Summary

2011: There are huge anti-Putin protests in Russia. Putin creates the “troll farm.”[133]
October 2014: On Fox & Friends Trump says Russian hacking is a “big problem.”[134]
April 25, 2015: Russian hackers breach Whitehouse’s unclassified computer system.[135]
December 2015: Russian trolls begin to post pro-Trump messages.[136]
December 17, 2015: Putin praises Trump; Trump returns the favor.[137]
March 2016: The computers of the Democratic National Committee are hacked.[138]
June 2016: FBI notifies IL Republican Party its email accounts may have been hacked.[139]
June 29: 538: Clinton 79.1%, Trump 20.8%.
July 2, 2016: Trump tweets he knows FBI will not seek to charge Clinton.[140]
July 5: FBI Director terminates investigation of Clinton without bringing any charges.[141]
July 6: Guccifer releases DNC documents.[143] Trump tweets, “Crooked” Hillary’s “time will come!”[144]
July 7: Carter Page allegedly meets with Sechin and Diveykin.[142]
July 18-21: Republican Convention. Trump team weakens platform language on Ukraine.
July 22: WikiLeaks releases more DNC documents.[145]
July 23: Trump tweets “Leaked e-mails of DNC” plan to destroy Bernie Sanders.”[146]
July 24: Wasserman Shultz resigns as chairwoman of the DNC.[147] Trump tweets, “The Democrats are in a total meltdown….”[148]
July 25-28: Democratic Convention. Sanders supporters are protesting.[149]
July 25: Trump tweets the joke is Russia leaked DNC emails because Putin likes him.[150]
July 26: Trump tweets he has ZERO investments in Russia.[151]
July 27: Trump asks the Russians to hack into Clinton’s emails.[152]
July 28: Computers of the DCCC are hacked and the FBI begins to investigate.[153]
July 30: 538: Clinton 49.9%, Trump 50.1%.
July 31: Trump says Putin is not going into Ukraine, is reminded he is already there.[154]
August 1: Trump tweets WikiLeaks story about Hillary, Cash, ISIS.[155]
August 4: Trump tweets Obama should ask DNC how they rigged primaries.[156]
August 8: Fake news circulates on Facebook more than real news after this point.[157] Trump tweeted many people are saying the Iranians killed the scientist who helped the U. S. because of Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails.[158]
August 15: 538: Clinton 88.8%, Trump 11.1%.
September 4: Trump tweets Crooked Hillary’s V.P. pick said this morning that I was not aware that Russia took over the Crimea. A total lie – and taken over during O term!”[159]
September 13: Trump tweets Russia took Crimea during the so-called Obama years. Who wouldn’t know this and why does Obama get a free pass?”[160]
September 26: First Presidential Debate. 538: Clinton 54.8%, Trump 45.2%.
October 1: Trump tweets another WikiLeaks story.[161]
October 2: Roger Stone tweets, Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks.[162]
October 3: FBI agents discover Clinton emails on computer. They tell no one.[163]
October 4: Trump: CLINTON’S TIES TO PUTIN DESERVE SCRUTINY.[164]
October 7: Intelligence community states Russians interfered in election.[165]  FBI Director argues it is too close to Election Day for statement.[166] Wikileaks begins serial publication of thousands of Podesta’s private emails one hour after The Access Hollywood tape was released showing Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women.[167]
October 9: Second Presidential Debate
October 11: Trump shares WikiLeaks story on twitter.[168]
October 12: Trump complains media not picking up on WikiLeaks stories.[169]
October 15: Trump: “Nothing ever happened with any of these women….”[170] “Clinton should have been prosecuted….”[171]
October 16: Trump tweets several WikiLeaks stories, complains about media.[172]
October 17: Trump tweets stories using WikiLeaks & leaked FBI info.[173]
October 18: Trump tweets story based on WikiLeaks emails.[174]
October 19: Final Presidential Debate. 538: Clinton 87.3%, Trump 12.6%. Trump states during the debate, “Hillary, you have no idea.  Our country has no idea [who is responsible for hacking the emails of the DNC].”[175] Trump shares a video based on WikiLeaks information[176] and a link to the WikiLeaks website where you can find John Podesta’s emails.[177] He tweets stories based on WikiLeaks and leaked FBI information.[178][179]
October 20: Trump tweets a question based on a WikiLeaks story.[180]
October 21: Trump tweets six stories base on WikiLeaks info.[181]
October 22: Trump tweets a story based on WikiLeaks info.[182]
October 23: Trump tweets a story based on WikiLeaks emails.[183]
October 24: Trump tweets two stories based on the WikiLeaks emails.[184]
October 25: Giuliani tells Fox & Friends Trump still has some surprises.[185]
October 26: Giuliani says Comey’s got a surprise … some pretty big surprise.”[186]
October 27: FBI agents inform director of email evidence.[187] Trump tweets two WikiLeaks stories.[188]
October 28: FBI Director sends message to congress of investigation of Clinton’s emails.[189] 538: Clinton 81.5%, Trump 18.5%. Giuliani states he received information from “active agents.”[190]
October 29: Painter files complaint against the F.B.I.[191] Details of an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation end up in a news report.[192]
October 30: Comey applies for and receives a search warrant to read Clinton emails[193]
October 31: FBI concludes there is no clear link between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.[194] Examines activity between a Trump server and Alfa Bank.
November 1: FBI releases info on Marc Rich pardon.[195] Trump tweets WikiLeaks story and comments on another.”[196]
November 2: A story is published base on leaked FBI info about Clinton.[197] Fox News reported FBI sources said Clinton Foundation case moving toward “likely an indictment.”[198]
November 3: FBI begins investigating its own Twitter account.[199] Trump tweets story based on leaked FBI info.[200]
November 4: Congressmen call for investigation of FBI leaks and Giuliani.[201] Giuliani admitted he knew about email investigation “three or four weeks ago.”[202]
Trump tweets WikiLeaks story.[203]
November 5: Trump tweets 2 Wikileaks stories & 1 based on FBI leaks.[204]
November 6: FBI ends investigation of emails without bringing any charges. 538: Clinton 64.9%, Trump 35%.
November 8: Election Day.
November 9: Trump wins: Trump 276, Clinton 218.
November 10: Newspapers report Trump campaign was in contact with Moscow.[205]
November 12: Clinton blames Comey for loss.[206]
November 14: Trump and Putin talk on the phone.[207]

……….

2011
There are huge anti-Putin protests in Russia. The New Yorker’s Adrian Chen did six months of research on the Russian propaganda operation known as the Internet Research Agency. He writes that Putin created the agency after the anti-Putin protests in 2011 were organized using social media.

The agency has been widely reported in Russian media to be the brainchild of Evgeny Prigozhin, an oligarch and ally of Vladimir Putin. At the time, it employed hundreds of Russians in a nondescript office building in St. Petersburg, where they produced blog posts, comments, infographics, and viral videos that pushed the Kremlin’s narrative on both the Russian and English Internet.

The agency is what is known in Russia as a “troll farm,” a nickname given to outfits that operate armies of sock-puppet social-media accounts, in order to create the illusion of a rabid grass-roots movement. Trolling has become a key tool in a comprehensive effort by Russian authorities to rein in a previously freewheeling Internet culture, after huge anti-Putin protests in 2011 were organized largely over social media. It is used by Kremlin apparatchiks at every level of government in Russia; wherever politics are discussed online, one can expect a flood of comments from paid trolls.[1]

Chen writes in Russia these troll farms or factories are not very successful pushing pro-Putin messages. Russian citizens are not that naive; they know the web is crawling with trolls. Chen writes, “The real effect, the Russian activist told me, was not to brainwash readers but to overwhelm social medial with a flood of fake content, seeding doubt and paranoia, and destroying the possibility of using the Internet as democratic space.”

October 2014
On Fox & Friends Donald Trump says Russian hacking is a “big problem.”[2]

April 25, 2015
The New York Times reports Russian hackers have breached the Whitehouse’s unclassified computer system.[3] They are also able to get deep into the State department’s unclassified computers system. They attempt to get into the Pentagon’s computer systems but are unsuccessful. There is no evidence they penetrated the classified computers systems used by the Whitehouse, the State Department, or Intelligence agencies.

December 2015
The New York Post reporter Adrian Chen notices a group of Russian trolls he is monitoring begin to post pro-Trump messages.[4]

December 17, 2015
Putin praises Trump, saying he is “a very lively man, talented without doubt,” adding that Trump is the “absolute leader in the presidential race.” Before the day ends, Trump returns the favor. “It is always a great honor to be so nicely complimented by a man so highly respected within his own country and beyond,” he says of Putin.[5]

March 2016
Some person (or persons) hacks into the computer servers of the Democratic National Committee. The hackers target specific information in the DNC files: the opposition research of Donald Trump.[6]

June 2016
The Chicago Tribune reports,

The FBI notified the Illinois Republican Party in June that some of its email accounts may have been hacked, but party officials were not told that it was part of a wide-ranging federal investigation of Russian activity in the nation’s political system, the state GOP’s executive director said Sunday.

Nick Klitzing said the state GOP on its own found 18 of its emails on the website DCLeaks.com. The New York Times reported the website was an outlet that U.S. intelligence officials and private cyber security companies believe was created by a unit controlled by the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.[7]

July 2, 2016
Trump tweets, “It was just announced-by sources-that no charges will be brought against Crooked Hillary Clinton. Like I said, the system is totally rigged!” The FBI Director will not announce this publically until the July 5^th.[8]

July 5
The FBI Director gives a press briefing in which he states the FBI will terminate the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails without bringing any charges.[9]

July 6
— Guccifer releases the D.N.C.’s battle plan and budget for countering the Republican Convention, which is 12 days away.  Guccifer is eventually found to be working with the Russians.[10]

— Trump tweets, “Crooked Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI and to the people of our country. She is soooooo guilty. But watch, her time will come!”[11]  

— FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 77.5%, Trump 22.4%.[12]

July 7
— Carter Page, Donald Trump’s foreign policy advisor at the time, takes a trip to give a lecture to students and business figures organized by Moscow’s New Economic School on July 7^th and at the school’s graduation on the 8^th.  Michael Isikoff, the Chief Investigative Correspondent for Yahoo News, reported that a “western intelligence source” said during this trip Page met with two top Putin aides: Igor Ivanovich Sechin and Igor Diveykin.[13]

The “western intelligence source” said in the meeting between Sechin and Page, Sechin “raised the issue of the lifting of sanctions.”  Diveykin is a former Russian security official who now serves as deputy chief for internal policy and “is believed by U.S. officials to have responsibility for intelligence collected by Russian agencies about the U.S. election, the western intelligence source said.” The Christopher Steele dossier on Donald Trump describes Sechin offering the Trump team the brokerage for a 19% stake in Rosneft and Diveykin offering damaging information on Clinton in exchange for lifting sanctions.[14]

July 18-21
Republican Convention. The Trump campaign successfully lobbies to weaken the language in the platform regarding providing aid to Ukraine.[15]

July 22
WikiLeaks releases 44,053 D.N.C. emails with 17,761 attachments. Some of the messages made clear that some D.N.C. officials favored Mrs. Clinton over her progressive challenger, Mr. Sanders.[16]

July 23
Trump tweets, “Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from WikiLeaks, really vicious. RIGGED.”[17]

July 24
— Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz resigns as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.[18]

— Trump tweets, “The Democrats are in a total meltdown but the biased media will say how great they are doing! E-mails say the rigged system is alive & well.”[19]

July 25-28
Democratic Convention

— The convention opens with Sanders supporters protesting.[20]

July 25
Trump sends out a lighthearted tweet: “The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous D.N.C. e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me.”[21]

July 26
— Trump tweets, “For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia.”[22]

— Trump tweets, “In order to try and deflect the horror and stupidity of the WikiLeakes disaster, the Dems said maybe it is Russia dealing with Trump. Crazy!”[23]

July 27
Trump asks the Russians to hack into Clinton’s emails in a public news conference.[24]

July 28
Reuters reports sources tell them the computer system of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee was hacked and the FBI has begun to investigate.[25]

July 30
FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 49.9%, Trump 50.1%.

