The Russia watchThe plot to subvert an election; timeline of Russia’s 2016 interference; will Trump classify Mueller’s report?, and more

Published 20 September 2018

·  The plot to subvert an election: Unraveling the Russia story so far

·  A timeline showing the full scale of Russia’s unprecedented interference in the 2016 election, and its aftermath

·  Tale of a troll: The Russian operation to target Hillary Clinton

·  Tragedy? Farce? Confusion? The method behind that Russian poisoning interview

·  Trump’s ability to classify Mueller report is greater threat than executive privilege

·  We now know more about the apparent poisoning of the Pussy Riot member Pyotr Verzilov

·  Inside the shadowy think tank tied to Paul Manafort

·  Instagram will promote mid-term voting with stickers, registration info

The plot to subvert an election: Unraveling the Russia story so far (Scott Shane and Mark Mazzetti, New York Times)
For two years, Americans have tried to absorb the details of the 2016 attack: hacked emails, social media fraud, suspected spies — and President Trump’s claims that it’s all a hoax. The Times explores what we know and what it means.

A timeline showing the full scale of Russia’s unprecedented interference in the 2016 election, and its aftermath (Karen Yourish, Larry Buchanan, and Derek Watkins, New York Times)
It’s easy to lose the larger narrative of the Trump-Russia story given the relentless pace and complexity of the news. Stepping back to view the timeline from beginning to end reveals how these parallel threads — contacts, hacking and social media fraud — often crossed during the election. Campaign aides who denied knowledge of Russian contacts were later revealed to have either known about them or pursued them, though none ever told the FBI.
This timeline organizes the complex web of events into parallel threads to show a more complete picture, from the moment Donald J. Trump entered the presidential race to his nearly daily attacks on the Russia investigation as members of his inner circle were charged with crimes.

Tale of a troll: The Russian operation to target Hillary Clinton (J. J. Green, WTOP)
Delving into the inner workings of a troll house in St. Petersburg, Russia, that aimed to trick Americans on various social media platforms as part of a Kremlin-backed disinformation campaign.

Tragedy? Farce? Confusion? The method behind that Russian poisoning interview (Andrew Higgins, New York Times)
The reviews were not kind when two Russians accused of slipping into England and poisoning a turncoat spy appeared on TV to profess their innocence. They were, the men said, just a couple of sports nutritionists taking a weekend jaunt to a cathedral town.
“One of the biggest information warfare blunders ever,” declared a BBC diplomatic editor. Others said the interview on Russian state television was a skit worthy of Monty Python. The British government said it was “an insult to the public’s intelligence.”
But foreigners rolling their eyes and dismissing the men’s account as patently implausible may be missing the point. For Russia, the yardstick of success for the interview was not credibility. (Cont.)