A new federal crime: Russian trolling
In 2005, American scientists deliberately sent a rocket to collide with a comet. After the collision, scientists were able to conduct a detailed analysis of the internal composition of the comet from the spectrum of debris ejected from the crater. It was a considerable achievement. But my friend working for NASA commented on this event differently: "You have no idea how many doctoral dissertations were thrown in the toilet yesterday."
We have no idea how many heart attacks occurred in Washington yesterday due to Special Counsel Mueller's indictment. And how many political careers will be thrown into the toilet today.
The creatures of the Washington swamp for the past year have invested almost all of their political capital in fanning the story of Trump's criminal conspiracy with Vladimir Putin. They were helped by the echo chamber of well fed courtier journalists and the higher-ups of the American intelligence agencies. They secured the appointment of a special prosecutor, Mueller, to hold Trump accountable.
In other words, Mueller's investigation was the rocket that was to kick Trump out of the White House.
The rocket's blow was stunning – Mueller's investigation fully vindicated Trump. But Russian internet trolls were selected as the scapegoats.
In fairness, it should be noted that there is still a dose of reality in the indictment published by the Department of Justice on Friday. Some of the thirteen Russians who obtained a tourist visa to the United States provided false information about their employment and the purpose of their visit. If this allegation is proven in court, they will be banned from entering the U.S. forever.
However, they lied not only to the American government. They also lied to the Russian government when they promised to influence the formation of public opinion in America. The budget of the disinformation activities of the Russian intelligence is merely ludicrous – several million dollars. For comparison, to seriously affect the election of just one congressman in an uncharted rural district in New Jersey, you need to spend five to ten times more.
Also, Russian internet trolls illegally used the stolen Social Security numbers and the dates of birth of real American citizens to open bank accounts and PayPal accounts and organize political rallies in the United States (both pro and contra Trump). Illegal banking operations are a federal crime.
That's all, folks. Neither Trump nor his staff, as expected, is tarnished. On the election results, the activity of the trolls did not affect much of anything (and how could they affect with the laughable penetration of the entire U.S. political advertising market to the tune of 0.001%?).
The missile, launched by the Obama's Deep State, fell into the Trump White House but did not penetrate.
The criminal consequences for thirteen Russian scapegoats are more or less understandable (although few in America are interested). But politically, the implications for those American politicians who not only became anti-Trumpists, but also burned all the political bridges behind them will be severe. The political opposition is legal in America, but the delegitimization of the legally elected president is not.
Mueller finishes his investigation victoriously, although not at all as he intended. After all, the State Department issued a visa to these Russians under the leadership of Obama. And the FBI under the direction of Obama did not move a finger in this matter, although the organized activity of Russians on the English-speaking internet was known since 2015.
What will Obama's Deep State do if Israel and the United Kingdom officially file charges against one of Obama's lieutenants, Jim Messina, for precisely the same interference (and with the same result) in the democratic elections as what the Russians did?
In term of prognosis, it looks as though the word "impeachment" will disappear from the lexicon of the inhabitants of the Washington swamp from now on. And all of a sudden, they will be able to see through Christopher Steele's "Russian dossier" on Trump. As if nothing had happened, they will begin to speak as a matter of course of the "active measures" disinformation campaign of the KGB or FSB. Nothing sensational – the Russians have been doing this in the West since the mid-1930s.
They have had some successes over the years. But not at this time.