July 31
Donald Trump states in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on “This Week,” “He’s not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He’s not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want.”[26]

“Well, he’s already there, isn’t he?” Stephanopoulos responds, in a reference to Crimea, which Putin took from Ukraine in early 2014.

Trump answers: “OK — well, he’s there in a certain way. But I’m not there. You have Obama there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama with all the strength that you’re talking about and all of the power of NATO and all of this. In the meantime, he’s going away. He takes Crimea.”

August 1
— Trump shares a story on twitter based on information released by WikiLeaks entitled, “WikiLeaks: Hillary Took Cash From Company Accused of Sponsoring ISIS,” TheGatewayPundit.com.[27]

August 4
Trump tweets, “President Obama should ask the DNC about how they rigged the election against Bernie.”[28]

August 8
— An analysis done by Buzzfeed News demonstrates that after this point the top-performing fake election news stories on Facebook generate more engagement than the top stories from major news outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and CNN.[29]  The Washington Post and the U.S. intelligence community eventually uncover evidence Russia used fake news as part of a comprehensive counterintelligence program to influence the U. S. election.[30]  The five top fake news stories in terms of engagement during the last three months of the election are:

1. “Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Trump for President, Releases Statement” (960,000 shares)
2. “Wikileaks CONFIRMS Hillary Sold Weapons to ISIS…” (789,000 shares)
3. “IT’S OVER: Hillary’s ISIS Email Just Leaked & It’s Worse than Anyone Could Have Imagined” (754,000 shares)
4. “Just Read the Law: Hillary is Disqualified From Holding Any Federal Office” (701,000 shares)
5. “FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide” (567,000 shares)

— Trump tweets, “Many people are saying that the Iranians killed the scientist who helped the U. S. because of Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails.”[31]

August 14

The New York Times reports new details about Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort’s invovlvement with Ukraine. The paper reported that Ukraine leader Yanukovych’s pro-Russia political party had earmarked $12.7 million for Manafort for his work between 2007 and 2012.[32]

August 15
FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 88.8%, Trump 11.1%.

August 17
The Washington Post publishes an article by Michael McFaul, former U. S. ambassador to Russia, entitled, “Why Putin wants a Trump victory (so much he might even be trying to help him).”[33] McFaul states in part,

Putin has rational motives for wanting Trump to win: Trump champions many foreign policies that Putin supports. Trump’s most shocking, pro-Kremlin proposal is to “look into” recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia. President Obama and nearly every member of Congress — Republican and Democrat — have rejected that idea vigorously. Only Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela have recognized Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Naturally, Putin would love to see the United States join that list.

Trump also has made clear his disdain for the United States’ alliances around the world. Demonstrating his misunderstanding of how NATO works, Trump has demanded that other NATO members essentially pay us for protection, making many of our allies, especially in the eastern part of Europe, nervous about his commitment to defend them. Trump has also disparaged our allies in Asia, creating new opportunities for Russian influence.

August 19
Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort resigns for reasons that are not made clear.[34]

September 4
Trump tweets, “Crooked Hillary’s V.P. pick said this morning that I was not aware that Russia took over the Crimea. A total lie – and taken over during O term!”[35]

September 13
Trump tweets, “Russia took Crimea during the so-called Obama years. Who wouldn’t know this and why does Obama get a free pass?”[36]

September 26
— First Presidential Debate

— FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 54.8%, Trump 45.2%.

October 1
Trump tweets, “Crooked H is nasty to Sanders supporters behind closed doors. Owned by Wall St and Politicians, HRC is not with you.”[37] He shares a link to another story based on information released from WikiLeaks entitled, “Clinton gives her take on Sanders supporters in leaked fundraising recording.”

October 2
Roger Stone Jr., a Republican operative working with the Trump campaign, sends out a tweet stating: “Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done. #Wikileaks.”[38]

October 3
Seth Abramson writes,

Agents investigating Anthony Wiener out of the New York field office of the FBI receive a computer Wiener previously shared with his estranged wife Huma Abedin. The agents immediately discover emails from Clinton on the computer. They tell no one else within the FBI. Indeed, instead of asking Director Comey to get a warrant to view the emails, or asking Wiener or Abedin directly for permission to read the emails—as both Wiener and Abedin were cooperative FBI witnesses at that point—they spend weeks searching through the emails’ “meta-data” (that is, “to” and “from” fields within individual emails). No one knows why they do this. The emails aren’t relevant to their investigation, and, even if they were, they’d have multiple avenues—including all three of Comey and Wiener and Abedin—to get full access to the email archive on Wiener’s computer.[39]

October 4
— Trump tweets, “CLINTON’S CLOSE TIES TO PUTIN DESERVE SCRUTINY.”[40] He provides a link to the Trump website which states, “Clinton ‘worked aggressively’ to lure large American technology companies to invest in Russian firms in Skolkovo.” He then retweets a message from Mike Pence, “History teaches us that weakness arouses evil. America needs to be strong on the world stage.”

October 7
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security release a joint statement that accused Russia of launching computer hacks “intended to interfere with the US election process.”[41]  It states the US intelligence community “is confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromises of emails” belonging to the Democratic National Committee.

— CNBC reports,

FBI Director James Comey argued privately that it was too close to Election Day for the United States government to name Russia as meddling in the U.S. election and ultimately ensured that the FBI‘s name was not on the document that the U.S. government put out, a former bureau official tells CNBC.

The official said some government insiders are perplexed as to why Comey would have election timing concerns with the Russian disclosure but not with the Huma Abedin email discovery disclosure….[42]

— The WikiLeaks site begins the serial publication of thousands of private emails to and from Mr. Podesta, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager.[43]

— WikiLeaks begins to release Podesta’s emails one hour after the Access Hollywood tape is released showing Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women.[44]

October 9
Second Presidential Debate

October 11
Trump shares a tweet with the heading, “New: Hacked emails from WikiLeaks appear to show Clinton campaign spokesman in touch with DOJ officials regarding e-mail litigation.”[45]

October 12
Trump tweets, “Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest! Rigged system!”[46]

October 15
— Trump tweets, “Nothing ever happened with any of these women. Totally made up nonsense to steal election. Nobody has more respect for women than me!”[47]

— Trump tweets, “Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election.”[48]

October 16
Trump tweets, “We’ve all wondered how Hillary avoided prosecution for her email scheme. WikiLeaks may have found the answer. Obama!” He then shares three stories based on WikiLeaks information.[49]

— Trump tweets, “Election is being rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened in the news.”[50]

October 17 – 18
— Trump shares two stories on twitter based on WikiLeaks information and one based on leaked FBI information and tweets, “WikiLeaks proves even the Clinton campaign knew Crooked mishandled classified info, but no one gets charged? RIGGED!”[51]

October 19
— Final Presidential Debate.

— FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 87.3%, Trump 12.6%.

— Trump states during the debate, “Hillary, you have no idea.  Our country has no idea [who is responsible for hacking the emails of the DNC].”[52]

— Trump tweets about two issues based on WikiLeaks information and shares on twitter a link to a page on a website run by the Republican National Committee that provides a link to the page on the WikiLeaks website where you can find all John Podesta’s stolen emails.[53]

— Trump shares a story on twitter from the Washington Examiner, “State works hard, and illegally, for Clinton.” The story states that, “The FBI has released still more notes on the investigation of Hillary Clinton, this time impugning the way State Department went through tens of thousands of emails she hid from the public for years.”[54]

October 20
Trump tweets, “Why didn’t Hillary Clinton announce that she was inappropriately given the debate questions – she secretly used them! Crooked Hillary.” This fact was revealed in the emails released by WikiLeaks.[55]

October 21-24
— Donald Trump shares ten stories on twitter based on WikiLeaks information and tweets, “Why has nobody asked Kaine about the horrible views emanated on Wikileaks about Catholics? Media in the tank for Clinton but Trump will win!”[56]

October 25
Seth Abramson writes,

[Rudy] Giuliani tells Fox & Friends, in the context of a very lengthy discussion about the FBI investigation into Clinton’s email server, that Trump still has some surprises in store for the Clinton campaign. When asked by host Brian Kilmeade if Trump has anything planned in the 14 days before the election other than “a series of inspiring rallies,” Giuliani replies, “Yes.” Then he laughs—it’s fair to say (watch the video for yourself) “deviously.” Asked to explain what the Trump campaign has planned, he grins and says, “You’ll see.” He laughs again and says, “We’ve got a couple of surprises left.” (If you watch this video, at 8:45, you’ll be certain that Giuliani is talking about new information on the FBI’s Clinton investigation—information we know he had at that point. His knowing smile when another host mentions the FBI in the final five seconds of the interview is also startling.)

Later—but only after he’s accused of receiving Hatch Act-violative leaks from the FBI—Giuliani tries to walk back his October 25th comments by saying that he was then referring to a new Trump ad campaign. Indeed, in the video from the 25th Giuliani does seem to imply—for a moment—that the surprise in question could be a new ad campaign, though perhaps one in which the Trump campaign would reveal for the first time that “new” Clinton emails had been found by the FBI. Specifically, Giuliani says to his Fox News interviewers that the Trump campaign is planning “surprises in the way that we’re going to campaign to get our message out there, maybe in a little of a different way, you’ll see, and I do think it’ll be enormously effective, and I do think that all of these revelations about Hillary Clinton—finally—are beginning to have an impact” (emphasis supplied). Yet the later walk-back doesn’t explain why Giuliani links the new ad campaign to the FBI’s investigation of Clinton.

In a November 4th interview with Megyn Kelly, Giuliani will explain his October 25th reference to a (supposed) “surprise” ad campaign this way: “I was talking [on October 25th] about Trump’s advertising this weekend [November 4th through November 6th]. Because we were having a big debate about whether he should do a big speech or a bunch of advertising. That’s what I was talking about. That he was going to go on television and talk directly to the American people. No reference at all to the emails.” Perhaps because the new ad campaign sounds no different from any other ad campaign Trump had ever run—far from an “October Surprise”—Kelly’s response to Giuliani drips with incredulity (as you can see for yourself on the above video): “That would’ve been kind of lame,” Kelly says to Giuliani wryly. “You should be glad that something bigger came out—to not make a liar out of you.”[57]

October 26
— On CNN Rudy Giuliani says of Comey, “I think he’s got a surprise or two that your gonna hear about in the next few days.  I mean I am talking about some pretty big surprise.”[58]

October 27
— Seth Abramson writes,

The Wiener-investigating FBI agents in the New York field office of the FBI, who’ve been sitting on evidence in James Comey’s Clinton investigation—for no obvious purpose—for well over three weeks now, deign to tell their boss for the first time that they have “new” evidence. They demand that Comey publicly re-open the Clinton investigation before Election Day. These are the same agents Giuliani repeatedly describes, in multiple television interviews, as being livid at Clinton for escaping prosecution, and livid at Comey for not prosecuting her. It’s unclear whether at this point (a) Comey has himself seen Giuliani’s teasing of an “October Surprise” on Fox News, (b) the agents inform him that the Trump campaign somehow knows about the “new” emails and could leak it before the election, or (c) the agents imply to Comey that it is they who will leak the “new” information if Comey himself doesn’t go public with it. All we know is what happens the next day, October 28th.[59]

— Trump shares two stories on twitter based on WikiLeaks emails that raise questions about the Clinton Foundation and one entitled “Wikileaks Drip-Drop Releases Prove One Thing: There’s No Nov. 8 Deadline on Clinton’s Dishonesty and Scandals.”[60]

October 28
— The Director of the FBI sends a message to congressional leaders stating the FBI is going to investigate some emails they found on one of Clinton’s assistant’s laptops.[61]

— FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 81.5%, Trump 18.5%.

