The Year in Review: L'Affaire Russe

2017 is coming to a close and what a year it has been for L’Affaire Russe. To help you reflect on the year that was, here’s our coverage of L’Affaire Russe over the past 12 months.

We began the year with the Jan. 5 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on cybersecurity threats and Russian hacking. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its declassified report on “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent U.S. Elections” the following day. Since then, there has been no shortage of developments. Here’s our commentary and analysis on Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections and the subsequent questions raised about the connections between members of the Trump campaign and Russian actors:

• Contrarian Thoughts on Russia and the Presidential Election

• Why Are the Trump Allegations Hanging Around When They Haven’t Been Substantiated?

• Why It Matters that We Believe the Intelligence Community

• Takeaways from the House Intel Hearing on Russian “Active Measures”

• How Congress Should Fight Election Interference

• I’m No Fan of RT, but I’m Even Less of a Fan of the Intelligence Community Playing Media Critic

• To Understand Russian Interference, Start with this Movie About Doping

• Addressing Russian Influence: What Can We Learn From U.S. Cold War Counter-Propaganda Efforts?

• From Arms and Influence to Data and Manipulation: What Can Thomas Schelling Tell Us About Cyber Coercion?

• Washington Post Reports Jared Kushner Sought Secret Communications Channel with Kremlin

• On the Back-Channel That Wasn’t and U.S. National Security Interests

• Of Course There’s Evidence Trump Colluded with Russian Intelligence

• Bombshell: Initial Thoughts on the Washington Post’s Game-Changing Story

• Takeaways from Former CIA Director Brennan’s Testimony Today

• The Time I Got Recruited to Collude with the Russians

• Is It A Crime?: Russia Election Meddling and Accomplice Liability Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

• How Much Do Americans Actually Care About the Russia Investigation?

• Seven Theories of the Case: What Do We Really Know About L’Affaire Russe and What Could It All Mean?

• The Wall Begins to Crumble: Notes on Collusion

• A New Front Opens in L’Affaire Russe

• The (Ir)relevance of the Trump Dossier

Congress began sweeping investigations this year in both the House and Senate, in addition to the numerous hearings where officials testified concerning matters Russia-related.

• What Do We Know About Investigations Into Trump’s Associates’ Ties to Russia?

• The Need for a Select Committee on the Russia Connection

• Does Sessions Have to Recuse Himself on the Russia Investigation?

• The Rules of Congressional Investigations and Trump’s Growing Problem

• Strategy and Tactics for Investigating the Russia Connection

• How Will We Know If the Russia-Trump Investigations by Congress and the FBI Are Credible?

• It’s Time for a Select Committee on Russia (Also, We Told You So)

• Bipartisan Investigations: How the 9/11 Commission Did It

• What the Heck Is Devin Nunes Talking About? A Guide for the Perplexed

• House Intel Chair Devin Nunes Strikes Again: Tracking the Pattern

• Let’s Talk About the House Intel Chairman Pointing a Finger at the FBI

• Nunes Probably Doesn’t Think He Recused Himself

• Cautionary Notes on a Select Committee for the Russia Matter

• Did the Justice Department Try to Keep Sally Yates from Testifying?

• Senate Intelligence Committee Reality Check-In

• The Yates Testimony and the White House Counsel

• What Can Congress Do If Flynn (Or Anyone Else) Refuses to Comply With a Subpoena?

• What Public Opinion of the Russia Investigation Reveals About Trust in Democratic Institutions

• Highlights on the Russia Investigation from Today’s Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing

• Advice to the Senate Intelligence Committee: Slow Down

• Your House Judiciary Committee Hard at Work with the People’s Business

• There They Go Again: Your House Judiciary Committee Hard at Work, Part II

• Ten Questions that the Senate Judiciary Committee Should Ask Jeff Sessions

• Liveblog: Jeff Sessions Testifies Before Senate Intelligence Committee

Lawfare contributors walked us through the significance of relevant testimony from DOJ and FBI officials:

• How to Listen to Jim Comey’s Testimony on Monday

• How to Read What Comey Said Today

• The Nightmare Scenario: Trump Fires Comey, the One Man Who Would Stand Up to Him

• Did Attorney General Sessions Violate His Promise to Recuse Himself in Recommending Comey’s Dismissal?

• Takeaways from Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe’s Testimony Today

• Partisan Political Figures Cannot Run the FBI

• Another Bomb Drops: Initial Thoughts on Trump Asking Comey to Kill the Flynn Investigation

• Why Did Congress Set a Ten-Year Term for the FBI Director?

• What James Comey Told Me About Donald Trump

• Questions Raised by Rod Rosenstein’s Statement

• Did Comey “Grandstand” or “Politicize” the Russia Investigation?

• Those “Three Separate Occasions”: What Comey Might Really Have Told Trump

• Does the FBI Investigation Qualify Under the Obstruction of Justice Statutes? A Closer Look

• Takeaways From Comey’s Prepared Testimony for the Senate Select Intelligence Committee

• Initial Comments on James Comey’s Written Testimony

• What Does Comey’s Statement Tell Us About Obstruction of Justice in the Flynn Investigation?

