On Friday, February 16, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted thirteen Russian nationals and several Russian companies for "interfering" with the 2016 election. Paragraph one of the indictment reads:

The United States of America, through its departments and agencies, regulates the activities of foreign individuals and entities in and affecting the United States in order to prevent, disclose, and counteract improper foreign influence on U.S. elections and on the U.S. political system.  U.S. law bans foreign nationals from making certain expenditures or financial disbursements for the purpose of influencing federal elections.  U.S. law also bars agents of anyforeign entity from engaging in political activities within the United States without first registering with the Attorney General.  And U.S. law requires certain foreign nationals seeking entry to the United States to obtain a visa by providing truthful and accurate information to the government.

The indictment does not charge that Russians colluded or conspired with Donald Trump or the Trump campaign.  The indictment does not allege that Russia affected the results of the election.  The indictment does charge that Russia started its campaign in 2014, before Trump announced, so that its intent to interfere did not matter as to the candidates.

Russia denigrated Hillary, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio and generally favored Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein, and Donald Trump.

The main thrust of the indictment is that the Russians "failed to register as foreign agents carrying out political activities within the United States, and obtaining visas through statements."  Had the Russians registered and stated so in their visa applications, then presumably there would be no violations, except for stealing the identities of Americans.

The indictment lists the following ads placed by the Russians on social media, using phony and stolen names:

April 6, 2016. "You know, a great number of black people support us saying that #Hillary Clinton Is Not My President"

April 7, 2016. "I say no to Hillary Clinton / I say no to manipulation"

April 19, 2016. "JOIN our #HillaryClintonForPrison2016"

May 10, 2016. "Donald wants to defeat terrorism . . . Hillary wants to sponsor it"

May 19, 2016. "Vote Republican, vote Trump, and support the Second Amendment!"

May 24, 2016. "Hillary Clinton Doesn't Deserve the Black Vote"

June 7, 2016. "Trump is our only hope for a better future!"

June 30, 2016. "#NeverHillary, #HillaryForPrison, #Hillary4Prison, #HillaryForPrison2016, #Trump2016. #Trump, #Trump4President"

July 20, 2016. "Ohio Wants Hillary 4 Prison"

August 4, 2016. "Hillary Clinton has already committed voter fraud during the Democrat Iowa Caucus."

August 10, 2016. "We cannot trust Hillary to take care of our veterans!"

October 14, 2016. "Among all the candidates Donald Trump is the one and only who can defend the police from terrorists."

October 19, 2016. "Hillary is a Satan, and her crimes and lies had proved just how evil she is."

These are not original comments about Hillary.  

We did not need the Russians to state the obvious about Hillary.  This is a job that plenty of Americans do and are willing to continue doing.  These comments and opinions were said by many Americans since 1992, when Hillary and her husband were first inflicted on us.  But the Russians were indicted not for the content of their ads, but for failing to register as foreign agents and not disclosing their activities on their visas.

After almost one year, millions of dollars spent by a team of Obama- and Hillary-supporting attorneys, with the help of the Obama DOJ and Obama FBI to get warrants based not on probable cause, but on the unverified Steele-Hillary dossier, this is the evidence of Russian interference?  Some ads on social media?

Given all the mainstream media hype about Russian interference, one would have thought the evidence would be that the Russians and Trump made up lies about Hillary to get votes for Trump.

One would think the Russians made up stories such as:

1. Hillary lied about Benghazi by blaming the attack on a video when she knew that it was caused by Islamist terrorists.  She did nothing to improve security despite repeated requests.

2. Hillary lied about Watergate.

3. Hillary attacked the women who accused her husband of rape and sexual harassment.

4. Hillary enabled her husband to sexually harass women.

5. Hillary approved the sale of 20% of our uranium to Russia in return for contributions to the Clinton Foundation of over $140 million and speech fees of $500,000 in Moscow for her husband.

6. Hillary used a private unsecure email server to conduct her secretary of state duties, lied about it, and destroyed evidence of the emails.

7. Hillary paid a foreign agent, Christopher Steele, to compile an "unverified and salacious" document, based on paid Russian informants, and information from Hillary's dirty tricks boys, Blumenthal and Shearer, to damage Trump.

8. Hillary paid Steele to submit the "salacious and unverified" dossier to the FBI to be used to get warrants to spy on Trump.

There is no question that Steele, a former British MI6 agent, worked to interfere with the 2016 election to damage Trump and help Hillary.  Was Steele, given his contacts with Russian informants and reliance on Russian informants, acting as a foreign agent?  Did Steele register as a foreign agent?  Was Steele acting on behalf of Russia in addition to acting on behalf of Hillary?  These are questions that a special counsel should have investigated.

The Foreign Agent Registration Act, 28 USC 611, defines a foreign agent as follows:

1) any person who acts as an agent, representative, employee, or servant, or any person who acts in any other capacity at the order, request, or under the direction or control, of a foreign principal or of a person any of whose activities are directly or indirectly supervised, directed, controlled, financed, or subsidized in whole or in major part by a foreign principal, and who directly or through any other person—

(i) engages within the United States in political activities for or in the interests of such foreign principal[.]

Given Steele's close association with Russian informants, presumably authorized to cooperate with Steele by the Russian government, there is a good argument that Steele was acting on behalf of Russia within the meaning of the statute to interfere in our election.  He also acted on behalf of Hillary.

Further, if Russia went to the extent alleged by Mueller and the Democrats to interfere with the 2016 election, it is reasonable to assume that Steele was used by Russia as part of its interference.  Steele's interference is more serious because it also involved Hillary and the DNC.

Hillary paid Steele, which makes her a co-conspirator with Steele.

The Steele report, paid for by Hillary, also relies on Russian informants, which means that Hillary and Steele conspired with paid Russian agents to interfere with the election to help Hillary and damage Trump.

This indictment raises the obvious question of why Mueller has not indicted Christopher Steele, who is involved in carrying out political activities in the USA, and why Mueller has not indicted those who assisted Steele, such as Hillary, the DNC, Blumenthal, Shearer, and others.  A real prosecutor can make a persuasive argument that Steele's association with Russian informants makes him a foreign agent.

18 USC 2, one of the statutes in the indictment, reads:

a) Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, abets, counsels, commands, induces or procures its commission, is punishable as a principal.

Hillary paid Steele to assemble a "salacious and unverified" dossier, with help from Blumenthal and Shearer, and paid Russian informants.

Indict them.

Image via SecretName101, Wikipedia.