— Clinton’s chances of winning Florida and North Carolina are 66% and 65% respectively according to FiveThirtyEight.

— Reuters reports,

FBI Director James Comey was driven in part by a fear of leaks from within his agency when he decided to tell Congress the FBI was investigating newly discovered emails related to Hillary Clinton, law enforcement sources said on Thursday.[62]

— Rudy Giuliani states on The Lars Larson Show he received information about an ongoing Clinton investigation “from former agents” and “even from a few active agents who obviously don’t want to identify themselves.”[63]

October 29
— A complaint is filed against the F.B.I. with the Office of Special Counsel, which investigates Hatch Act violations, and with the Office of Governmental Ethics. It is filed by Richard W. Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and the former chief White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007, during the Bush administration. He explains why he filed this complaint in an article in The New York Times.   Painter argues, “The F.B.I.’s job is to investigate, not to influence the outcome of an election.” Painter concludes,

This is no trivial matter. We cannot allow F.B.I. or Justice Department officials to unnecessarily publicize pending investigations concerning candidates of either party while an election is underway. That is an abuse of power. Allowing such a precedent to stand will invite more, and even worse, abuses of power in the future.[64]

— Details of an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation are included in a news report even though senior law enforcement officials and career anti-corruption prosecutors made it clear they were not impressed with the case.[65]

October 30
— Seth Abramson writes,

Comey, who tells Congress that his office has been reviewing the “new” emails “around the clock” since he found out about them on October 27th, finally applies for and receives a search warrant to read the emails—which he and/or his agents only could have done prior to this date illegally. It is later revealed that the warrant was defective on its face, as the FBI had no basis to believe the “new” emails were either new, evidence of a crime, or accompanied by the specific intent to violate federal law that Comey had already said (in July) would be necessary to prove a prosecutable crime.[66]

— CNN reports,

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said on Sunday that FBI Director James Comey may have violated the Hatch Act, barring political activity by federal employees, through a late election season letter to Congress about the scope of the bureau’s probe of Hillary Clinton’s private email service as secretary of state.

Comey’s letter on Friday to congressional committee chairs said the FBI is reviewing newly discovered emails that might be linked to Clinton’s private server. The new emails were found several weeks ago, law enforcement officials told CNN Sunday, but the FBI did not disclose them until Friday. The timing raises questions about why the information was released just days before the election.

“I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act,” Reid said in his letter to Comey. “Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.”[67]

— The Wall Street Journal reports FBI investigators had looked into the Clinton Foundation and were frustrated that senior law enforcement officials and career anti-corruption prosecutors were not impressed by the results.[68]

October 31
— The New York Times reports FBI officials have concluded there is no clear link between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.[69]

— The New York Times reports FBI officials spent weeks examining data showing an odd stream of activity between a Trump Organization server and Alfa Bank, one of Russia’s biggest banks whose owners have longstanding ties to Putin. The logs show two servers at Alfa Bank sent more than 2,700 “look-up” messages– a first step for one system’s computers to talk to another — to a Trump-connected server beginning in the spring of 2016. But the F.B.I. “ultimately concluded that there could be an innocuous explanation, like a marketing email or spam, for computer contacts.”

The New York Times article makes it clear that F.B.I. investigators did not confirm the 2,700 messages were marketing emails or spam; they simply concluded that it was possible that they were.

November 1
— The FBI releases on a public twitter feed heavily redacted files from its 2001 investigation of President Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich.[70]

— Trump shares a story on twitter entitled, “Wikileaks emails reveal Podesta urging Clinton camp to ‘dump’ emails,” and he tweets a comment about Donna Brazile giving Clinton a questions in advance: an issue that was revealed through the release of emails from WikiLeaks.[71]

November 2
— A story in The Wall Street Journal reveals more information about the FBI’s preliminary investigation of the Clinton Foundation, notwithstanding the fact that senior law enforcement and career anti-corruption prosecutors were not impressed with the case.[72]

— Fox News reports FBI sources said the Clinton Foundation case is moving toward “likely an indictment.” The story was widely refuted by other media organizations.[73] Fox anchor Bret Baier eventually apologized for the report, calling it a “mistake.”

November 3
— The New York Post reports,

The FBI is investigating one of its own Twitter accounts after it posted a dossier on Bill Clinton’s controversial pardon of Marc Rich in 2001, it was reported Thursday.

The FBI’s assistant director in the office of professional responsibility, Candice Will, confirmed the investigation had been referred to the FBI’s inspection division, according to Think Progress, a Web site of the Center for American Progress, which is tied to Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta.

Despite Will’s statement, an FBI official told The Post a computer glitch was responsible for the unexpected release right before the election and said it’s “unlikely” an investigation will actually take place.[74]

— Clinton’s chances of winning Florida and North Carolina fell to approximately 50% in both states according to FiveThirtyEight.

— Trump shares a tweet from Paula Reid that “CBS News confirms FBI found emails on Anthony Weiner’s computer, related to Hillary Clinton server, that are “new” & and not previously reviewed.”[75]

November 4
— Congressmen Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) and John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) call on the Inspector General to investigate the leaks from the FBI and referenced Giuliani’s comments. “These unauthorized and inaccurate leaks from within the FBI, particularly so close to a presidential election, are unprecedented,” the legislators wrote.[76]

— Rudy Giuliani admits the Trump campaign knew about the FBI’s review of additional emails before Comey’s letter: “I thought it was going to be about three or four weeks ago,” he said of the FBI director’s announcement. The FBI agents found the emails initially on October 3rd. Hours later, Giuliani backpedaled and said he knew nothing of FBI leaks.[77]

— The Guardian reports,

The currently serving FBI agent said Clinton is “the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel,” and that “the reason why they’re leaking is they’re pro-Trump.”

The agent called the bureau “Trumplandia”, with some colleagues openly discussing voting for a GOP nominee who has garnered unprecedented condemnation from the party’s national security wing and who has pledged to jail Clinton if elected.[78]

— Trump shares a story on twitter based on WikiLeaks emails about the Clinton Campaign and the Obama Justice Department.[79]

November 5
— The Huffington Post reports there was a whirlwind week of leaks from the FBI that appear intended to cast a shadow over the Clinton campaign.[80]

— Trump shares two stories on twitter based on WikiLeaks information and one based on leaked FBI information.[81]

November 6
— The FBI announces their investigation of the emails did not lead them to change their decision that there was no reason to bring charges. This announcement comes over the weekend before the election, two days before the polls open.

— FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 64.9%, Trump 35%. On the date of Comey’s message to congress, FiveThirtyEight had the chances of victory at: Clinton 81.5%, Trump 18.5%. Clinton’s chances have gone down 16.6% and Trump’s chances have gone up 16.5%.

— The New York Times reports,

WASHINGTON — Days before the presidential election, James Alefantis, owner of a local pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong, noticed an unusual spike in the number of his Instagram followers.

Within hours, menacing messages like “we’re on to you” began appearing in his Instagram feed. In the ensuing days, hundreds of death threats — one read “I will kill you personally” — started arriving via texts, Facebook and Twitter. All of them alleged something that made Mr. Alefantis’s jaw drop: that Comet Ping Pong was the home base of a child abuse ring led by Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief, John D. Podesta.

When Mr. Alefantis discovered that his employees were getting similar abusive messages, he looked online to unravel the accusations. He found dozens of made-up articles about Mrs. Clinton kidnapping, molesting and trafficking children in the restaurant’s back rooms. The articles appeared on Facebook and on websites such as The New Nationalist and The Vigilant Citizen, with one headline blaring: “Pizzagate: How 4Chan Uncovered the Sick World of Washington’s Occult Elite.”

None of it was true. While Mr. Alefantis has some prominent Democratic friends in Washington and was a supporter of Mrs. Clinton, he has never met her, does not sell or abuse children, and is not being investigated by law enforcement for any of these claims. He and his 40 employees had unwittingly become real people caught in the middle of a storm of fake news.[82]

November 8
— Election Day

— FiveThirtyEight has the chances of victory at: Clinton 71.4%, Trump 28.6%.

November 9
— Trump wins election: Clinton 218, Trump 276

— The Washington Post reports,

Senior officials in the Russian government celebrated Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton as a geopolitical win for Moscow, according to U.S. officials who said that American intelligence agencies intercepted communications in the aftermath of the election in which Russian officials congratulated themselves on the outcome.[83]

— The Washington Post also reports,

Throughout the campaign, Russia rooted for Trump as much as any other foreign country. According to the White House, Moscow also interfered as much as any other foreign country ever has in a U.S. election. But the Kremlin’s commentators — convinced that Hillary Clinton was going to win — had also trashed the U.S. election as dirty, corrupt and unable to produce a legitimate result.

Now that their man was in, and with Russian TV showing cheery Americans lining up to vote for Trump, they had to change their tune.

“This is a great day for American democracy,” gushed pro-Kremlin ideologue Sergei Markov at breakfast at the U.S. ambassador’s residence in Moscow. “We have to respect American democracy.”

Russian media quoted Viktor Nazarov, governor of the Omsk region, as telling a meeting, “It turns out that the United Russia has won the elections in the United States!”[84]

November 10
Several major newspapers, including The New York Times, report the Trump team was in contact with Moscow during the campaign.[85] On October 31 The New York Times reports the FBI concluded there was no clear link between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.

November 11
Newsweek publishes an article written by Caroline Baylon entitled, “Did Russia Install Donald Trump as the Next U.S. President?”[86] Baylon is “a cyber security researcher at the Center for Strategic Decision Research in Paris. She was previously the research associate in science, technology, and cyber security at Chatham House in London.”

November 12
The New York Times reports,

Hillary Clinton on Saturday cast blame for her surprise election loss on the announcement by the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, days before the election that he had revived the inquiry into her use of a private email server.

In her most extensive remarks since she conceded the race to Donald J. Trump early Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton told donors on a 30-minute conference call that Mr. Comey’s decision to send a letter to Congress about the inquiry 11 days before Election Day had thrust the controversy back into the news and had prevented her from ending the campaign with an optimistic closing argument.[87]

November 14
Several newspapers, including The New York Times, report Trump and Putin talked on the phone today. The New York Times article went on to say,

The Russian government was one of the few around the world that was openly gleeful about the American election result, with members of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, breaking into applause at the announcement. The United Russia party, loyal to Mr. Putin, dominates the Duma….

Under President Trump, Mr. Kiselyov [anchor of the main weekly news program on state television] said, the American government would finally drop what the Russian anchor called its annoying slogans about human rights and democracy.

