According to many US intelligence officials, Russian hackers made repeated attempts to get into major US institutions, including the White House and the state department. There has also been allegations that Russia has entered the 2016 US election that sparked multiple investigations for presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. This lead to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointing the former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel to investigate alleged ties between the presidential election of Donald Trump, Russian hackers, and related manners. His appointment was gained support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Robert Mueller was the FBI director appointed by George W. Bush in 2001 to 2013 making him the longest FBI director. Mueller took over the inquiry from FBI Director James Comey who was fired by President Trump in May 2017. Mueller had 60 days to put together a budget for the investigation which had to be approved by Rosenstein. Investigators examined what Trump associates knew about the Russian interference. The investigation also expanded to examine whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation. Mueller prosecuted individuals for committing federal crimes. The special couple investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election issued an indictment to twelve Russian intelligence officers for hacking the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign. Other people were George Papadopoulos and Michael Flynn both convicted for lying to the FBI during the investigation to the Russian meddling. On August 21, Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, was found guilty in New York to campaign finance violations and other charges, saying he made payments to influence the election. Mueller also investigated into Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who made financial deals in Ukraine. Manafort was the first campaign associate of Trump to be found guilty by a jury. In August 2018 Manafort was convicted of eight bank and tax fraud charges. A month later, Manafort plead guilty in a second case as part of an agreement with Robert Mueller’s team. The plea deal reportedly includes a 10-year cap for how long he will be in prison and includes allowing Manafort to serve his time for both trials at the same time. Rick Gates was a business associate of Paul Manafort and plead guilty to federal conspiracy and false statement charges. Donald Trump Jr., the oldest son of president Trump got the administration in hot water when it was revealed that he had meeting with Russian lawyer during the campaign who was supposed to have information about Clinton. Trump Jr. maintained that the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya did not have any information to share and discussed about other sanctions. President Trump announced that he is “looking forward to being questioned by Robert Mueller under oath regarding the whole situation. Aside from his associates being connected to Russians, he has also found himself under critical observation for certain actions while he’s been in office. For example, Trump fired FBI director James Comey less than two months after Comey publicly announced the agency was investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
There are multiple congressional committees looking into the investigation. The House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee and they all have their own unique ways of approaching the investigation. The Senate Intelligence Committee was investigating the interference between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence began its investigation of potential Russian influence on the 2016 presidential race before Trump took office. After Trump accused former President Barack Obama of wiretapping TrumpTower, the Chairman of the committee, Devin Nunes, said surveillance activities would be under review also.The panel’s chairman, Republican Devin Nunes, played a leading role in Trump’s transition, which prompted some critics to question whether he was to close to Trump to conduct a fair investigation. On April 28, 2018, Republican members on the House Intelligence committee released their final report on its investigation into The Russian interference. The committee did not find evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. It did find that Russia interfered in the election. The committed noted that other investigations are still going on and might come to different conclusions because some may have access to facts the committee could not obtain. The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is conducting their own investigation which also started before Trump took office. Its chairman, Richard Burr, was re-elected in November in the Republican control of Congress. He was a supporter of Trump during the campaign, he is not closely linked with Trump as Nunes is. Senator Mark Warner, the Democratic vice chairman, said he had “grave concerns” about the independence of the committees probe after the report Burr had helped the White House dispute the stories. Burr and Warner have expressed fear concerns than members of the House committee about the amount of information that intelligence agencies have provided to them. They have come to be viewed as conducting the most bipartisan and serious inquiry. Burr and Warner often release joint statements together, talk to reporters together, and speak favorably of each other. Senate Judiciary Committee was investigating potential leaks of classified information and documents related to the resignation of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who reigned following reports that he did not disclose speaking with the Russian ambassador about sanctions.The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was investigating circumstances surrounding Flynn’s resignation. Chairman Republican Chuck Grassley and Senator Dianne Feinstein, the panels senior Democrat, sometimes appearing to be on the same page and sometimes not. Feinstein announced she expected the committee to hold a hearing with Donald Trump Jr. about his meeting with Russian attorney with ties to the Gremlin. Leaders of all three committees have said they are coordinating with Mueller to. Avoid interfering in his investigation.
In conclusion I learned that the Special Counsel Investigation is a counterintelligence investigation by the FBI about the Russian governments efforts to interfere with the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The investigation includes any possible links between presidential candidate Donald Trump and the Russian government. The investigation began in May 2017 , conducted by the Department of Justice lead by former FBI Director, Robert Mueller. There were at least five investigations related to the Russian cyberattacks and tampering. All the committees conducting these investigations include: The Senate Intelligence Committee, House Intelligence Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and the House Oversight and Government Committee. The investigation has led to many indictments for federal crimes.