As special counsel Robert S. Mueller III widens his inquiry of Russia's role in the 2016 presidential campaign, it can be difficult to keep track of who is under investigation for what. The Fix is here to help.

The law enforcement investigation led by Mueller now has three known prongs, after The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that Mueller will interview senior intelligence officials to help determine whether President Trump attempted to obstruct justice.

I've broken down each of the three prongs below. Keep in mind that congressional committees are conducting investigations of their own: This post covers only the special counsel investigation. To better understand the others, check out Amber Phillips's guide: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/03/01/your-cheat-sheet-to-the-four-potential-investigations-of-russia-and-president-trump/?utm_term=.00ac14ea6637



1. Russian election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign

2. Possible attempts to obstruct justice

3. Possible financial crimes


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1. Russian election meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign

This is where it all started. James B. Comey, who led the law enforcement investigation until he was fired as FBI director May 9, testified last week before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he has no doubt that Russia attempted to influence the presidential race by hacking the Democratic National Committee and launching cyberattacks on state election systems, among other tactics

Comey's testimony was consistent with a joint report issued by the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency in January, which concluded: “We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”

A key question is whether Russia merely preferred Trump or worked with members of his campaign. Comey confirmed in previous testimony March 20 that the FBI was investigating the possibility of collusion between the campaign and Russia.

Former CIA director John Brennan testified May 23 that his agency alerted the FBI last year to a troubling pattern of contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates.

“I was worried by a number of the contacts that the Russians had with U.S. persons,” Brennan said.


Trump associates reportedly under scrutiny include Paul Manafort, who was Trump's campaign manager, and former advisers Roger Stone and Carter Page.


2. Possible attempts to obstruct justice...


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/06/15/3-prongs-of-the-russia-investigation-explained/?utm_term=.cec902b06d21




Long article explains all three...

eom.

Both Griner and Bailey are minorities. Crystal Griner is a female minority, who just so happens to be married to a woman. In 2015, Griner married Tiffany Dyar in Baltimore.


It’s not that people should be defined by their skin color, gender, or who they love. But in this case, these details are important enough to focus on for a moment.

Capitol Police special agents Crystal Griner and David Bailey are widely credited with saving Republican lawmakers and staff during the horrific shooting in Alexandria, Virginia that left Representative Steve Scalise in the hospital in critical condition.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said of them during a House floor speech, “We are, as ever, awed by the tremendous bravery of the Capitol Police.”

Both Griner and Bailey were wounded.

Both Griner and Bailey are POCs.

Crystal Griner is a female minority, who just so happens to be married to a woman. Griner married Tiffany Dyar in 2015.

As ESPN’s LZ Granderson pointed out, Griner saved the life of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), who is opposed to same-sex marriage:

https://twitter.com/Locs_n_Laughs/status/875334421242560512



more in link:
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/15/portrait-american-hero-gay-minority-woman-saved-republicans.html

edited to add David Bailey's photo:

Trump: '2nd Amendment People' Could Stop Clinton

WATCH what GOP did in the #Clinton investigation when witnesses refused to answer questions but didn’t assert exec. priv. #SessionsHearing

https://twitter.com/OversightDems/status/874744557082116097


edit:

Did one phone call by Trump expand the investigation?

That is what Noah Feldman of Bloomberg argues in Comey Opens Door to Investigate Trump Dossier, which has a subtitle of “It's not clear the special counsel had authority to investigate the president personally. He does now.”

For background on Feldman, his bio on that page notes that he
is a professor of constitutional and international law at Harvard University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Thus one may want to pay close attention to his legal analysis.

He begins by writing

Hiding in plain sight in former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday before the Senate Intelligence Committee is a potentially major new avenue for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia-related crimes: the possibility that President Donald Trump committed a federal crime by lying to Comey about his connections to Russia and activities on his 2013 visit there.

The key on this is the phone call where Trump, unsolicited, calls Comey and says that he had nothing to do with hookers — remember the allegation in the Steel dossier.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/6/9/1670236/-Did-one-phone-call-by-Trump-expand-the-investigation?detail=emaildkre

Interesting website: https://journalistsresource.org/

Here some of their articles and links:


Fake news and the spread of misinformation
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/internet/fake-news-conspiracy-theories-journalism-research


Body camera footage suggests police treat black drivers with less respect
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/police-body-cameras-black-drivers-respect

Public assistance seems to help drug offenders stay away from crime
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/public-assistance-food-stamps-drugs-crime


A journalist’s murder may foreshadow political repression
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/news-media/murdered-journalist-political-repression-human-rights


MOre info on the website:

The site is run by faculty, staff and graduate students at Harvard Kennedy School as part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. In addition to providing access to scholarly reports and papers on a wide range of topics, we author syllabi for educators and skills-based reference material.