-
Intelligence Community Meeting with Trump
Intelligence Community (Director National Intelligence James Clapper, Adm. Michael Rogers, Director FBI James Comey, Director CIA John Brennan) meet with president-elect Donald Trump on January 6th, 2017. They tell him that his election may have been compromised by Russian interference. James Comey hands Trump a full dossier of information about his visit to Moscow that could be used to blackmail him. James Comey writes a record of what happens here. -
Senate Intelligence Committee Begins investigation
January 10th, 2017 - Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee announce that they will investigate Russia's role in the 2016 election, based on the October 2016 report that Russia had meddled. -
Inauguration
January 19th, 2017 - Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. He is determined to confront the establishment in Washington. -
FBI agents meet with Flynn
January 23rd, 2017 - Comey dispatches two FBI Agents to the White House to interview National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. They want to ask him questions about an exchange of words he had over the phone with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Michael Flynn denies said conversation. This is a federal crime, and Sally Yates of the Justice Department recommends action. Electronic surveillance of the phone call is leaked two weeks later. -
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism...
...announces it is launching a probe into Russia's election hacking. The goal is to shine a light on Russia's activities to undermine democracy. -
Flynn resigns under pressure
February 13th, 2017 - Under pressure from the Washington establishment and the media, President Trump accepts the resignation of National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Ten months later, in December, Flynn will plead guilty to his charges of lying to the FBI. -
House Intelligence Committee Interviews Comey
March 20th, 2017 - In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Director FBI James Comey confirms that the FBI, as part of a counterintelligence mission, is investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian Government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and the Russian Government. -
House Oversight Committee findings
April 25th, 2017 - Representatives Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings reveal that Michael Flynn left foreign payments off of his application for security clearance in 2016, a felony punishable by up to five years in jail. -
Comey is dismissed
President Donald Trump decides to dismiss the Director of the FBI, James Comey. Rod Rosenstein builds a case against Comey, criticizing his handling of the Clinton investigation. Rosenstein criticizes Comey for taking on a role that did not belong to him. The negative reaction to Comey's firing gains momentum quickly. President Trump even celebrates the firing the next day in a private meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. -
Interview of Trump with Lester Holt
May 11th, 2017 - To address the crisis of firing James Comey, Trump goes to NBC Nightly News for an exclusive interview with Lester Holt. In the interview, Trump directly affirms that he was the driving force behind the dismissal of Comey, completely undermining the case that the White House made for him. Raises questions about whether the firing of Comey was obstruction of justice from the President. -
The Special Counsel begins
In an attempt to undo the damage done to the investigation and the Department of Justice, Rod Rosenstein appoints a Special Counsel to take over the investigation into Russian interference, and nominates former FBI Director Robert Mueller. This is the most powerful weapon the Justice Department wields. Robert Mueller puts together an expert team of prosecutors for his probe. -
Undisclosed secret meeting
The New York Times discovers a series of emails that set up an undisclosed meeting between Donald Trump, Jr. and Natalia Veselnitskaya. It is reported that Trump was promised "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. -
Trump does not have confidence in Jeff Sessions
Maggie Haberman, Mike Schmidt and Peter Baker, authors for the New York Times, go to the White House to interview President Donald Trump. Without any notice, he starts trashing Jeff Sessions, stating that he "should've never recused himself, and if he was going to recuse himself, he should've told me before he took the job, and I would've picked somebody else." Trump follows this with a few Twitter rants to make sure Sessions knows. Republican Congressmen defiantly come to Sessions' defense. -
Papadopoulos guilty, Manafort and Gates indicted.
October 5th, 2017 - A foreign policy aid for the Trump campaign, George Papadopoulos, pleads guilty for making false statements about Russian contacts. Three weeks later, chairman and deputy chairman of the Trump Campaign, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, respectively, are indicted on numerous charges from conspiracy to money laundering. -
The FBI Raid Cohen
April 9th, 2018 - The FBI raids the office of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. The news breaks to virtually all news stations in an instant. This brings a personal reminder that his life in New York was colliding with his presidency in Washington. Michael Cohen is one of Trump's closest aides, claiming that he would "take a bullet" for his boss. In a national security meeting to which the press were invited, Trump repeatedly dismisses the event as a disgrace. -
Some....disturbing...news for Mr. Trump while he's away
While President Trump is making his first presidential visit to the United Kingdom, Rod Rosenstein makes an announcement at the Justice Department that they have identified Russian G.R.U. officers by exact name, and confirms that eleven of these officers are "charged with conspiring to hack into computers, steal documents, and release those documents with the intent to interfere in the election." A near-30 page indictment lays out the details of the Russian hacking, and in great detail. -
Trump and Putin come forward
In Helsinki, Finland, Donald Trump has his first one-on-one summit with Vladimir Putin. The two presidents come forward to worldwide press to answer a few questions. He launches into a monologue about America being the country to blame, there being no collusion, the probe being a disaster, etc. Upon being asked whether he believes the conclusions of the US intelligence agencies or President Putin, he says he believes President Putin, for he told Trump "very strongly" he didn't do it. -
An Anonymous Op-Ed
September 2nd, 2018 - The New York Times publishes an op-ed article written by an anonymous senior staff member in the White House, who claims to be part of a "resistance" within the White House, and says his staff worry about his judgement and the "resistance" is working to thwart his whims. -
Manafort and Cohen both plead guilty
In separate trials, both Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort plead guilty to multiple charges -- Cohen to eight charges of campaign finance violations, and Manafort to a count of conspiracy against US and a count of conspiracy to obstruct justice due to attempts to tamper with witnesses. -
Conclusion: Congressional powers and Russian interference
By this point in Trump's presidency, it is irrefutable that the Russian Government did interfere in the United States 2016 election. With the indictments of key Trump associates such as Manafort, Cohen and Flynn, Congressional investigations and the Mueller investigation are taking steps to clarify Russian involvement. This is a proper execution of Congressional power, and should be continued to its logical end without interference from the administration.
