By Aaron Miller-
The investigation into claims of Russian meddling into the U.S elections has begun with a grand jury in Washington.
Grand juries are used to issue subpoenos to compel people to testify. In the U.S, grand juries use members of the public to hear evidence in secret and compel people to testify and hand over documentation.
Mr. Robert Mueller, who is heading the case, is believed to be using the process of a grand jury to step up gathering of evidence of possible collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s team.
Mr.Mueller is also investigating a meeting between Trump’s son, Donald Jnr, his son -in law, Jared Kushner, and a Russian lawyer. The investigation in this area seeks to establish how much the president knew about the meeting before hand, and whether Russia was encouraged to disclose information about Ms.Clinton.
FBI SACKING
The sacking of former FBI director, James Comey, will also be looked into. Suspicions are rife in the U.S, that Comey was sacked by president Trump to obstruct the investigation into the Russian meddling. Comey is already on record detailing his communication with the president leading up to his sudden dimissal.
ASSURANCE
Comey told the investigation earlier in the year that Trump had approached him for assurance he wasn’t being investigated personally, which he did. The problem that followed may be when Comey did not respond to the president’s next request to announce to the world that he was not personally being investigated.
The investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S elections is looking closely at the inner circle of Trump’s campaign during and in the run up to the 2016 elections. If any of president Trump’s key aides is found to have acted improperly in terms of their affiliation with Russian forces, the president will almost certainly be implicated .
President Trump told a rally in Huntingdon, West Virginia, that the allegations were a ”hoax” that are ”demeaning” to America. ”The Russia story is a complete fabrication”, he said.
He added that his election victory had nothing to with Russia, but had to do with his supporters.
Most people know there were no Russians in our campaign. They never were. We didn’t win because of Russia, we won because of you”. The investigation has never disputed whether Trump had Russians in his campaign, but rather whether Russians were used to influence the elections.