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Said During the Dabate,” ABC News, October 10, 2016, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/debate-fact-check-reviewing-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/story?id=42686581.

  50. Andy Greenberg, “A Timeline of Trump’s Strange, Contradictory Statements on Russian Hacking,” Wired, January 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/01/timeline-trumps-strange-contradictory-statements-russian-hacking/.

  51. Evan Perez et al., “Feds believe Russians hacked Florida election—systems vendor,” CNN, October 12, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/12/politics/florida-election-hack/index.html.

  52. Brian Bennett, “CIA Chief calls Wikileaks ‘non-state hostile intelligence service,’ ” Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-pompeo-are-you-sure-trump-1492114120-htmlstory.html; Twitter, January 4, 2017, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/816620855958601730.

  53. Matt Zapotosky, “Rudy Guiliani is claiming to have insider FBI knowledge. Does he really?” Washington Post, November 4, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/11/04/rudy-giuliani-is-claiming-to-have-insider-fbi-knowledge-does-he-really/?utm_term=.f114181068b9.

  54. Debbie Lord, Cox Media Group National Content Desk, “Conway accused of Hatch Act violation; what is the Hatch Act?” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 2, 2018, https://www.ajc.com/news/national/conway-accused-hatch-act-violation-what-the-hatch-act/i7n7IThB8MSO7zQbdnAThN/; Christina Manduley and Eugene Scott, “Giuliani changes story on FBI,” CNN, November 5, 2016, https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/04/politics/rudy-giuliani-hillary-clinton-email-fbi/.

  55. Ibid.

  56. Zapotosky, “Rudy Guiliani is claiming to have insider FBI knowledge.”

  57. Manduley and Scott, “Giuliani changes story on FBI,” CNN, November 5, 2016.

  58. Ibid.

  59. Ibid.

  60. Chuck Ambrose, “5 reasons Comey should have recommended Clinton’s indictment,” Hill, October 6, 2016, http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/crime/299661-5-reasons-comey-should-have-recommended-clintons-indictment.

  61. Darren Samuelsohn, “Forget Rudy: Here are Trump’s fiercest defenders,” Politico, June 9, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/09/trump-lawyers-joseph-digenova-victoria-toensing-634996.

  62. Jim Stinson, “Former US Attorney: James Comey Is ‘A Dirty Cop,’ ” LifeZette, October 13, 2016, https://www.lifezette.com/2016/10/former-u-s-attorney-fbi-director-comey-dirty-cop/.

  63. Samuelsohn, “Forget Rudy.”

  64. Kerry Picket, “Exclusive: FBI Agents Say Comey ‘Stood in the Way’of Clinton Email Investigation,” Daily Caller, October 17, 2016, https://dailycaller.com/2016/10/17/exclusive-fbi-agents-say-comey-stood-in-the-way-of-clinton-email-investigation/; Hadas Gold, “Canadian billionaire’s company buys Laura Ingraham’s site Lifezette,” News 4 Jacksonville, January 30, 2018, https://www.news4jax.com/news/canadian-billionaires-company-buys-laura-ingrahams-site-lifezette; John Bonazzo, “Trump’s Campaign Secretly Paid Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller $150k for Email Blasts,” Observer, June 2, 2017, http://observer.com/2017/06/trump-tucker-carlson-daily-caller/.

  65. Picket, “FBI Agents Say Comey ‘Stood in the Way.’ ”

  66. Ibid.

  67. Ibid.

  68. Ibid.

  69. Bonazzo, “Trump’s Campaign Secretly Paid Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller.”

  70. Larry O’Connor, “Joe DiGenova on the FBI Reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton,” WMAL 105.9 FM DC, October 28, 2016, http://www.wmal.com/2016/10/28/joe-digenova-on-the-fbi-reopening-the-investigation-into-hillary-clinton/.

  71. Samuelsohn, “Forget Rudy.”

  72. Michael Goodwin, “Evidence suggests a massive scandal is brewing at the FBI,” New York Post, January 23, 2018, https://nypost.com/2018/01/23/evidence-suggests-a-massive-scandal-is-brewing-at-the-fbi/.

