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that's a very poor comparison to the outright falsehoods perpetuated by propaganda. Not only was the Trump campaign never exonerated of the collusion accusations, but several associates were convicted for their dealings with Russia related to the election and investigation: ----- "If we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that. We did not, however, make a determination as to whether the president did commit a crime... A president cannot be charged with a federal crime while he is in office. That is unconstitutional. Even if the charge is kept under seal and hidden from public view – that too is prohibited."[164] Dozens of ongoing investigations originally handled by the Special Counsel's office were forwarded to district and state prosecutors, other Department of Justice (DoJ) branches, and other federal agencies.[165] The following (in alphabetical order) were indicted during the Mueller investigation: 13 Russians implicated in election interference: Mueller's team indicted thirteen Russian citizens, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), Concord Management and Consulting and Concord Catering with conducting social media campaigns about the U.S. elections.[166] Twelve of the Russian defendants, who were alleged to be members of the Russian GRU cyber espionage group known as Fancy Bear, were charged in June 2018 with hacking and leaking DNC emails.[167] The other Russian indicted, who was not a direct employee of Fancy Bear, was Russian business tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was alleged to have served as the financier for the organization.[168] The US government dropped all charges against Concord Management and Consulting and Concord Catering in March 2020.[154] In November 2019, Time magazine reported that it was "unlikely that any of the Russians will ever face a trial in the United States, but the charges make it harder for them to travel overseas".[169]
Maria Butina, who had claimed to be a Russian gun activist, was investigated by the Special Counsel investigators and then prosecuted by the National Security Law Unit. She was imprisoned for espionage after entering a guilty plea.[170][171]
Michael Cohen, Trump's personal lawyer, pled guilty to making hush payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in violation of campaign finance laws, and was convicted for several unrelated counts of bank and tax fraud.[172][173]
Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who had been appointed as National Security Advisor by the incoming Trump administration, was dismissed from his position and later pled guilty to making false statements to FBI investigators about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition.[174][175]
Konstantin Kilimnik, Manafort's business partner in Ukraine, was indicted for witness tampering at the behest of Manafort;[176] Kilimnik is suspected of working for Russian intelligence.[177]
Paul Manafort, former Trump campaign chairman was found guilty on eight felony counts of tax evasion and bank fraud,[178] pursuant to his earlier lobbying activities for the Party of Regions of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich.[179][180] He later pled guilty to conspiracy to defraud and obstruction of justice;[181][182] in total, he was sentenced to over seven years in jail[183] in February 2018.
George Papadopoulos, Trump campaign adviser, was convicted for making false statements to the FBI.[184]
Roger Stone, a longtime Trump advisor who had met with a Russian person offering to sell derogatory financial information about Hillary Clinton,[185] was indicted on seven charges of lying to Congress and witness tampering. He pled not guilty.[186] The jury subsequently found him guilty on all seven counts.[187] |
No it's a very apt one. Millions of people fervently "know" that ample evidence exists implicating Trump in colluding with Putin to hack the election. They've never seen it, but they are sure it must be there. Just the same as this wall.
> Not only was the Trump campaign never exonerated of the collusion accusations,
It was, by the Mueller report.
From https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/download
Excerpts from p.181-183
"The investigation did not establish that the contacts described in Volume I, Section IV, supra, amounted to an agreement to commit any substantive violation of federal criminal law—including foreign-influence and campaign-finance laws, both of which are discussed further below."
"The investigation did not establish any agreement among Campaign officials—or between such officials and Russia-linked individuals—to interfere with or obstruct a lawful function of a government agency during the campaign or transition period. And, as discussed in Volume I, Section V.A, supra, the investigation did not identify evidence that any Campaign official or associate knowingly and intentionally participated in the conspiracy to defraud that the Office charged, namely, the active-measures conspiracy described in Volume I, Section II, supra."
"The investigation did not, however, yield evidence sufficient to sustain any charge that any individual affiliated with the Trump Campaign acted as an agent of a foreign principal within the meaning of FARA or, in terms of Section 951, subject to the direction or control of the government of Russia, or any official thereof. In particular, the Office did not find evidence likely to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Campaign officials such as Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, and Carter Page acted as agents of the Russian government—or at its direction, control, or request during the relevant time period."
> but several associates were convicted for their dealings with Russia related to the election and investigation:
No Trump associates or campaign personnel were convicted for their dealings with Russia relating to the election.