“Russia has a lot of trust in Trump,” he said.[88]

November 16
— The New York magazine reports,

Republican senator Lindsey Graham called on the Senate to open an investigation into Russia’s reported interference into the presidential election. “Assuming for a moment that we do believe that the Russian government was controlling outside organizations that hacked into our election, they should be punished,” Graham said. “Putin should be punished.”[89]

— Mother Jones reports,

On Tuesday, the director of the National Security Agency, Admiral Michael Rogers, was asked about the WikiLeaks release of hacked information during the campaign, and he said, “This was a conscious effort by a nation-state to attempt to achieve a specific effect.” He added, “This was not something that was done casually. This was not something that was done by chance. This was not a target that was selected purely arbitrarily.”[90]

— Reuters reports,

Senator Ben Cardin said on Wednesday he was working on what he described as “comprehensive” legislation to respond to Russian actions contrary to U.S. interests in Europe and Syria, as well as cyber attacks blamed on Moscow during the campaign.

“Russia presents a very serious challenge for America. They’re not our partner. They’re a bully,” Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters.

“Whether you attack us by MiG (fighter jet) or by mouse, it’s an attack. It requires a response. It’s clear that they were responsible for the cyber attack on our country in this past election,” Cardin said.[91]

November 17
The Weekly Standard reports,

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said there should be an investigation into Rudy Giuliani’s alleged knowledge of FBI activity in the lead-up to Director James Comey’s letter to Congress about the review of additional emails related to the Bureau’s investigation of Hillary Clinton.

“I believe that the Comey letter was a foul deed. It was a wrong thing to do. I had had great admiration for Director Comey. I just think he couldn’t take the heat,” Pelosi said at a news conference Thursday. “I think there should be an investigation—and we’ll figure out how to call for that—of how Giuliani knew two days before that something was coming.”[92]

November 18
The Washington Post reports,

MOSCOW — One Russian city wants to send a message to Americans protesting the election of Donald Trump: Well, we like him.

The city of Obninsk was granted a permit for a rally Saturday in favor of the U.S. president-elect — another sign of Trump’s embrace in a country whose relations with the Obama administration soured badly over rifts such as Syria and Ukraine.

The demonstration was organized by Artyom Mainas, a 27-year-old blogger in Obninsk, a nuclear-research center some 60 miles south of Moscow. He said he decided to act after seeing news from the United States about demonstrations in the wake of Trump’s election.

“I thought, well, it would be good if we can organize something here in Russia to demonstrate our support to the newly-elected president,” Mainas said by telephone Friday. “We think that Trump is a good candidate for Russia.”[93]

November 20
The Washington Post publishes a story describing how congress may spoil Trump’s efforts to reset the US relationship with Russia. There is congressional delegation heading to meet with NATO allies.

Before Trump takes the oath of office, McCain and Graham will lead a congressional delegation to Ukraine, Georgia and Estonia to reassure these European partners that Washington is still committed to confronting Russian aggression. Starting in January, the pair will hold a series of hearings highlighting Russia’s transgressions around the world, including war crimes in Syria, cyber attacks, propaganda campaigns and threats to Baltic States.

In addition, Graham has said he wants to use his chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Foreign Operations subcommittee to steer new funds to European allies for battling Moscow.[94]

November 23
The New York Times reports today that Hillary Clinton’s lead in the popular vote widened to 1.5 percentage points, a lead not seen for a losing “candidate since the disputed election of 1876.” Clinton’s popular vote lead reached 2,017,563. The Times reports (this article has been recently updated) that her expanding lead has prompted “new calls for an audit of voting machines in battleground states.”

Mrs. Clinton’s lead now exceeds the winning percentages of seven presidents, five of whom also won the Electoral College. And it has given rise to a push from liberal activists to demand audits in three states won narrowly by Mr. Trump: Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The University of Michigan computer scientist J. Alex Halderman posted an extensive explanation on Wednesday.[95]

CNN reports,

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is being urged by a number of top computer scientists to call for a recount of vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to a source with knowledge of the request.

The computer scientists believe they have found evidence that vote totals in the three states could have been manipulated or hacked and presented their findings to top Clinton aides on a call last Thursday.

The scientists, among them J. Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, told the Clinton campaign they believe there is a questionable trend of Clinton performing worse in counties that relied on electronic voting machines compared to paper ballots and optical scanners, according to the source.

The group informed John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, and Marc Elias, the campaign’s general counsel, that Clinton received 7% fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic voting machines, which the group said could have been hacked.[96]

The three swing states below have come under suspicion because of the difference between the polling average and the vote totals. The first column is electoral votes, second is the probability of victory according FiveThirtyEight, third is the polling average as reported on FiveThirtyEight, fourth is the percentage of votes as reported on RealClearPolitics. The vote in the Electoral College is Trump 290, Clinton 232. In each state, Trump out performs the polling average substantially and by just enough to win.

State                             EV     %V                 Polls   Votes

Michigan                   16       C78.9             C4.1   T.3

Pennsylvania             20       C77                 C3.9   T1.3

Wisconsin                 10       C83.9             C5.9   T2.6

November 24
— The Washington Post publishes evidence the Russian propaganda effort helped spread “fake news” during the election that helped Trump win.[97]

Russia’s increasingly sophisticated propaganda machinery — including thousands of botnets, teams of paid human “trolls,” and networks of websites and social-media accounts — echoed and amplified right-wing sites across the Internet as they portrayed Clinton as a criminal hiding potentially fatal health problems and preparing to hand control of the nation to a shadowy cabal of global financiers. The effort also sought to heighten the appearance of international tensions and promote fear of looming hostilities with nuclear-armed Russia.

— Eric Chenoweth, the co-director of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe, writes in The Washington Post, “In assessing Donald Trump’s presidential victory, Americans continue to look away from this election’s most alarming story: the successful effort by a hostile foreign power to manipulate public opinion before the vote.”[98]

November 25
CNN reports today that Jill Stein, the green party candidate for president, is launching an effort to seek a recount of the vote in three key swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Stein campaign said they needed to raise 2 million dollars to pay for the recounts. That goal was reached by early Thursday morning, and the campaign has now increased the target to $4.5 million.

“Over the last 48-72 hours, reports have come in from experts, cyber experts, who are reporting to us some very troubling news about the possibility of security breaches in voting results across this country,” Stein campaign manager David Cobb said in a video posted to Stein’s Facebook page Wednesday afternoon….

The group of voting scientists — including University of Michigan’s J. Alex Halderman and voting rights activist John Bonifaz — alerted the campaign that Clinton’s tallies fell 7% shy of expectations in counties that used electronic voting machines.[99]

Clinton fell about 27,000 votes shy of Trump in Wisconsin and 60,000 in Pennsylvania — razor-thin margins in both states, which together account for 30 Electoral College votes. Votes still are being tallied in Michigan, which CNN has not called for either candidate yet.

November 27
— A group of 158 cyber security experts and scholars signs a letter asking for congress to investigate the 2016 election, focusing particularly on the Russian efforts to influence the results.[100]

— The Washington Post reports the Clinton campaign will participate in the recounts initiated by the Stein campaign with an eye toward identifying any “outside interference.” Stein has initiated a recount in Wisconsin and plans to do so in Michigan and Pennsylvania.[101]

November 28
— CNN reports,

Wisconsin election officials pledged Monday they would oversee a fast and fair recount of the presidential vote there, as they race to beat a federal deadline for getting it done, but they declined a request to conduct the new tally by hand.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission signed off on a breakneck pace that would have local officials coordinating the recount with them this week and starting the actual recount near the end of the week. State officials must have their new tally completed by December 13, according to federal law.[102]

— The Washington Post reports, “President-elect Donald Trump assured us all that a recount of the 2016 election wouldn’t change the outcome and was a waste of resources.”[103] “Later Sunday, though, he made a real case that we should have no confidence in those same election results, alleging massive voter fraud.” In a tweet he said, “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” In another he said, “Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California – so why isn’t the media reporting on this? Serious bias – big problem!” Aron Blake writes,

Trump, of course, is pointing only to “fraud” that benefited Clinton; Virginia, New Hampshire and California are all states she won, and the baseless idea that illegal immigrants voted by the millions is supposed to have helped Clinton, given the fact that immigrants — and specifically undocumented ones — overwhelmingly favor Democrats.

Trump was doing this to make the case that he didn’t actually lose the popular vote, which has become a Democratic rallying cry following Clinton’s loss. It’s clearly a sore spot for Trump.

But the president-elect is also, unwittingly and amazingly, calling into question the results of an election that he won nearly three weeks ago. The logical extension of his argument is that all results should not be trusted. In effect, Trump is lending credence to the very same recount effort that he criticized as superfluous.

— The Michigan Board of State Canvassers certifies Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes.[104]

November 30
VICE News reports the F.B.I. refused to acknowledge whether or not they were investigating Donald Trump when the F.B.I. director informed congress 11 days before the election of its investigation of Clinton’s emails.[105]

December 2
The Atlantic reports,

A group of top senators is asking President Obama to release more information about Russia’s involvement in the election, hinting that important details are being kept secret.

In a letter sent Tuesday and made public Wednesday, seven Democratic senators (including a Democrat-aligned Independent senator)—six members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and one member of the Senate Armed Services Committee—wrote a two-sentence letter to the White House. It read, in its entirety:

“We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels.”[106]

December 3
NPR reports,

The Jill Stein campaign plans to bring her fight for a statewide ballot recount in Pennsylvania to federal court.

Jonathan Abady, lead counsel to Stein’s recount efforts, said in a statement late Saturday that starting Monday, the campaign will “file for emergency relief in federal court, demanding a statewide recount on constitutional grounds.”[107]

December 5
CNN reports a man traveled to a restaurant in Washington described in the Pizzagate fake news story with an assault rifle to “self-investigate,”

A suspect arrested Sunday with an assault rifle at a Washington, DC pizzeria admitted he had come to investigate an online conspiracy theory, Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department said Sunday evening in a statement.[108]

December 6
ABC News reports,

Donald Trump’s team said today that Michael Flynn Jr. — the son of Trump’s pick for national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn — was forced out of the transition efforts amid controversy over a fake news story that he pushed on Twitter.

“The younger Michael Flynn was helping his father with some administration and scheduling duties early on in the transition process,” Trump team spokesman Jason Miller said, adding that Michael Flynn Jr. is “no longer involved with the transition efforts.”[109]

Both Michael Flynn Jr. and Michael Flynn Sr. shared fake news stories on their twitter accounts. One fake news story they shared related to the pizzagate conspiracy involving the Comet Ping Pong in Washington D.C.

December 7
— CNN reports,

House Democrats are set to introduce legislation Wednesday calling for a formal probe into Russian cyber hacking in the 2016 election, part of a broader Democratic push to shed light on unprecedented foreign interference in a US voting season.

Leading national security Democrats in the House also asked the White House on Tuesday to share classified information on Russian hacking with Congress, saying in a letter that Moscow “may have succeeded in weakening American’s trust.”

“We are deeply concerned by Russian efforts to undermine, interfere with and even influence the outcome of our recent election,” said the letter, signed by Adam Schiff, the most senior Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and six others. “By eroding Americans’ and foreigners’ trust in US institutions, Russia both weakens our country and sows global instability and uncertainty.”[110]

— Igor Sechin unveils a deal on television in which Russia sells a 19.5 percent stake in its giant oil company Rosneft. It is not possible to determine from public records the full identities of those who bought it.[111]

December 8
— The New York Post reports,

The commissioner of agriculture in Texas is doubling-down on his penchant for spreading fake news online, saying he’ll continue sharing stories that his 340,000 Facebook followers will need to determine whether they’re “news, satire, or something else.”