  73. Michael D. Shear and Michael S. Schmidt, “Trump, Offering No Evidence, Says Obama Tapped His Phones,” New York Times, March 4, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/04/us/politics/trump-obama-tap-phones.html; Robert Mackey, “In Plots to Smear Obama Aides and George Soros, Israeli Spies for Hire Attack Netanyahu’s Enemies,” Intercept, May 7, 2018, https://theintercept.com/2018/05/07/effort-israeli-spies-smear-obama-aides-echoes-attack-critics-hungarys-leader/.

  74. Matt Apuzzo et al., “Justice Dept. Strongly Discouraged Comey on Move in Clinton Email Case,” New York Times, October 29, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/us/politics/comey-clinton-email-justice.html?_r=1.

  75. “Judicial Watch: New FBI Records Show FBI Leadership’s Conflicts of Interest Discussions on Clinton Email Investigation,” Judicial Watch, November 21, 2017, https://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-new-fbi-records-show-fbi-leaderships-conflicts-interest-discussions-clinton-email-investigation/.

  76. “FBI Director Lobbied Against Criminal Charges For Hillary After Clinton Insider Paid His Wife $700,000,” True Pundit, October 24, 2016, https://truepundit.com/fbi-director-lobbied-against-criminal-charges-for-hillary-after-clinton-insider-paid-his-wife-700k/.

  77. Peter Hasson, “Growing Evidence of a Politically Tainted Clinton Investigation,” Daily Caller, December 14, 2017, https://dailycaller.com/2017/12/14/fbi-hillary-clinton-email-investigation-peter-strzok-lisa-page-james-comey/.

  78. Ibid.

  79. Matt Apuzzo, “Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election,” New York Times, April 22, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/22/us/politics/james-comey-election.html.

  80. “A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election,” Office of the Inspector General, US Department of Justice, June 2018, p. 344, https://www.justice.gov/file/1071991/download.

  81. Ibid., p. x.

  82. Ibid., p. xii.

  83. Ibid., p. 82.

  84. Ibid., p. 242.

  85. Miles Parks et al., “The James Comey Saga, in Timeline Form,” WBUR News, May 15, 2017, http://www.wbur.org/npr/527773206/what
-just-happened-the-james-comey-saga-in-timeline-form.

  86. Thomas Paine, “FBI Raid Thomas Paine’s House, Point Guns at His Young Children; How an Award-Winning Reporter Became Thomas Paine,” True Pundit, August 27, 2018, https://truepundit.com/fbi-raid-thomas-paines-house-point-guns-at-his-young-children-how-an-award-winning-reporter-became-thomas-paine/.

  87. Kathryn Alfisi, “A Conversation With Joseph diGenova,” Washington Lawyer, February 2013, https://www.dcbar.org/bar-resources/publications/washington-lawyer/articles/february-2013-legends-in-the-law.cfm.

  88. Robb, “Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal,” Rolling Stone, November 16, 2017.

  89. Ibid.

  90. Ibid.; Jonathan Tilove, “Roger Stone Tangos in Austin. Will Anchor Infowars by Night. May Let a Flat,” Austin radio show, Austin American Statesman, June 1, 2017, http://politics.blog.mystatesman.com/2017/06/01/roger-stone-tangos-in-austin-will-anchor-infowars-by-night-may-let-a-flat/.

  91. Ibid.

  92. Ibid.

  93. Ibid.

  94. Ibid.

  95. Ibid.

  96. Ibid.

  97. Ibid.

  98. Ibid.

  99. Ibid.

  100. Ibid.

  101. Ibid.

  102. Ibid.

  103. Ibid.

  104. Mark Mazzetti et al., “Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election,” New York Times, May 19, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/us/politics/trump-jr-saudi-uae-nader-prince-zamel.html.

  105. Ibid.

  106. Ibid.

  107. Robb, “Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal.”

  108. Craig Silverman et al., “Macedonia’s Pro-Trump Fake News Industry Had American Links And Is Under Investigation For Possible Russia Ties,” BuzzFeed News, July 18, 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/american-conservatives-fake-news-macedonia-paris-wade-libert.

  109. Ibid.

  110. Ibid.

  111. Ibid.

  112. Ibid.

  113. Ibid.

  114. “Paris Wade discusses his ‘Liberty Writers’ website,” Las Vegas Review Journal, May 18, 2018, https://www.reviewjournal.com/videos/paris-wade-discusses-his-liberty-writers-website/.

