Changes

==Troll farm indictment==

==Troll farm indictment==

Mueller may have perjured himself before Congress in his sworn testimony with an untruthful answer about why he held an earlier press briefing.  Court documents suggest Mueller may have made his May 29, 2019 press conference as damage control after a federal judge threatened to hold the [[Mueller team]] in criminal contempt of court over what she called misleading language in the Mueller Report about Russian government interference in the 2016 election. Under oath before Congress, Mueller denied the judge’s action had anything to do with the May 29 press conference.Paul Sperry: Mueller Tied to Double Deception: First in Court, Then Before Congress.'''<ref>[Mueller Tied to Double Deception: First in Court, Then Before Congress Mueller Tied to Double Deception: First in Court, Then Before Congress], By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations, August 7, 2019.</ref>  In the the May 29, 2019 press conference, Mueller stressed that the Russians he indicted were “private” entities and "presumed innocent."  Mueller didn’t tell the country that the day before, Judge Dabney Friedrich: ordered Mueller to stop overstating evidence of Kremlin-directed interference.

Mueller may have perjured himself before Congress in his sworn testimony with an untruthful answer about why he held an earlier press briefing.  Court documents suggest Mueller may have made his May 29, 2019 press conference as damage control after a federal judge threatened to hold the [[Mueller team]] in criminal contempt of court over what she called misleading language in the Mueller Report about Russian government interference in the 2016 election. Under oath before Congress, Mueller denied the judge’s action had anything to do with the May 29 press conference.Paul Sperry: Mueller Tied to Double Deception: First in Court, Then Before Congress.<ref>[Mueller Tied to Double Deception: First in Court, Then Before Congress Mueller Tied to Double Deception: First in Court, Then Before Congress], By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations, August 7, 2019.</ref>  In the the May 29, 2019 press conference, Mueller stressed that the Russians he indicted were “private” entities and "presumed innocent."  Mueller didn’t tell the country that the day before, Judge Dabney Friedrich: ordered Mueller to stop overstating evidence of Kremlin-directed interference.

On May 28, Judge Friedrich called attorneys prosecuting the case into her courtroom for a closed hearing. Friedrich agreed with one defendant’s claims that Mueller had overstated the evidence when he implied in the Mueller Report to Congress that the trolls were controlled by the Russian government and that the [[social media]] operations they conducted during the [[2016 presidential campaign]] were directed by [[Moscow]]. News organizations seized on the highly suggestive wording in the Mueller Report to state they were part of a [[Kremlin]]-run operation.  Concerned that the Mueller Report could prejudice a [[jury]] and jeopardize the defendants' right to a fair trial, Friedrich ordered the special prosecutor to stop making such claims and “to minimize the prejudice moving forward” — or face sanction.  “The government shall refrain from making or authorizing any public statement that links the alleged conspiracy in the indictment to the Russian government.  Willful failure to do so in the future will result in the initiation of contempt proceedings.”

On May 28, Judge Friedrich called attorneys prosecuting the case into her courtroom for a closed hearing. Friedrich agreed with one defendant’s claims that Mueller had overstated the evidence when he implied in the Mueller Report to Congress that the trolls were controlled by the Russian government and that the [[social media]] operations they conducted during the [[2016 presidential campaign]] were directed by [[Moscow]]. News organizations seized on the highly suggestive wording in the Mueller Report to state they were part of a [[Kremlin]]-run operation.  Concerned that the Mueller Report could prejudice a [[jury]] and jeopardize the defendants' right to a fair trial, Friedrich ordered the special prosecutor to stop making such claims and “to minimize the prejudice moving forward” — or face sanction.  “The government shall refrain from making or authorizing any public statement that links the alleged conspiracy in the indictment to the Russian government.  Willful failure to do so in the future will result in the initiation of contempt proceedings.”