• What to Expect When You’re Expecting Comey

• Liveblog: Former FBI Director James Comey Testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee

• On the “Nature of the Person”: Initial Thoughts on James Comey’s Testimony

• Did We Learn Anything New in Comey’s SSCI Hearing?

• Trump Claims No Recordings of Conversations with Comey

• Only 17 Percent of Americans Believe Donald Trump is Telling the Truth About Comey

• FBI Independence - Too Much of a Good Thing?

• Congress Should Reconsider Giving the FBI Director Independence From Presidential Control

• Twenty Questions for Christopher Wray

• There Is No Truth Commission in L'Affaire Russe

On May 17, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to “oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential elections and related matters.” Here’s our special counsel-related analysis:

• Special Counsel; Not Special Prosecutor

• Quick Thoughts on Bob Mueller

• Initial Reactions on the Appointment of Robert Mueller as Special Counsel

• The Scope of the Mueller Probe: Will the Public Learn What Was Uncovered?

• Counterintelligence Investigations and the Special Counsel’s Mandate: Part I

• Counterintelligence Investigations and the Special Counsel’s Mandate: Part II

• Justice Under Assault

• If Rod Rosenstein Recuses: What Happens Next?

• Trump’s Potential Interference with the Russia Investigation: What To Watch For

• Is Mueller Bound by OLC’s Memo on Presidential Immunity?

• How White House Threats Condition Mueller’s Reality

• How to Read a News Story About an Investigation: Eight Tips on Who Is Saying What

• Expect Special Counsel Mueller to Follow the Money

• Seven Frequently Asked Mueller Indictment Questions for Which We Don’t Have Answers

• Summary: Papadopoulos Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements to the FBI

• Summary: Manafort and Gates Indicted, Allegations and Charges

• Robert Mueller’s Show of Strength: A Quick and Dirty Analysis

• A Note of Caution for Robert Mueller: The Attacks on the Special Counsel Are Working

• What Does the Manafort-Gates Indictment Mean for FARA Enforcement?

• The Flynn Plea: A Quick and Dirty Analysis

• Flynn’s Plea and the Significance of Lying in the Russia Investigation

• Mueller, the GSA, and the Trump Transition

Here is Lawfare’s analysis of the events that precipitated Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s plea deal announced on Dec. 4:

• Despite Denials, Michael Flynn Discussed Sanctions on Calls with Russian Ambassador

• Why Michael Flynn’s Plan to Relax Russia Sanctions is Terrible Policy

• The Treatment of Flynn’s Phone Calls Complies with FISA Minimization Procedures

• Michael Flynn May Want to Call the ACLU

• More Questions for McGahn in the Flynn Imbroglio

• General Flynn and the Privacy of U.S. Person Information Under FISA

• It’s Not About Mike Flynn

• Flynn, FISA, and FARA: On Foreign Principals and Agents of Foreign Power

• What Lies Behind Flynn’s Public Request for Immunity?

• Immunity

• Did Trump Tell Flynn to Talk to the Russian Ambassador - and Lie About It?

• What to Make of the Latest Story About Flynn and Gulen?

• Why Flynn’s Nuclear Advocacy Was So Dangerous

We have also commented on the role of the presidency and the meaning of executive privilege as investigations continued:

• It’s Not a Post-Fact World Yet: Why Kompromat Can’t Touch Trump Yet

• Thoughts on the Proper Role of the White House Counsel

• The President “Lawyers Up”: Constitutional Duty and Private Interest in the Trump Legal Defense

• The President “Lawyers Up”: Constitutional Duty and Private Interest, Part II

• On Bad Lawyering in Presidential Scandals Past and Present

• Legal Ethics Questions for Trump’s Personal Lawyers

• A Few Words in Defense of Resignation

• Primer on Executive Privilege and the Executive Branch Approach to Congressional Oversight

• Some Thoughts on the Coats-Roger Testimony and Executive Privilege

• A Disabled Executive: The Special Counsel Investigation and Presidential Immunities

• Trump’s Potential Interference with the Russia Investigation: What To Watch For

• The Political Ethics - and Defense - of Donald Trump

• A “Beleaguered” Justice Department Under the Trump Presidency

• One Reading of the President’s “Witch Hunt” Tweets

L’Affaire Russe has raised questions independent of Russian interference, and we covered them here:

• The Law of Leaks

• Leaks Aren’t the Real Story, but They Shouldn’t Be Ignored

• The Law of Lying: Perjury, False Statements, and Obstruction

• Is There a Perjury Case Against Sessions?

• The Coming Constitutional Crisis?

• Investigating the Obama Wiretap Order

• The Rise of the Autocrats

• The Latest Scoop from CNN and the New York Times: A Quick and Dirty Analysis

• If the Government Surveilled Manafort, It Wasn’t About Politics

• Alan Dershowitz’s Worries About the Russia Investigation and the Criminalization of Politics

• Five Questions for Alan Dershowitz on the Criminalization of Political Differences