After the 2016 presidential election, there has been the recurring question on whether the Russians meddled with the election. Both sides of the aisle claim or deny any evidence of Russian meddling in the election. Aides to President Trump have been indicted on collusion charges and Mueller failed to produce any evidence of collusion on the part of President Trump. Now, this raises the question on who is right and who is lying?
Four of President Trump’s campaign officials have been indicted. These individuals include Paul Manafort, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos and Michael Flynn. Former campaign chairman Paul Manafort faces 25 criminal charges, including fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. Former campaign chair Rick Gates was charged with 23 counts, including conspiracy and making falsified statements. Both national security adviser Michael Flynn and campaign adviser George Papadopoulos have been charged with making falsified statements to the FBI.
Thus far, Special Counsel Robert Mueller has failed to directly link President Trump to any Russian collusion in the 2016 election. About fifteen Russian nationals and four of President Trump’s aides and advisers have been indicted on various charges. What Mueller is missing is a connection between President Trump and those who have been indicted to collude with Russians. Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed by the Senate Judiciary Committee in May 2017 to take over the Trump-Russia Investigation.
Many people also question how Mueller was tasked with investigating the Trump-Russia Probe. According to Fox News, many people, particularly Democrats, wanted somebody outside of the Department of Justice to handle the case. That is how Robert Mueller ended up being appointed. This is not the first investigation handled by Mueller. Robert Mueller led the FBI at the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Also, current Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Trump-Russia Probe.
Recently, there have been talks to have Special Counsel Mueller interview Trump about possible Russian collusion in the 2016 election. However, Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has advised Trump not to talk to Mueller, unless both Mueller and Trump’s legal team could agree on conditions to question President Trump. Some of these conditions include having some answers handwritten by Trump and excluding any obstruction of justice questions.
So far, nothing has been found directly linking President Trump to Russian collusion accusations, other than a few indictments of those who worked on his campaign. Mueller’s investigation, which has been running for a year and a half, is expected to be shut down after the midterm elections.