  115. Craig Timberg, “Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election, experts say,” Washington Post, November 24, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-propaganda-effort-helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/2016/11/24/793903b6-8a40-4ca9-b712-716af66098fe_story.html?utm_term=.729ca2638c95;http://www.propornot.com/p/the-list.html.

  116. Ibid.

  117. “United States of America v. Internet Research Agency LLC, et al.,” Criminal number (18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 371, 1349, 1028A), Case 1:18-cr-00032-DLF, filed on February 16, 2018, https://www.justice.gov/file/1035477/download.

  118. Silverman et al., “Macedonia’s Pro-Trump Fake News Industry Had American Links.”

  119. Robb, “Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal.”

  120. Ibid.

  121. Doug Hagman, “What FBI Has Found in Weiner’s Laptop? Doug Hagman and Alex Jones,” YouTube, InfoWars, published on November 2, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRGOlgZS4tw.

  122. Graham Rayman, “NYPD sex crimes chief donated thousands to Trump after video scandal on grabbing women ‘by the p—-y,’ ” New York Daily News, April 2018, http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-sex-crimes-donated-trump-p-video-scandal-article-1.3911144.

  123. Hagman, “What FBI Has Found in Weiner’s Laptop?”

  124. Ibid.

  125. Ibid.

  126. “Breaking Bombshell: NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes with Children, Child Exploitation, Pay to Play, Perjury,” True Pundit, November 2, 2016, https://truepundit.com/breaking-bombshell-nypd-blows-whistle-on-new-hillary-emails-money-laundering-sex-crimes-with-children-child-exploitation-pay-to-play-perjury/.Nov2,201609:18:47PM

  127. Michael Flynn (@GenFlynn), “U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc . . . MUST READ! Twitter, November 2, 2016, 6:47 p.m., http://www.trumptwitterarchive.com/.

  128. Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr), “@GenFlynn: U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc . . . MUST READ! https://t.co/O,” Twitter, November 4, 2016, 12:15 p.m., http://www.trumptwitterarchive.com/.

  129. Paul Szoldra, “Trump’s national security adviser has promoted tweets alleging Hillary Clinton was involved in ‘sex crimes,’ ” Business Insider, November 18, 2016, https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-flynn-tweets-hillary-clinton-2016-11.

  130. Ibid.

  131. Ben Schreckinger, “Inside Donald Trump’s Election Night War Room,” GQ, November 7, 2017, https://www.gq.com/story/inside-donald-trumps-election-night-war-room.

  132. Politico, May 19, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/19/erik-prince-congressional-testimony-trump-tower-meeting-598052.

  133. Ari Melber, “Sam Nunberg: I expect Roger Stone to be indicted,” MSNBC, August 3, 2018, https://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/sam-nunberg-i-expect-roger-stone-to-be-indicted-1292041795756?v=raila.

  134. Sara Murray, “The pot-farming, house-painting Roger Stone aide who’s resisting Robert Mueller,” CNN August 25, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/politics/andrew-miller-roger-stone-aide-defies-robert-mueller/index.html.

  135. Ibid.

  136. Justin Wise, “Roger Stone predicts he’ll be indicted next in Mueller probe,” Hill, August 27, 2018, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/403838-roger-stone-predicts-hell-be-indicted-next-in-mueller-probe.

  137. Dan Friedman, “Roger Stone to Associate, ‘Prepare to Die,’ ” Mother Jones, May 25, 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/05/roger-stone-to-associate-prepare-to-die/.

  138. Ibid.

  139. Ibid.

  140. Ibid.

  141. Ibid.

  142. Ibid.

  143. Ibid.

  144. Dan Friedman, “Mueller Is Examining Roger Stone’s Emails,” Mother Jones, August 13, 2018, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/08/roger-stone-randy-credico-mueller-assange-wikileaks/.

  145. Ibid.

  146. Chris Sommerfeldt, “President Trump is so eager to pardon Paul Manafort he’s reportedly considering hiring a new White House counsel,” New York Daily News, August 27, 2018, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-news-trump-pardon-manafort-donald-mcgahn-20180827-story.html.

