The Russia watchWikiLeaks-ization of the American media; Tech vs fake news; Robert Mueller’s accomplishment, and more

The Russia investigation is complicated. Here’s what it all means. (Mikayla Bouchard, New York Times)
The special counsel is investigating events that span years and cross international borders.

Troll farm lawyers: Russians didn’t know election meddling was illegal (Betsy Woodruff, Daily Beast)
Mueller is sticking “made-believe crimes” on the individuals behind a Russian troll farm, lawyers for a Putin-connected firm allege in a new filing.

Billionaire Christopher Chandler denies spy claims (Luke Harding, Guardian)
MPs told parliament that the New Zealand-born businessman had links with Russian intelligence

Illinois State Election Board director says hacking a ‘declaration of war’ (Chicago Tribune)
Steven Sandvoss, the executive director of the State Board of Elections, said the 2016 intrusion of Russian hackers into the state’s voter database was a “declaration of war.”

The WikiLeaks-ization of the American media (Jack Glodsmith, Weekly Standard)
Scott Shane had an interesting piece over the weekend in the New York Times on a topic I wrote about last year: What should journalists do when they receive “authentic and newsworthy” information from a foreign intelligence service? The question has become salient again because of Amy Chozick’s worry that she was an “unwitting agent of Russian intelligence” due to her reporting about the Russia-hacked DNC emails in 2016. (Shane himself wrote in late 2016 that the Times had become “a de facto instrument of Russian intelligence.”) Shane suggests that the problem with the DNC leak stories was not their content, which “revealed true and important things, including the party leadership’s hostility to Bernie Sanders’s campaign and the texts of Mrs. Clinton’s private speeches, which she had refused to release.” The problem, rather, was that “Russian hackers chose not to deliver to American voters the same inside material from the Trump campaign,” and thus “the tilt of the coverage was decided in Moscow.” By counting on reporters to “follow their usual rules” of reporting truthful information in the public interest, Shane concludes, “the Kremlin hacked American journalism.”

Dutch ditch Kaspersky on fears of Russian government influence (Mark Satter, Cyberscoop)
The Dutch government announced Monday that it will end use of Kaspersky Lab’s anti-virus software, citing the Moscow-based cybersecurity firm’s alleged ties to the Russian government.

Tech vs fake news: Separating the fact from Russian troll farm manipulation (Information Age)
Technology may be a real aid in helping the world deal with the major current social problem of fake news

Robert Mueller’s most important accomplishment (Matt Ford, New Republic)
The special counsel’s Russia investigation has a lot to show for its 12 months of work, but one feat stands out.