Sid Miller said he had news of his own to share with The Texas Tribune and their “liberal elite media friends” in a Facebook post in response to the website’s analysis on Saturday of his tendency to share fake news stories on social media. The website published a follow-up story on Wednesday citing comments Miller made to KUT News that he was not a “news organization,” claiming it’s “just” Facebook….

Miller on Wednesday told KUT News that he had no plans of changing his online ways.

“Hundred and fifty posts a week. No, I’m not going to research every one of them,” Miller told KUT News’ Nathan Bernier. “If it’s thought-provoking, I’ll put it up there and let the readers decide. Everyone that reads that is grown ups. It’s like Fox News: I report, you decide if it’s true or not.”[112]

— The Wallstreet Journal reports,

Republican and Democratic lawmakers say they plan to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including the hacking of emails from Democratic political organizations and Hillary Clinton’s campaign staff.[113]

— Public Policy Polling releases a poll that shows Trump voters have a unique misunderstanding of reality.[114] As MSNBC reports,

* Unemployment: Under President Obama, job growth has been quite strong, and the unemployment rate has improved dramatically. PPP, however, found that 67% of Trump voters believe the unemployment rate went up under Obama – which is the exact opposite of reality.

* Stock Market: Since the president was elected, the stock market has soared, nearly tripling since the height of the Great Recession. PPP found that 39% of Trump voters believe the market has gone down under Obama – which is also the exact opposite of reality.

* Popular Vote: As of this morning, Hillary Clinton received roughly 2.7 million more votes than Donald Trump, but PPP nevertheless found that 40% of Trump voters believe he won the popular vote – which is, once again, the exact opposite of reality.

* Voter Fraud: Even Trump’s lawyers concede there was no voter fraud in the presidential election, but PPP found that 60% of Trump voters apparently believe “millions” of illegal ballots were cast for Clinton in 2016 – which isn’t even close to resembling reality.

* Soros Conspiracy Theory: A whopping 73% of Trump voters believe George Soros is paying anti-Trump protesters – though in reality, George Soros is not paying anti-Trump protesters.

December 9
NPR, along with all the major newspapers, reports,

President Obama has ordered the intelligence community to conduct a “full review” of “malicious cyber activity” timed to U.S. elections, the White House said Friday.

The review will go all the way back to the 2008 campaign when China was found to have hacked both the Obama and McCain campaigns, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said at a Friday press briefing.[115]

December 10
— The Washington Post reports,

The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials. Those officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt Clinton’s chances.[116]

The story also reports republicans, particularly Mitch McConnell, opposed making a joint statement before the election condemning the actions of the Russians.

— The New York Times reports,

American intelligence agencies have concluded with “high confidence” that Russia acted covertly in the latter stages of the presidential campaign to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances and promote Donald J. Trump, according to senior administration officials.

They based that conclusion, in part, on another finding — which they say was also reached with high confidence — that the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee’s computer systems in addition to their attacks on Democratic organizations, but did not release whatever information they gleaned from the Republican networks.[117]

— The Guardian reports,

Trump himself curtly dismissed the reports of the CIA findings. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” his transition team said in a statement. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest electoral college victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again’.”[118]

His comments were been condemned across the political spectrum. An interesting suggestion came from a particularly interesting source.

…. John Dean, the former White House counsel under former president Richard Nixon, described the response as “remarkably inadequate”. Dean called for the intelligence report on Russia’s role to be made available to the 538 members of the Electoral College before 19 December, when they formally vote to elect the next president.

— Trump tweets, “Rudy Giuliani, one of the finest people I know and a former GREAT Mayor of N.Y.C, just took himself out of consideration for ‘State.’”[119]

December 11
In a series of tweets, Nate Silver makes the case the Comey letter was decisive.

Comey had a large, measurable impact on the race. Harder to say with Russia/Wikileaks because it was drip-drip-drip. enhanced-buzz-4415-1346867949-21https://t.co/LgJkfYpZCkhttps://t.co/9FYMNz763b

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) Dec. 11, 2016

There’s more evidence, too: Late-deciding voters broke strongly against Clinton in swing states, enough to cost her MI/WI/PA. pic.twitter.com/8r801ahDQO

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) Dec. 11, 2016

I’ll put it like this: Clinton would almost certainly be President-elect if the election had been held on Oct. 27 (day before Comey letter).

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) Dec. 11, 2016

December 12
— Wisconsin certifies Trump defeated Clinton by 22,000 votes. Trump picked up 162 votes in the recount.[120]

— Pennsylvania certifies Trump defeated Clinton by 44,312 votes.[121]

— The Hill reports,

Ten Electoral College electors have asked U.S. intelligence officials for more information on ongoing investigations surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia.

The group of electors, which includes the daughter of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), wrote an open letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper asking for the information ahead of their Dec. 19 meeting to formally vote for the next president.

“The Electors require to know from the intelligence community whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of those investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations,” the letter read. “We further require a briefing on all investigative findings, as these matters directly impact the core factors in our deliberations of whether Mr. Trump is fit to serve as President of the United States.”[122]

One republican elector, Christopher Suprun, wrote an article in The New York Times on December 5th explaining why he will not vote for Donald Trump.[123] He cites the writings of Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 68.

— USA Today reports,

Republican congressional leaders said Monday that key committees will investigate CIA allegations that Russia deployed hackers to disrupt the American presidential election to help President-elect Donald Trump and hurt Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate Intelligence Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee will conduct bipartisan reviews.

“Obviously, any foreign breach of our cybersecurity measures is disturbing and I strongly condemn any such efforts,” McConnell said in a statement that he read to reporters at a news conference at the U.S. Capitol.[124]

— The Daily Beast reports while President Obama was interviewed on The Daily Show he described links between Russia and the Trump campaign.

“This was not a secret running up to the election!” exclaimed Obama. “The president-elect [Trump] in some of his political events specifically said to the Russians, ‘Hack Hillary’s emails so that we can finally find out what’s going on, and confirm our conspiracy theories.’ You had what was very clear relationships between members of the president-elect’s campaign team and Russians, and a professed shared view on a bunch of issues.”[125]

December 13
Trump tweets he has selected Rex Tillerson, Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, to be Secretary of State. Tillerson has received the Order of Friendship from Vladimir Putin.[126]

December 14
SFgate reports,

Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, whom Donald Trump has selected to serve as national security adviser, has deleted a tweet that linked to a fake news story tying Hillary Clinton to sex crimes with minors.

Yes, until today, the incoming national security adviser, allowed a fake news story to linger on his Twitter account for over a month. And not just any fake news story; he linked to a story on TruePundit.com that falsely claimed the FBI investigation into Anthony Weiner had turned up evidence “to put Hillary and her crew away for life.”[127]

December 15
— NBC News reports,

U.S. intelligence officials now believe with “a high level of confidence” that Russian President Vladimir Putin became personally involved in the covert Russian campaign to interfere in the U.S. presidential election, senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News.[128]

— Fox News reports,

Fox News has independently confirmed that Russian-backed cyber militias were targeting US systems and influential US persons in the summer of 2015, and the operation evolved into an effort to interfere in the US election. These operations were sanctioned by the highest levels of the Russian government.

After the FBI director’s July statement about the Clinton email investigation, a government source says there was a reluctance to further insert government institutions and their assessments into an already deeply politicized election cycle. A leading cyber security expert says the intelligence community reviewed the techniques, tactics, and procedures leveraged in the attacks and made the link to Russia. In October, the agencies and Homeland Security, or DHS, went on the record, though Putin was not mentioned by name.[129]

Throughout the report Fox News runs a headline at the bottom of the screen: “WH: Trump knew Russia was engaged in Malicious cyber activity.”

— Trump tweets, “If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?” Greg Sargent of The Washington Post argues this tweet is evidence Donald Trump has been lying about the Russian effort to influence the U.S. election.[130] Sargent reminds readers the entire intelligence came out with a joint statement on October 7th stating the Russians were responsible for hacking the emails of the Democratic National Committee. The next morning Trump acknowledged there were complaints made about the Russians before Hillary lost in the tweet below.

Are we talking about the same cyber attack where it was revealed that head of the DNC illegally gave Hillary the questions to the debate? 6:09 AM – 16 Dec 2016

Sargent argues this tweet demonstrates Trump knows complaints were made about Russian hacking before November 8th.

Trump is referring here to news that broke in late October: That a hacked email showed that interim DNC chair Donna Brazile may have leaked a Democratic primary debate question to Clinton’s campaign in advance. Brazile publicly blamed this leak on Russian hackers who were out to divide Democrats by feeding the perception among Bernie Sanders supporters that the DNC was putting its thumb on the scales for her. This built on a formal statement that the intelligence community put out earlier in October declaring itself “confident” that Russia was trying to interfere in the elections by hacking into DNC emails.

And so, by referring to this episode, what Trump is inadvertently revealing here is that, yes, the complaint about Russian hacking to hurt Clinton did in fact precede the election, and this was widely and publicly known.

December 17
The New York Times publishes an article that describes how foreigners who support Putin used the Internet to circulate fake news in order to help Trump get elected.[131]

Mr. Dowson made it his mission, according to messages posted on one of his sites, to “spread devastating anti-Clinton, pro-Trump memes and sound bites into sections of the population too disillusioned with politics to have taken any notice of conventional campaigning.”

“Together, people like us helped change the course of history,” one message said, adding in another: “Every single one of you who forwarded even just one of our posts on social media contributed to the stunning victory for Trump, America and God.”

December 19
— The Electoral College votes to elect Donald Trump president. Five democratic electors didn’t vote for Clinton, while two Republicans refused to vote for Trump. [132]

Timeline Notes

[1] Chen, Adrian. “The Real Paranoia-Inducing Purpose of Russian Hacks.” The New
Yorker. Conde Nast, 27 July 2016. Web. http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-
desk/the-real-paranoia-inducing-purpose-of-russian-hacks

[2] Fox & Friends. Youtube. Fox News, 19 December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxVAzHfcovs

[3] Schmidt, Michael S. and David E. Sanger. “Russian Hackers Read Obama’s
Unclassified Emails, Officials Say.” The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 25 April 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/us/russian-hackers-read-obamas-unclassified-
emails-officials-say.html?_r=0

[4] Weisburd, Andrew and Clint Watts. “How Russia Dominates Your Twitter Feed to
Promote Lies (And, Trump, Too).” The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast Company LLC,
06 August 2016. Web. 02 January 2016.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/08/06/how-russia-dominates-your-twitter-
feed-to-promote-lies-and-trump-too.html

[5] Schatz, Bryan. “A History of Donald Trump’s Bromance With Vladimir Putin.”
Mother Jones. Foundation for National Progress, 02 October 2016. Web. 02 January
2017. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/trump-putin-timeline

[6] Nance, Malcolm. The Plot to Hack America. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2016.
Kindle locations 55-60.

[7] Pearson, Rick. “FBI told state GOP in June its emails had been hacked.” Chicago
Tribune. Tribune Media Company, 12 December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-republican-party-email-
hack-met-1212-20161211-story.html

[8] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). ““It was just announced-by sources-that no
charges will be brought against Crooked Hillary Clinton. Like I said, the system is
totally rigged!” 02 Jul. 2016, 4:13 PM. Tweet.

