#individual 1

[loveboatinsanity]

[anexplanationofunfortunateevents]

Previously, on Law and Order: Special Counsel Unit

Tomorrow, former special counsel Robert Mueller will be testifying before Congress about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. This was one of the fastest, most prolific special counsel investigations in American history. Certainly, it was the most important. So it’s worth remembering what it accomplished.

Mueller’s office successfully convicted several people close to Trump, most notably former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. His investigation also led to the conviction of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

His office also indicted dozens more people who, for one reason or another, have not yet been brought to trial. While an indictment is not a conviction, the evidence Mueller’s office made public was substantial and convincing. None of these charges have been dismissed, and none of these people have been acquitted. Defendants include:

several Russian military intelligence officers who directed various hacking and spying operations on American people and groups, including theft of the Democratic emails that were published by Wikileaks;

several Russian nationals involved in the Internet Research Agency propaganda campaign;

Trump’s campaign adviser and longtime friend Roger Stone;

unknown defendants in over a dozen cases where indictments are still sealed.

His office also did an extensive investigation into several instances of what sure looks like obstruction of justice, either committed or directed by Donald Trump since 2017.

What to expect tomorrow:

Mostly, Mueller’s testimony is important as a way of explaining all this to the American people – not because we’re stupid, but because it’s really not easy to understand a 400+ page report about a sprawling criminal conspiracy on which the occasionally complicit press has a mixed record of reporting. Mueller is unlikely to say anything that’s not in his report; however, the fact that Individual-1 is so nervous about it that his Department of Justice has tried to order Mueller not to share any new information suggests that he knows some good shit.

In the morning, Mueller will testify in public for the House Judiciary Committee about part 2 of the report (the obstruction of justice) and then for the House Intelligence Committee about part 1 (the attack on the election). Then in the afternoon, he will have closed door sessions with both committees.

Republicans, who have a lot of reasons to continue covering for Trump, will try to make the hearings a shitshow. Prepare to ignore them.

If you want to refresh your memory before this story takes over:

You don’t have to read the whole 400+ page report, though if you have Audible you can listen to it for free. It is worth reading or listening to the executive summaries of parts 1 and 2. If even that is overwhelming, here’s a quick summary. But if you want to go deeper, podcasts The Report and The Asset are dedicated specifically to making this story easier to understand.

What you can do:

Watch as much of the public testimony as you can, if not tomorrow then over the next few days. It’ll be airing on C-SPAN, major news networks, or streaming on Vox.

The point of this whole exercise is to help people understand what’s happening to all of us, and what helps people understand is short, concise pieces of information from someone in their social network. That means you don’t have to be an expert on this to make a difference. If an exchange is particularly startling or clarifying to you, share it on whatever platform you have. Whatever it is, I promise you’re not going to be the only one who needs to hear it.

[anti-capitalistlesbianwitch]

Reading about the Michael Cohen testimony made me realize that we need a term for the opposite of a "bombshell."

Like, Trump's racism is already well documented, and he is clearly identified as "Individual 1," but yeah, keep treating this as brand new information.

[thehalfwaypost]

[thedreadpiratejames]

Renato Mariotti on Twitter

“"A $25,000 cashier's check, apparently earmarked for President Nixon's re-election campaign, was deposited in April in a bank account of

[phroyd]

“Individual 1″

Phroyd

[aunti-christ-ine]

Are you pondering what I’m pondering?