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What We Learned in the Trump-Russia Investigation: Week of Oct 5 – 21, 2017

  • Mueller has interviewed the cybersecurity expert who said he was recruited to collude with the Russians, Matt Tait. Tait was involved with Peter Smith, the GOP operative who supposedly killed himself after talking to the Wall Street Journal (see next point). Source

  • House and Senate investigators are looking into the death of Peter Smith as part of the Russia probe, because Smith sought to obtain emails he believed were likely stolen by Russian hackers from Clinton's private email server Source

  • A new memo suggests the Russian lawyer at Trump Tower meeting was acting 'as an agent' of the Kremlin Source

  • Trump campaign staffers pushed Russian propaganda last year, all the way to the election (hint: They’re still doing it). The staffers include Kellyanne Conway, Brad Parscale, Trump Jr, Michael Flynn, Michael Flynn Jr., and Roger Stone. Fox News also cited the account. Source

  • Russian internet “troll factory” spent about $2.3 million during the 2016 election cycle to meddle in US politics, employed almost 1000 people, & were involved since 2015. This introduces the question of their involvement in the primaries, both Dem & GOP. Source

  • Russian trolls posed as Americans & paid US activists to help fund protests during election Source. A group linked to the Russian troll factory also paid for self-defense classes for African Americans, in an attempt to "sow fear". Source

  • Twitter was repeatedly warned about a fake account run by a Russian troll farm and refused to take it down. The same account from the point above. Source

  • Twitter has been holding back info on Russian accounts & ads from the Senate Intel Cmte. Source

  • Hundreds of Russia-sponsored troll networks are still targeting the U.S. Source

  • A prominent exiled Russian oligarch and rival to Putin says he is nearly certain Putin tried to collaborate with the Trump campaign & that he believes a top Russian banker who met with Kushner last December was acting on behalf of Kremlin backed banks under sanctions. Source

  • Putin chided Americans for disrespecting Trump. Source