[9] Landler, Mark and Eric Lichtblau. “F.B.I. Director James Comey Recommends No
Charges for Hillary Clinton on Email.” The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 05 July 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/06/us/politics/hillary-clinton-fbi-email-comey.html

[10] Lipton, Eric, David Sanger and Scott Shane. “The Perfect Weapon: How Russian
Cyberpower Invaded the U.S..” The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 13 December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/ 2016/ 07/
03/ us/ politics/ donald-trump-birther-obama.html

[11] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Crooked Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI and to
the people of our country. She is soooooo guilty. But watch, her time will come!” 06
Jul. 2016, 7:31 AM. Tweet.

[12] “2016 Election Forecast.” FiveThirtyEight. ESPN, 08 November 2016. Web. 04
January 2017. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/

[13] Isikoff, Michael. “U. S. intel officials prove ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin.”
Yahoo News. Yahoo Inc., 23 September 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-
and-kremlin-175046002.html

[14] Bensinger, Ken, Mark Schoofs and Miriam Elder. “These Reports Allege Trump Has
Deep Ties To Russia.” BuzzFeed. BuzzFeed Inc., 10 January 2017. Web. 15
January 2017. https://www.buzzfeed.com/kenbensinger/these-reports-allege-trump-
has-deep-ties-to-russia?utm_term=.bt2O6PXW7Q#.tigazDkZRL

[15] Naylor, Brian. “How the Trump Campaign Weakened The Republican Platform On
Aid to the Ukraine.” NPR. National Public Radio Inc., 06 August 2016. Web. 13
February 2017. http://www.npr.org/2016/08/06/488876597/how-the-trump-
campaign-weakened-the-republican-platform-on-aid-to-ukraine

[16] Lipton, Eric, David Sanger and Scott Shane. “The Perfect Weapon: How Russian
Cyberpower Invaded the U.S..” The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 13 December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/ 2016/ 07/
03/ us/ politics/ donald-trump-birther-obama.html

[17] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy
Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from WikiLeaks, really
vicious. RIGGED.” 23 Jul. 2016, 5:55 AM. Tweet.

[18] Martin, Jonathan and Alan Rapperort. “Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Resign D.N.C.
Post.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 24 July 2016. Web. 02
January 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/debbie-wasserman-
schultz-dnc-wikileaks-emails.html

[19] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “The Democrats are in a total meltdown but the
biased media will say how great they are doing! E-mails say the rigged system is
alive & well.” 24 Jul. 2016, 5:16 PM. Tweet.

[20] Healy, Patrick and Jonathan Martin. “Democrats Struggle for Unity on First Day of
Convention.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 25 July 2016.
Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/us/politics/dnc-speakers-
protests-sanders.html

[21] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “The new joke in town,” he wrote, “is that
Russia leaked the disastrous D.N.C. e-mails, which should never have been written
(stupid), because Putin likes me.” 25 Jul. 2016, 6:31 AM. Tweet.

[22] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “For the record, I have ZERO investments in
Russia.” 26 Jul. 2016, 5:50 PM. Tweet.

[23] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “In order to try and deflect the horror and
stupidity of the WikiLeakes disaster, the Dems said maybe it is Russia dealing with
Trump. Crazy!” 26 Jul. 2016, 5:47 PM. Tweet.

[24] “Trump asks Russia to hack Hillary’s emails.” Raw Story. Youtube. 27 July 2016.
Web. 02 January 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNa2B5zHfbQ

[25] Menn, Joseph, Dustin Voz and Mark Hosenball. “Exclusive: FBI probes hacking of
democratic congressional group – sources.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 29 July 2016.
Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-cyber-democrats-
exclusive-idUSKCN1082Y7?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

[26] Bradner, Eric and David Wright. “Trump says Putting is ‘not going to go into Ukraine,’
despite Crimea.” CNN. Cable News Network, 1 August 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/31/politics/donald-trump-russia-ukraine-crimea-putin/

[27] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Hillary, whose decisions have led to the
deaths of many, accepted $ from a business linked to ISIS. Silence at CNN.” 01
August 2016, 5:46 PM. Tweet.

[28] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “President Obama should ask the DNC about
how they rigged the election against Bernie.” 04 August 2016, 9:18 PM. Tweet.

[29] Silverman, Craig. “This Analysis Shows How Fake election News Stories
Outperformed real News On Facebook.” BuzzFeedNews. BuzzFeed Inc., 16
November 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-
real-news-on-facebook?utm_term=.fxX0Vxj296#.ddNDL2VKqm

[30] Timberg, Craig. “Russian propaganda effort helped spread ‘fake news’ during election,
experts say.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 24 November
2016. Web. 2 January 2017.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/russian-propaganda-effort-
helped-spread-fake-news-during-election-experts-say/2016/11/24/793903b6-8a40-
4ca9-b712-716af66098fe_story.html?utm_term=.28b984330384
Entous, Adam and Greg Miller. “U.S. intercepts capture senior Russian officials
celebrating Trump win.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 05
January, 2017. Web. 05 January 2017.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-intercepts-capture-
senior-russian-officials-celebrating-trump-win/2017/01/05/d7099406-d355-11e6-
9cb0-54ab630851e8_story.html?utm_term=.12cbbba5111d

Shabad, Rebecca. “Top U.S. intel officials say election hacking part of “multifaceted”
Russian effort.” CBSNews. CBS Corporation, 05 January 2017. Web. 06 January
2017. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-administration-officials-testify-on-russian-
hacking-cyber-threats/

[31] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Many people are saying that the Iranians
killed the scientist who helped the U. S. because of Hillary Clinton’s hacked emails.”
08 August 2016, 5:45 PM. Tweet.

[32] Kramer, Andrew E., Mike McIntire and Meier, Barry. “Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists
Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief.” The New York Times. The New York
Times Company, 14 August 2017. Web. 13 February 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-
trump.html

[33] McFaul, Michael. “Why Russia Wants Trump to Win.” The Washington Post. The
Washington Post Company, 17 August 2016. Web. 2 January 2017.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/why-putin-wants-a-trump-
victory-so-much-he-might-even-be-trying-to-help-him/2016/08/17/897ab21c-6495-
11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html?utm_term=.9acb94d95f87

[34] Naylor, Brian. “How the Trump Campaign Weakened The Republican Platform On
Aid to the Ukraine.” NPR. National Public Radio Inc., 06 August 2016. Web. 13
February 2017. http://www.npr.org/2016/08/06/488876597/how-the-trump-
campaign-weakened-the-republican-platform-on-aid-to-ukraine

[35] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Crooked Hillary’s V.P. pick said this morning
that I was not aware that Russia took over the Crimea. A total lie – and taken over
during O term!” 04 September 2016, 11:04 AM. Tweet.

[36] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Russia took Crimea during the so-called
Obama years. Who wouldn’t know this and why does Obama get a free pass?” 13
September 2016, 10:21 PM. Tweet.

[37] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Crooked H is nasty to Sanders supporters
behind closed doors. Owned by Wall St and Politicians, HRC is not with you.” 01
October 2016, 12:01 PM. Tweet.

[38] Ellfson, Lindsey. “Roger Stone Tweets Mysteriously About WikiLeaks Doing
Something to Hillary Clinton Wednesday.” MediaITE. Abrams Media Network, 02
October 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.mediaite.com/online/roger-stone-
tweets-mysteriously-about-wikileaks-doing-something-to-hillary-clinton-wednesday/

[39] Abramson, Seth. “Was Rudy Giuliani At The Center Of An FBI-Trump Campaign
Conspiracy To Steal The Election?” The Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 21
December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/was-
rudy-giuliani-at-the-center-of-an-fbi-trump-
campaign_us_585ad14ce4b014e7c72ed993

[40] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “CLINTON’S CLOSE TIES TO PUTIN
DESERVE SCRUTINY.” 04 October 2016, 09:16 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “History teaches us that weakness arouses
evil. America needs to be strong on the world stage.” Retweeted from Mike Pence,
@mike_pence. 04 October 2016, 09:32 PM. Tweet.

[41] Nakashima, Ellen. “U.S. government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to
interfere with elections.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 07
October 2016. Web. 2 January 2017.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-government-officially-
accuses-russia-of-hacking-campaign-to-influence-elections/2016/10/07/4e0b9654-
8cbf-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html?utm_term=.e6ff6bde50fd

[42] Eamon, Javers. “FBI’s Comey oppsed naming Russians, citing election timing:
Source.” CNBC. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 31 October 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/31/fbis-comey-opposed-naming-russians-citing-
election-timing-source.html

[43] Lipton, Eric, David Sanger and Scott Shane. “The Perfect Weapon: How Russian
Cyberpower Invaded the U.S..” The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 13 December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/ 2016/ 07/
03/ us/ politics/ donald-trump-birther-obama.html

[44] Sharockman, Aaron. “It’s True: WikiLeaks dumped Podesta emails hour after Trump
video surfaced.” Politifact. Tampa Bay Times, 18 December 2016. Web. 02
January 2017. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/dec/18/john-
podesta/its-true-wikileaks-dumped-podesta-emails-hour-afte/

[45] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Wow. Unbelievable.
https://t.co/RcBPCcmwnD.” 11 October 2016, 10:25 PM. Tweet.

[46] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of
incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest! Rigged system!” 12
October 2016, 08:46 AM. Tweet.

[47] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Nothing ever happened with any of these
women. Totally made up nonsense to steal election. Nobody has more respect for
women than me!” 15 October 2016, 01:29 PM. Tweet.

[48] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted
and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged
election.” 15 October 2016, 07:23 AM. Tweet.

[49] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “We’ve all wondered how Hillary avoided
prosecution for her email scheme. WikiLeaks may have found the answer. Obama!
https://t.co/xFOwv8Oa8q” 16 October 2016, 11:07 AM. Tweet.
Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Hillary’s staff thought her email scandal
might just blow over. Who would trust these people with national security?
https://t.co/EvBCQoZRG2” 16 October 2016, 11:07 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “A country that Crooked Hillary says has
funded ISIS also gave Wild Bill $1 million for his birthday? SO CORRUPT.
https://t.co/00s5tgsXrM” 16 October 2016, 08:15 AM. Tweet.

[50] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Election is being rigged by the media, in a
coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened
in the news.” 16 October 2016, 07:31 AM. Tweet.

[51] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Yet more evidence of media-rigged election:
https://t.co/rVh4ocgx3r” 17 October 2016, 05:46 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Yet more evidence of media-rigged election:
https://t.co/rVh4ocgx3r” 17 October 2016, 05:46 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks proves even the Clinton campaign
knew Crooked mishandled classified info, but no one gets charged?
RIGGED! https://t.co/FgGxDsS0a1” 17 October 2016, 09:58 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’Clinton Campaign Tried to Limit Damage
From Classified Info on Email Server’ #DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/5j8WuKLL5o”
18 October 2016, 07:31 PM. Tweet.

[52] “2016 Final Presidential Debate: Russia and WikiLeaks.” CBS News. Youtube. CBS
Corporation, 19 October 2016. Youtube. Web. 02 January 2017.

