PMT: Fascinating corners of the Mueller Report (Part I)

So... yeah, I read it. And it is fascinating. It took awhile, but it was worth it. Here are some of the things I found and thought (Part I):

1)  Volume I, which details how Russia tried to undermine our election in 2016, is probably more important historically than Volume II, which covers allegations of obstruction of justice by President Trump. Even though the President (or anyone in his immediate orbit) is not described as being a conspirator with the Russians, the larger issue for us really is how this happened-- and how it is likely to happen again if action is not taken.

2)  The redactions seemed reasonable to me. I was worried there would be an abuse of the ability to redact material that would be derogatory to third parties, but that was very rarely used-- and one of those few times was to protect Bill Clinton(!).

3)  The Russian efforts were clearly in favor of the Trump campaign, and they went so far as to actually organize pro-Trump rallies over social media. Vol I, p. 29. They also recruited Americans to perform stunts including "walking around New York City dressed up as Santa Claus with a Trump mask." Vol. I, p. 32.

4)  Some of the efforts by the Russians do seem to be closely aligned with Trump interests in a way that reflects remarkable efficiency. For example, p. 7 of Vol. I describes on October 7, 2016, the video of Donald Trump talking about sexual assault was released and that "Less than an hour later, Wikileaks made its second release: thousands of John Podesta's emails...."

5) At the height of its efforts the Russians "had the ability to reach millions of US persons through their social media accounts." Vol. I, p. 14.

6)  Redactions of p. 16 of Volume I make clear that one of the ongoing investigations involves the Russian effort itself, which extended beyond social media as "part of a larger set of interlocking operations known as "Project Lakhta."

7)  The Russians even manipulated Americans into holding signs up in various places--including in front of the White House-- wishing happy birthday to a Russian propaganda chief. Vol. I, p. 19.

8)  Trump was not the only recipient of Russian help-- they also tried to help Bernie Sanders! Vol. I, p. 23 

9) Trump actually re-tweeted at least one message by the Russians. Vol. I, p. 34.

10)  Don McGahn comes across as a hero, and Jared Kushner seems at least to be politically savvy. For example, he leaves the Trump Tower meeting in the middle, and writes that it was "a waste of time."

11)  Paul Manafort's notes from the famous Trump Tower meeting included this very intriguing entry: "Tied into Cheney."  Hmmm....