The Justice Department has been investigating for Russian collusion in U.S. elections for about 20 months.  They wiretapped the Trump campaign looking for ties to Russia.  They found nothing.  Then, enter Special Counsel Robert Mueller.  We will set aside for another day the corrupt process which resulted in Mueller’s appointment.  Mueller was appointed by Rod Rosenstein, who was complicit in the FISA warrants based on the false Russian dossier from Christopher Steele.  With James Comey now a witness, the last person who should have been appointed as prosecutor was his friend Mueller.  But I digress.  The point is that after hiring 18 lawyers and spending 10 months and untold millions of dollars, Mueller has discovered the truth to be precisely what readers of Frank on Friday were told one year ago; namely, that the object of the Russians wasn’t to help Trump, but rather to sow the seeds of discontent to destabilize the United States.  Here’s what you learned last year in Frank on Friday:

Putin the Puppeteer
24 February 2017
“if Putin and Trump actually had been in cahoots, and if nothing happens in Russia without Putin’s approval, how do you explain the fact that, two days after the election, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister told a Russian News Agency that ‘there were numerous contacts during the campaign with members of Trump’s team?’  There is one, and only one explanation for this.  Vladimir Putin is a puppeteer, but he’s not pulling Trump’s strings.  It’s much worse.  Putin understood that there was a chance that an outsider could be elected President. Putin knew that this was an opportunity to undermine and destabilize the U.S. government. Had an Establishment candidate been elected, our government would still be polarized, beset by deep partisan divisions.  Putin the puppeteer is laughing up his sleeve.  All he had to do was have the Deputy Foreign Minister allege that there were contacts with Trump.  Now he can sit back and watch while our government tears itself apart.  Putin might have done it, but he didn’t do it to help Trump.”

From Russia Without Love
14 April 2017
“Russian activity was designed to destabilize our government, to cripple a Trump Administration.  Simply put, what the Russians did, they did for love of Mother Russia, not for love of Donald Trump.”

Dezinformatsiya
19 May 2017
“The Russians recognized the nomination of Donald Trump as an opportunity to destabilize the U.S. with disinformation.  It was tailor-made, because they started out with a polarized American electorate, and Democrats so consumed with hatred of Trump, that they were willing to believe anything.  The Democrats already had adopted the Russian election hacking story as an excuse for Hillary’s failure.  Hence, two days after election day, the Russian state-controlled media announced that Russian government officials had met with representatives of the Trump campaign throughout the campaign.  More dezinformatsiya, designed to keep Americans opposing one another instead of opposing Russian adventurism.”

Now, here’s what Mueller’s team of high-priced, Trump hating, Hillary loving jackals finally determined:  Mueller charged 13 Russians with a conspiracy to undermine the U.S. government by operating a shadowy internet operation based in St. Petersburg that leveraged Facebook and other social media platforms to spread divisive messages leading up to the 2016 election. (I told you that 3 days after Mueller was appointed).  Mueller’s indictment alleges that “the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy.” ( I told you that, see above).  The indictment alleged that individuals and entities associated with the Russia-based Internet Research Agency purchased $100,000 in political advertisements designed to exploit political and social divisions in the United States.  The elaborate conspiracy was made possible in part by the theft of the social security numbers, home addresses, and birth dates of real U.S. persons, which allowed the defendants to open U.S. bank and PayPal accounts. (In other words, the Russians don’t engage in identity theft simply to steal money).  Rod Rosenstein said the Russians did not affect the outcome of the election. (Which should come as no surprise, because Hillary spent over $1 billion).  According to Mueller, as soon as Trump was elected, the Russians began working to undermine him and sow further discord.  On November 12, 2016, two groups held rallies, one to “show your support for President-Elect Donald Trump,” another through a group called “Trump is NOT my President.” (MSNBC actually encouraged its viewers to attend that one).  The Kremlin organized both of these rallies.  Mueller’s indictment alleged that some defendants posed as U.S. people and communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.”  The most important disclosure in Mueller’s indictment was the finding that that there was “no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this activity.”  As Donald Trump is an American, presumably this conclusion includes him.  Which is the point.  Mueller’s assignment as Special Counsel was to investigate “links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.”  Mission accomplished.  Mueller has brought a conspiracy indictment.  He has determined that no American knowingly participated with the Russians who were trying to interfere in the elections.  One cannot be a co-conspirator, an accomplice, or a colluder, whatever that is, unless one shares the criminal intent of one or more of the defendants.  Mueller’s job is done.  An honest special counsel who wasn’t presiding over a witch hunt designed to bring about the impeachment of Donald Trump would fold his tent and go away.  Don’t hold your breath.