[53] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “More Anti-Catholic Emails From Team
Clinton: https://t.co/KYirBbYjp2 https://t.co/f8Z7olUvlM ” 19 October 2016, 11:57
AM. Tweet. The first link takes you to an article on GOP.com: “John Podesta Lends
Support For A ‘Catholic Spring’ To Overthrow The Church’s “Middle Ages
Dictatorship.” 19 October 2016.   That article
includes a link to “John Podesta WikiLeaks”:
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Totally dishonest Donna Brazile chokes on
the truth. Highly illegal! Watch: https://t.co/Rs5brj31bA https://t.co/FYoRo6MUjX ”
19 October 2016, 11:27 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Moderator: Hillary paid $225,000 by a
Brazilian bank for a speech that called for “open borders.” That’s a quote!
#Debate #BigLeagueTruth” 19 October 2016, 08:29 PM. Tweet.

[54] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’State works hard, and illegally, for Clinton’
#DrainTheSwamphttps://t.co/zXvUnJTKhF” 19 October 2016, 01:06 PM. Tweet.

[55] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Why didn’t Hillary Clinton announce that she
was inappropriately given the debate questions – she secretly used them! Crooked
Hillary.” 20 October 2016, 09:55 AM. Tweet.

[56] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “#CrookedHillary sending U.S. intelligence
info. to Podesta’s hacked email is ‘unquestionably an OPSEC
violation’ https://t.co/z58aeo4CO7.” 21 October 2016, 05:50 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks reveals Clinton camp’s work with
‘VERY friendly and malleable reporters’ #DrainTheSwamp
#CrookedHillaryhttps://t.co/bcYLslrxi0” 21 October 2016, 05:46 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Donna Brazile Shreds Obama Economy –
Acting DNC chair says ‘people are more in despair about how things
are’ https://t.co/LQNbISSoX0 ” 21 October 2016, 05:36 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “#CrookedHillary “was at center of
negotiating $12M commitment from King Mohammed VI of Morocco” to Clinton
Fdn. https://t.co/HWOQ7jQWY2 ” 21 October 2016, 01:54 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “A top Clinton Foundation official said he
could name “500 different examples” of conflicts of interest.https://t.co/rtWhdYOyq7
” to Clinton Fdn. https://t.co/HWOQ7jQWY2 ” 21 October 2016, 01:54 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Huma calls it a “MESS,” the rest of us call it
CORRUPT! WikiLeaks catches Crooked in the act – again.
#DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/juvdLIJPWu ” to Clinton
Fdn. https://t.co/HWOQ7jQWY2 ” 21 October 2016, 10:23 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks: ‘Clinton-Kaine Even Lied About
Timing of Veep Pick’https://t.co/e1NVdpSfNr” 22 October 2016, 09:26 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump).
“#CrookedHillary #PayToPlay https://t.co/BT1Nv0ZMYg” 23 October 2016, 02:08
PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’Hillary Clinton Had Gun Control Supporters
Planted In Town Hall Audience’ https://t.co/1GVq74iW8a” 23 October 2016, 02:08
PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’The Clinton Foundation’s Most Questionable
Foreign Donations’ #PayToPlay #DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/IkeqMRjX5z” 24
October 2016, 11:04 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Why has nobody asked Kaine about the
horrible views emanated on WikiLeaks about Catholics? Media in the tank for Clinton
but Trump will win!” 24 October 2016, 08:05 AM. Tweet.

[57] Abramson, Seth. “Was Rudy Giuliani At The Center Of An FBI-Trump Campaign
Conspiracy To Steal The Election?” The Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 21
December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/was-
rudy-giuliani-at-the-center-of-an-fbi-trump-
campaign_us_585ad14ce4b014e7c72ed993

[58] “Rudy Giuliani Interview.” Fox News. Youtube. FOX News Network, 26 October
2016. Web. 02 January 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Yx4IbIxDA

[59] Abramson, Seth. “Was Rudy Giuliani At The Center Of An FBI-Trump Campaign
Conspiracy To Steal The Election?” The Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 21
December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/was-
rudy-giuliani-at-the-center-of-an-fbi-trump-
campaign_us_585ad14ce4b014e7c72ed993

[60] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’WikiLeaks Drip-Drop Releases Prove One
Thing: There’s No Nov. 8 Deadline on Clinton’s Dishonesty and
Scandals’https://t.co/MfRy3Nvd4F” 24 October 2016, 08:05 AM. Tweet. Trump,
Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “”Clinton Foundation’s Fundraisers Pressed Donors to
Steer Business to Former President” https://t.co/PlFILR6JCn” 27 October 2016, 09:12
AM. Tweet.

[61] Perez, Evan and Pamela Brown. “Comey notified Congress of email probe despite
DOJ concerns.” CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, 30 October 2016. Web. 02
January 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/28/politics/fbi-reviewing-new-emails-in-
clinton-probe-director-tells-senate-judiciary-committee/index.html

[62] Hosenball, Mark. “FBI fear of leaks drove decision on emails linked to Clinton:
sources.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 03 November 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-fbi-leaks-idUSKBN12Y2QD

[63] “The Lars Larson Show.” Youtube. Radio Northwest Network, 28 October 2019.
Web. 02 January 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8CHo1TyUe8 (1
minute and 20 seconds into the video).

[64] Painter, Richard. “On Clinton Emails, Did the F.B.I. Director Abuse His Power?”

     The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 30 October 2016. Web. 02
January 2017.   http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/opinion/on-clinton-emails-did-
the-fbi-director-abuse-his-power.html

[65] Barrett, Devlin. “FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe.” The Wall Street
Journal. News Corporation, 30 October 2016. Web. 20 January 2017.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/laptop-may-include-thousands-of-emails-linked-to-
hillary-clintons-private-server-
1477854957?emailToken=JRr8f/B5ZHiXg9M0b8w43UU0abFNDua
YA1LRJ3TXNkWJqHzSvPmowakuwty55G6qTEd%2B/JUA7mg8SDGU
nG0vXM6Vn7dlgBKvf3hbspbCykiTIEXFlVKHOPERrLfY5Gwwsv
YESlUMM4VM

[66] Abramson, Seth. “Was Rudy Giuliani At The Center Of An FBI-Trump Campaign
Conspiracy To Steal The Election?” The Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 21
December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/was-
rudy-giuliani-at-the-center-of-an-fbi-trump-
campaign_us_585ad14ce4b014e7c72ed993

[67] Kenny, Caroline. “Harry Reid: Comey may have violated the Hatch act.” CNN.
Turner Broadcasting System, 31 October 2016. Web. 20 January 2017.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/30/politics/harry-reid-letter-hatch-act/

[68] Barrett, Devlin. “FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe.” The Wall Street
Journal. News Corporation, 30 October 2016. Web. 20 January 2017.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/laptop-may-include-thousands-of-emails-linked-to-
hillary-clintons-private-server-
1477854957?emailToken=JRr8f/B5ZHiXg9M0b8w43UU0abFNDua
YA1LRJ3TXNkWJqHzSvPmowakuwty55G6qTEd%2B/JUA7mg
8SDGUnG0vXM6Vn7dlgBKvf3hbspbCykiTIEXFlVKHOPERrLfY5Gwwsv
YESlUMM4VM

[69] Lichtblau, Eric and Steven Lee Myers. “Investigation Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No
Clear Link to Russia.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 31
October 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/fbi-russia-election-donald-
trump.html?_r=0

[70] LoBlanco, Tom and Pamela Brown. “FBI releases docs from 2001 Rich investigation
days before election.” CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, 01 November 2016. Web.
02 January 2017. http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/01/politics/fbi-clinton-marc-rich-
investigation/

[71] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks emails reveal Podesta urging
Clinton camp to ‘dump’ emails. Time to #DrainTheSwamp! https://t.co/P3ajiACiXK”
01 November 2016, 04:57 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “So terrible that Crooked didn’t report she got
the debate questions from Donna Brazile, if that were me it would have been front
page news!” 01 November 2016, 09:14 AM. Tweet.

[72] Barrett, Devlin and Christopher M. Matthews. “Secret Recordings Fueled FBI Feud in
Clinton Probe.” The Wallstreet Journal. News Corporation, 02 November 2016.
Web. 20 January 2017. http://www.wsj.com/articles/secret-recordings-fueled-fbi-
feud-in-clinton-probe-
1478135518?emailToken=JRr8f/B5Z3qSgtA9Zswn2VYyY7VNEeKCQUnbL
XbFIQ3CqXHRrO7kya80wtW6vG/qREA/7NQF6XI4Q3jJmm1gUYrIx%2B
EvyAz5JiAN

[73] Hains, Tim. “Bret Baier: FBI Sources Believe Clinton Foundation Case Moving
Towards “Likely and Indictment.” RealClearPolitics. Crest Media, 02 November
2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/11/02/fbi_sources_tell_fox_news
_indictment_likely_in_clinton_foundation_case.html

[74] Halper, Daniel. “FBI is investigating its Twitter account over election tweets.” New
York Post. News Corporation, 03 November 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
http://nypost.com/2016/11/03/fbi-is-investigating-its-twitter-account-over-election-
tweets/

[75] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “@CBSNews confirms FBI found emails on
#AnthonyWeiner computer, related to Hillary Clinton server, that are “new” & not
previously reviewed.” Retweet from Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS). 03 November
2016, 06:30 PM. Tweet.

[76] The letter can be found here: https://democrats-
oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/2016-11-
4.EEC%20&%20Conyers%20to%20DOJ%20IG.pdf

[77] Reilly, Mollie. “Rudy Giuliani Confirms FBI Insiders Leaked Information to The
Trump Campaign.” The Huffington Post. AOL, 04 November 2016. Web. 02
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TimeLine Summary

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[140] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). ““It was just announced-by sources-that no
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[144] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Crooked Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI and to
the people of our country. She is soooooo guilty. But watch, her time will come!” 06
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[146] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Leaked e-mails of DNC show plans to destroy
Bernie Sanders. Mock his heritage and much more. On-line from WikiLeaks, really
vicious. RIGGED.” 23 Jul. 2016, 5:55 AM. Tweet.

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[148] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “The Democrats are in a total meltdown but the
biased media will say how great they are doing! E-mails say the rigged system is
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[150] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “The new joke in town,” he wrote, “is that
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(stupid), because Putin likes me.” 25 Jul. 2016, 6:31 AM. Tweet.

[151] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “For the record, I have ZERO investments in
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[155] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Hillary, whose decisions have led to the
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[156] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “President Obama should ask the DNC about
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[158] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Many people are saying that the Iranians
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[159] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Crooked Hillary’s V.P. pick said this morning
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during O term!” 04 September 2016, 11:04 AM. Tweet.

[160] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Russia took Crimea during the so-called
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[161] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Crooked H is nasty to Sanders supporters
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December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/was-
rudy-giuliani-at-the-center-of-an-fbi-trump-campaign_us_585ad14ce4b014e7c72ed993

[164] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “CLINTON’S CLOSE TIES TO PUTIN
DESERVE SCRUTINY.” 04 October 2016, 09:16 PM. Tweet.

[165] Nakashima, Ellen. “U.S. government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to
interfere with elections.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company, 07
October 2016. Web. 2 January 2017.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-government-officially-
accuses-russia-of-hacking-campaign-to-influence-elections/2016/10/07/4e0b9654-
8cbf-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html?utm_term=.e6ff6bde50fd

[166] Eamon, Javers. “FBI’s Comey oppsed naming Russians, citing election timing:
Source.” CNBC. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 31 October 2016. Web. 02 January 2017.
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election-timing-source.html

[167] Lipton, Eric, David Sanger and Scott Shane. “The Perfect Weapon: How Russian
Cyberpower Invaded the U.S..” The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 13 December 2016. Web. 02 January 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/ 2016/ 07/
03/ us/ politics/ donald-trump-birther-obama.html

Sharockman, Aaron. “It’s True: WikiLeaks dumped Podesta emails hour after Trump
video surfaced.” Politifact. Tampa Bay Times, 18 December 2016. Web. 02
January 2017. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/dec/18/john-
podesta/its-true-wikileaks-dumped-podesta-emails-hour-afte/

[168] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Wow. Unbelievable.
https://t.co/RcBPCcmwnD.” 11 October 2016, 10:25 PM. Tweet.

