Randy Shipley: [Name Redacted] Try reading that report you downloaded again --
I've gone through the report multiple times. You're not the first one who fell for and argued the Russian conspiracy theory. My stance remains the same. The link that you provided was not the Mueller Report. It was a link to a website that talked about the Mueller Report.
The link, that you pulled your response from, has a tendency to cherry-pick data. They appear to stop searching when they get enough information to support their argument. However, I've gone further and found more information that proved their narrative wrong.
That's not the same thing as going through the actual report. It's painfully obvious that you haven't gone through the Mueller Report. You're relying on a "fact-checker" site instead of actually going through the Mueller Report.
However, I've read the linked websites, and guess what? I still stand by my argument... Just as I know for a fact that you, and others that I argue against, won't change your stances. It works both ways. I've never changed my position based on what the opposition has said to me in a debate.
I engage in these debates to perpetually dismantle the opposition. I enjoy the non-ending back and forth.
Randy Shipley (or fact check dot org?): Special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Donald Trump and Russia establishes a damning series of facts about the Trump campaign's connections to the Kremlin.
No, the report makes no such connection. If you actually read the report, you'd find that when there was interaction between the two sides, members of the Trump campaign thought that they were interacting with Americans. The Russians portrayed themselves as Americans.
From the Mueller Report:
"The investigation did not establish any agreement among Campaign officials-or between such officials and Russia-linked individuals- to interfere with or obstruct a lawful function of a government agency during the campaign or transition period. And, as discussed in Volume I, Section V.A, supra, the investigation did not identify evidence that any Campaign official or associate knowingly and intentionally participated in the conspiracy to defraud that the Office charged, namely, the active-measures conspiracy described in Volume I, Section II, supra. Accordingly, the Office did not charge any Campaign associate or other U.S. person with conspiracy to defraud the United States based on the Russia-related contacts described in Section IV above." -- Mueller Report
Randy Shipley (or factcheck dot org?): We learned that two Trump campaign officials, campaign manager Paul Manafort and Manafort's deputy Rick Gates, were regularly providing polling information to a Russian national whom Gates believed to be a "spy."
What the Mueller Report said:
"Separately, on August 2, 2016, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort met in New York City with his long-time business associate Konstantin Kilimnik, who the FBI assesses to have ties to Russian intelligence. Kilimnik requested the meeting to deliver in person a peace plan for Ukraine that Manafort acknowledged to the Special Counsel's office was a "backdoor" way for Russia to control part of eastern Ukraine; both men believed the plan would require candidate Trump's assent to succeed (were he to be elected President). They also discussed the status of the Trump Campaign and Manafort's strategy for winning Democratic votes in Midwestern states. Months before that meeting, Manafort had caused internal polling data to be shared with Kilimnik, and the sharing continued for some period of time after their August meeting." -- Mueller Report
Keywords: separately, assesses, longtime business associate
Manafort was acting on his own, without Donald Trump's authority. This meeting and interaction took place as a result of a rapport they developed for each other. This predates Manafort's taking part in the Trump Campaign. No indication, in this statement, that the Russians were helping the Trump campaign.
"Assesses" is present tense... As opposed to "assessed" which would've been applicable to the period the meeting took place.
Also from the Mueller Report:
"Gates also reported that Manafort instructed him in April 2016 or early May 2016 to send Kilimnik Campaign internal polling data and other updates so that kilimnik, in turn, could share it with Ukrainian oligarchs. Gates understood that the information would also be shared with Deripaska, [Redacted]. Gates reported to teh Office that he did not know why Manafort wanted him to send polling information, but Gates thought it was a way to showcase Manfort's work, and Manafort wanted to open doors to jobs after the Trump Campaign ended." -- Mueller Report
None of these guys were working under orders from Donald Trump. Manafort was doing this for his own interests related to Ukraine.
Randy Shipley (or factcheck dot org?): We learned that, after Trump publicly called on Russia to find Hillary Clinton's emails, he privately ordered future National Security Adviser Michael Flynn to find them.
What the Mueller Report stated:
"After candidate Trump stated on July 27, 2016, that he hoped Russia would 'find the 30,000 emails that are missing' Trump asked individuals affiliated with his Campaign to find the deleted Clinton emails. Michael Flynn-who would later serve as National Security Advisor in the Trump Administration - recalled that Trump made this request repeatedly, and Flynn subsequently contacted multiple people in an effort to obtain the emails." -- Mueller Report
He "hoped" that Russia would find those emails. He didn't call on them to find those emails. His efforts involved getting his staff members to find ways to obtain those emails.
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