  147. Nancy Cook, “Aides expect Trump to go rogue on Manafort pardon,” Politico, August 24, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/24/trump-manafort-pardon-white-house-aides-795712; Gabriel Sherman, “ ‘Trump Is Nuts. This Time Really Feels Different’: Trump Rejects ‘War Council’ Intervention, Goes It Alone,” Vanity Fair, August 27, 2018, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/donald-trump-nuts-rejects-war-council-intervention-goes-it-alone.

  148. Sherman, “ ‘Trump Is Nuts.’ ’’

  149. Los Angeles Times, “A National Enquirer safe is said to have held damaging Trump stories,” (Associated Press), http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-national-enquirer-trump-vault-20180823-story.html.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE TRANSITION

  1. Daniel Hemel and Eric Posner, “Why the Trump Team Should Fear the Logan Act,” New York Times, December 4, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/opinion/trump-team-flynn-logan-act.html.

  2. David Filipov and Andrew Roth, “Moscow had contacts with Trump during campaign, Russian diplomat says,” Washington Post, November 10, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/moscow-had-contacts-with-trump-team-during-campaign-russian-diplomat-says/2016/11/10/28fb82fa-a73d-11e6-9bd6-184ab22d218e_story.html?utm_term=.faf00bff7f60; Reuters, “Russia says it was in touch with Trump campaign during election,” CNBC, November 10, 2016, https://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/10/russian-diplomat-there-were-contacts-with-trumps-campaign.html; Luke Harding et al., “British spies were first to spot Trum
p team’s links with Russia,” Guardian, April 13, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/13/british-spies-first-to-spot-trump-team-links-russia.

  3. Filipov and Roth, “Moscow had contacts with Trump”; Reuters, “Russia says it was in touch.”

  4. Ibid.

  5. Nicholas Fandos, “Hope Hicks Acknowledges She Sometimes Tells White Lies for Trump,” New York Times, February 27, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/27/us/politics/hope-hicks-house-intelligence-committee-testimony.html.

  6. Reuters, “Russia says it was in touch.”

  7. Thuy Ong, “Obama personally warned Mark Zuckerberg to take the threats of fake news ‘seriously,’ ” Verge, September 25, 2017, https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/25/16360482/obama-mark-zuckerberg-fake-news-facebook.

  8. Abby Ohlheiser, “Mark Zuckerberg denies that fake news on Facebook influenced the elections,” Washington Post, November 11, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/11/11/mark-zuckerberg-denies-that-fake-news-on-facebook-influenced-the-elections/?utm_term=.926660306ea7; Adam Entous et al., “Obama tried to give Zuckerberg a wake-up call over fake news on Facebook,” Washington Post, September 24, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obama-tried-to-give-zuckerberg-a-wake-up-call-over-fake-news-on-facebook/2017/09/24/15d19b12-ddac-4ad5-ac6e-ef909e1c1284_story.html?utm_term=.51cf68a4e3c1; John Shinal, “Mark Zuckerberg responds to Trump, regrets he dismissed election concerns,” CNBC, September 27, 2017, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/27/mark-zuckerberg-says-facebook-impact-on-2016-election-went-beyond-ads.html.

  9. Michael S. Schmidt, “Emails Dispute White House Claims That Flynn Acted Independently on Russia,” New York Times, December 2, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/02/us/russia-mcfarland-flynn-trump-emails.html.

  10. Ibid.

  11. Marcy Wheeler, “Putting a Face (Mine) to the Risks Posed by GOP Games on Mueller Investigation,” Emptywheel (website of independent national security/civil liberties journalist Marcy Wheeler), July 3, 2018, https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/07/03/putting-a-face-mine-to-the-risks-posed-by-gop-games-on-mueller-investigation/.

  12. Ryan Hutchins, “Christie: Warning about Flynn among reasons I was fired from Trump transition,” Politico, December 6, 2017, https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2017/12/06/christie-warning-about-flynn-among-reasons-i-was-fired-from-trump-transition-136432; Summer Meza, “Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Pushed to put Flynn in Office, Ignored Warnings,” Newsweek, August 2, 2017, https://www.newsweek.com/ivanka-trump-jared-kushner-wanted-michael-flynn-white-house-729379.