[169] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of
incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest! Rigged system!” 12
October 2016, 08:46 AM. Tweet.

[170] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Nothing ever happened with any of these
women. Totally made up nonsense to steal election. Nobody has more respect for
women than me!” 15 October 2016, 01:29 PM. Tweet.

[171] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted
and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged
election.” 15 October 2016, 07:23 AM. Tweet.

[172] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “We’ve all wondered how Hillary avoided
prosecution for her email scheme. WikiLeaks may have found the answer. Obama!
https://t.co/xFOwv8Oa8q” 16 October 2016, 11:07 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Hillary’s staff thought her email scandal
might just blow over. Who would trust these people with national security?
https://t.co/EvBCQoZRG2” 16 October 2016, 11:07 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “A country that Crooked Hillary says has
funded ISIS also gave Wild Bill $1 million for his birthday? SO CORRUPT.
https://t.co/00s5tgsXrM” 16 October 2016, 08:15 AM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Election is being rigged by the media, in a
coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign, by putting stories that never happened
in the news.” 16 October 2016, 07:31 AM. Tweet.

[173] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Yet more evidence of media-rigged election:
https://t.co/rVh4ocgx3r” 17 October 2016, 05:46 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Yet more evidence of media-rigged election:
https://t.co/rVh4ocgx3r” 17 October 2016, 05:46 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks proves even the Clinton campaign
knew Crooked mishandled classified info, but no one gets charged?
RIGGED! https://t.co/FgGxDsS0a1” 17 October 2016, 09:58 AM. Tweet.

[174] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’Clinton Campaign Tried to Limit Damage
From Classified Info on Email Server’ #DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/5j8WuKLL5o”
18 October 2016, 07:31 PM. Tweet.

[175] “2016 Final Presidential Debate: Russia and WikiLeaks.” CBS News. Youtube. CBS
Corporation, 19 October 2016. Youtube. Web. 02 January 2017.

[176] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Totally dishonest Donna Brazile chokes on the
truth. Highly illegal! Watch: https://t.co/Rs5brj31bAhttps://t.co/FYoRo6MUjX ” 19
October 2016, 11:27 PM. Tweet.

[177] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “More Anti-Catholic Emails From Team
Clinton: https://t.co/KYirBbYjp2 https://t.co/f8Z7olUvlM ” 19 October 2016, 11:57
AM. Tweet.

[178] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Moderator: Hillary paid $225,000 by a
Brazilian bank for a speech that called for “open borders.” That’s a quote!
#Debate #BigLeagueTruth” 19 October 2016, 08:29 PM. Tweet.

[179] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’State works hard, and illegally, for Clinton’
#DrainTheSwamphttps://t.co/zXvUnJTKhF” 19 October 2016, 01:06 PM. Tweet.

[180] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Why didn’t Hillary Clinton announce that she
was inappropriately given the debate questions – she secretly used them! Crooked
Hillary.” 20 October 2016, 09:55 AM. Tweet.

[181] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “#CrookedHillary sending U.S. intelligence
info. to Podesta’s hacked email is ‘unquestionably an OPSEC
violation’ https://t.co/z58aeo4CO7.” 21 October 2016, 05:50 AM. Tweet. Trump,
Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks reveals Clinton camp’s work with
‘VERY friendly and malleable reporters’ #DrainTheSwamp
#CrookedHillaryhttps://t.co/bcYLslrxi0” 21 October 2016, 05:46 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Donna Brazile Shreds Obama Economy –
Acting DNC chair says ‘people are more in despair about how things
are’ https://t.co/LQNbISSoX0 ” 21 October 2016, 05:36 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “#CrookedHillary “was at center of
negotiating $12M commitment from King Mohammed VI of Morocco” to Clinton
Fdn. https://t.co/HWOQ7jQWY2 ” 21 October 2016, 01:54 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “A top Clinton Foundation official said he
could name “500 different examples” of conflicts of interest.https://t.co/rtWhdYOyq7
” to Clinton Fdn. https://t.co/HWOQ7jQWY2 ” 21 October 2016, 01:54 PM. Tweet.
Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Huma calls it a “MESS,” the rest of us call it
CORRUPT! WikiLeaks catches Crooked in the act – again.
#DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/juvdLIJPWu ” to Clinton
Fdn. https://t.co/HWOQ7jQWY2 ” 21 October 2016, 10:23 AM. Tweet.

[182] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks: ‘Clinton-Kaine Even Lied About
Timing of Veep Pick’https://t.co/e1NVdpSfNr” 22 October 2016, 09:26 AM. Tweet.

[183] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump).
“#CrookedHillary #PayToPlay https://t.co/BT1Nv0ZMYg” 23 October 2016, 02:08
PM. Tweet.

[184] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’Hillary Clinton Had Gun Control Supporters
Planted In Town Hall Audience’ https://t.co/1GVq74iW8a” 23 October 2016, 02:08
PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’The Clinton Foundation’s Most Questionable
Foreign Donations’ #PayToPlay #DrainTheSwamp https://t.co/IkeqMRjX5z” 24
October 2016, 11:04 AM. Tweet.

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[187] Abramson, Seth. “Was Rudy Giuliani At The Center Of An FBI-Trump Campaign
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rudy-giuliani-at-the-center-of-an-fbi-trump-campaign_us_585ad14ce4b014e7c72ed993

[188] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “’WikiLeaks Drip-Drop Releases Prove One
Thing: There’s No Nov. 8 Deadline on Clinton’s Dishonesty and
Scandals’https://t.co/MfRy3Nvd4F” 24 October 2016, 08:05 AM. Tweet. Trump,
Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “”Clinton Foundation’s Fundraisers Pressed Donors to
Steer Business to Former President” https://t.co/PlFILR6JCn” 27 October 2016, 09:12
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[189] Perez, Evan and Pamela Brown. “Comey notified Congress of email probe despite
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[190] “The Lars Larson Show.” Youtube. Radio Northwest Network, 28 October 2019.
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[191] Painter, Richard. “On Clinton Emails, Did the F.B.I. Director Abuse His Power?”

   The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 30 October 2016. Web. 02
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[192] Barrett, Devlin. “FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe.” The Wall Street
Journal. News Corporation, 30 October 2016. Web. 20 January 2017.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/laptop-may-include-thousands-of-emails-linked-to-
hillary-clintons-private-server-1477854957?emailToken=JRr8f/B5ZHiXg9M0b8
43UU0abFNDuaYA1LRJ3TXNkWJqHzSvPmowakuwty55G6qTEd%2B/JUA7
mg8SDGUnG0vXM6Vn7dlgBKvf3hbspbCykiTIEXFlVKHOPERrLfY5Gwwsv
YESlUMM4VM

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rudy-giuliani-at-the-center-of-an-fbi-trump-
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[194] Lichtblau, Eric and Steven Lee Myers. “Investigation Donald Trump, F.B.I. Sees No
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[195] LoBlanco, Tom and Pamela Brown. “FBI releases docs from 2001 Rich investigation
days before election.” CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, 01 November 2016. Web.
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[196] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “WikiLeaks emails reveal Podesta urging
Clinton camp to ‘dump’ emails. Time to #DrainTheSwamp! https://t.co/P3ajiACiXK”
01 November 2016, 04:57 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “So terrible that Crooked didn’t report she got
the debate questions from Donna Brazile, if that were me it would have been front
page news!” 01 November 2016, 09:14 AM. Tweet.

[197] Barrett, Devlin and Christopher M. Matthews. “Secret Recordings Fueled FBI Feud in
Clinton Probe.” The Wallstreet Journal. News Corporation, 02 November 2016.
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feud-in-clinton-probe-
1478135518?emailToken=JRr8f/B5Z3qSgtA9Zswn2VYyY7VNEeKCQUnbLXb
FIQ3CqXHRrO7kya80wtW6vG/qREA/7NQF6XI4Q3jJmm1gUYrIx%2Bevy
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[198] Hains, Tim. “Bret Baier: FBI Sources Believe Clinton Foundation Case Moving
Towards “Likely and Indictment.” RealClearPolitics. Crest Media, 02 November
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[199] Halper, Daniel. “FBI is investigating its Twitter account over election tweets.” New
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tweets/

[200] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “@CBSNews confirms FBI found emails on
#AnthonyWeiner computer, related to Hillary Clinton server, that are “new” & not
previously reviewed.” Retweet from Paula Reid (@PaulaReidCBS). 03 November
2016, 06:30 PM. Tweet.

[201] The letter can be found here: https://democrats-
oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/2016-11-
4.EEC%20&%20Conyers%20to%20DOJ%20IG.pdf

[202] Reilly, Mollie. “Rudy Giuliani Confirms FBI Insiders Leaked Information to The
Trump Campaign.” The Huffington Post. AOL, 04 November 2016. Web. 02
January 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rudy-giuliani-fbi-clinton-
emails_us_581c9e3fe4b0e80b02c93d6b

[203] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “The Clinton Campaign at Obama Justice”
#DrainTheSwamphttps://t.co/LZkvFc071z.” 04 November 2016, 11:17 AM. Tweet.

[204] Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). ” #DrainTheSwamp! https://t.co/z68vGp9Bvf”
05 November 2016, 04:46 PM. Tweet.

Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). “Top Clinton Aides Bemoan Campaign ‘All
Tactics,’ No Vision: https://t.co/mHYvQtIq78” 05 November 2016, 04:39 PM. Tweet.
Trump, Donald (@ realDonaldTrump). ” ‘Must Act Immediately’: Clinton Charity
Lawyer Told Execs They Were Breaking The Law https://t.co/hsi4qhqTV1” 05
November 2016, 04:39 PM. Tweet.

[205] Filipov, David and Andrew Roth. “Moscow had contacts with Trump team during
campaign, Russian diplomat says.” The Washington Post. The Washington Post
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during-campaign-russian-diplomat-says/2016/11/10/28fb82fa-a73d-11e6-9bd6-
184ab22d218e_story.html?utm_term=.8b27de3358c4
Nechepurenko, Ivan. “Russian Officials Were in Contact With Trump Allies,
Diplomat Says.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 10
November 2016. Web. 03 January 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/world/europe/trump-campaign-russia.html
Bloomberg, Ilya Arkhipov, Henry Miller, Stepan Kravchenko. “Russia Reached Out
to Trump, Clinton Camps During Election,” Bloomberg. Bloomberg LP, 10
November 2016. Web. 03 January 2016.
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with-trump-s-team-during-campaign

[206] Chozick, Amy. “Hillary Clinton Blames F.B.I. Director for Election Loss.” The New
York Times. The New York Times Company, 12 November 2016. Web. 03 January
2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/us/politics/hillary-clinton-james-
comey.html

[207] MacFarquhar, Neil. “Putin and Trump Talk on Phone and Agree to Improve Ties,
Kremlin Says.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 14 November
2016. Web. 03 January 2017.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/15/world/europe/putin-calls-trump.html