Timeline of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Major events prior to Trump's inauguration related to interference by Russia in the U.S. 2016 election}}
{{short description|Major events prior to Trump's inauguration related to interference by Russia in the U.S. 2016 election}}
{{Very long|date=July 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2018}}


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** The FBI applies for a [[FISA warrant]] to monitor communications of four Trump campaign officials. The [[FISA Court]] rejects the application, asking the FBI to narrow its scope.<ref name=guardian-20170111>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/10/fbi-chief-given-dossier-by-john-mccain-alleging-secret-trump-russia-contacts |title=John McCain passes dossier alleging secret Trump-Russia contacts to FBI |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=January 11, 2017 |access-date=August 4, 2017}}</ref> A warrant on Carter Page alone is granted in October 2016.<ref name="PageNakashima20170411"/>
** The FBI applies for a [[FISA warrant]] to monitor communications of four Trump campaign officials. The [[FISA Court]] rejects the application, asking the FBI to narrow its scope.<ref name=guardian-20170111>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/10/fbi-chief-given-dossier-by-john-mccain-alleging-secret-trump-russia-contacts |title=John McCain passes dossier alleging secret Trump-Russia contacts to FBI |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |last=Borger |first=Julian |date=January 11, 2017 |access-date=August 4, 2017}}</ref> A warrant on Carter Page alone is granted in October 2016.<ref name="PageNakashima20170411"/>
** Lawyer and Trump campaign foreign policy advisor [[Joseph E. Schmitz]] receives a cache of emails from a client that is purported to be Clinton's deleted 30,000 emails, acquired from a [[dark web]] forum. Schmitz meets with officials at the FBI, the State Department, and the [[Inspector General of the Intelligence Community|Intelligence Community Inspector General]] (ICIG) in an effort to get the emails reviewed. The State Department and ICIG decline to review the emails. Schmitz's efforts are independent of the [[#20160903-05|investigation by Peter Smith's team]].<ref name=TrumpAdvisorPlayedKeyCNN-20180407>{{Cite web |title=Exclusive: Trump adviser played key role in pursuit of possible Clinton emails from dark web before election |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/politics/joseph-schmitz-trump-adviser-clinton-emails/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |date=April 7, 2018 |access-date=November 21, 2019 |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Jenna |last2=Sciutto |first2=Jim |author-link2=Jim Sciutto|last3=Bernstein |first3=Carl |author-link3=Carl Bernstein}}</ref>
** Lawyer and Trump campaign foreign policy advisor [[Joseph E. Schmitz]] receives a cache of emails from a client that is purported to be Clinton's deleted 30,000 emails, acquired from a [[dark web]] forum. Schmitz meets with officials at the FBI, the State Department, and the [[Inspector General of the Intelligence Community|Intelligence Community Inspector General]] (ICIG) in an effort to get the emails reviewed. The State Department and ICIG decline to review the emails. Schmitz's efforts are independent of the [[#20160903-05|investigation by Peter Smith's team]].<ref name=TrumpAdvisorPlayedKeyCNN-20180407>{{Cite web |title=Exclusive: Trump adviser played key role in pursuit of possible Clinton emails from dark web before election |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/06/politics/joseph-schmitz-trump-adviser-clinton-emails/index.html |website=[[CNN]] |date=April 7, 2018 |access-date=November 21, 2019 |last1=McLaughlin |first1=Jenna |last2=Sciutto |first2=Jim |author-link2=Jim Sciutto|last3=Bernstein |first3=Carl |author-link3=Carl Bernstein}}</ref>

=== July 2016 ===
* '''July''':
** The IRA's translator project grows to over 80 employees.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** Carter Page makes a five-day trip to Moscow.<ref name="Prokop_2/2/2018">{{cite news|last=Prokop|first=Andrew |title=Carter Page, the star of the Nunes memo, explained |work=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |date=February 2, 2018 |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/2/16956014/nunes-memo-carter-page |access-date=April 13, 2018}}</ref> The Steele dossier alleges that in July, Page secretly met [[Rosneft]] chairman [[Igor Sechin]] in Moscow, together with a "senior Kremlin Internal Affairs official, DIVYEKIN", that Sechin offered Trump a 19% stake in Rosneft (worth about $11&nbsp;billion) in exchange for lifting the [[International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis|sanctions against Russia]] after his election,<ref name="Bertrand_11/6/2017">{{cite news | last=Bertrand |first=Natasha |title=Carter Page's testimony is filled with bombshells – and supports key portions of the Steele dossier | work=[[Business Insider]] | date=November 6, 2017 | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-congressional-testimony-transcript-steele-dossier-2017-11 | access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Weindling_1/11/2017">{{cite news |last=Weindling |first=Jacob |title=The 31 Most Explosive Allegations against Trump from the Leaked Intelligence Document |website=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]] |date=January 11, 2017 |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/01/the-31-most-explosive-allegations-against-trump-fr.html |access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref> and that Page confirmed, on Trump's "full authority", that he intended to lift the sanctions.<ref name="Withnall_Sengupta_1/12/2017">{{cite news | last=Withnall | first=Adam |last2=Sengupta | first2=Kim | title=The 10 key Donald Trump allegations from the classified Russia memos | work=[[The Independent]] | date=January 12, 2017 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-russia-10-allegations-dossier-kremlin-michael-cohen-sex-claims-intelligence-reports-a7522056.html | access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Bertrand_1/27/2017">{{cite news | last=Bertrand | first=Natasha | title=Memos: CEO of Russia's state oil company offered Trump adviser, allies a cut of huge deal if sanctions were lifted | work=[[Business Insider]] | date=January 27, 2017 | url=http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-trump-russia-igor-sechin-dossier-2017-1 | access-date=December 29, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Tracy_11/7/2017">{{cite news | last=Tracy | first=Abigail | date=November 7, 2017 | title=Is Carter Page Digging the Trump Administration's Grave? Three things the former campaign adviser revealed to Congress that should scare the White House. | work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] | url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/carter-page-hearing-donald-trump-russia | access-date=December 29, 2017 }}</ref>
* '''July 5''':
** At his London office, Steele reveals to an FBI agent from Rome some of his findings that indicate a wide-ranging Russian conspiracy to elect Trump.<ref name=nyt-20171230 /><ref>{{cite news |title=Hero or hired gun? How a British former spy became a flash point in the Russia investigation. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hero-or-hired-gun-how-a-british-former-spy-became-a-flash-point-in-the-russia-investigation/2018/02/06/94ea5158-0795-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html |work=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 6, 2016|access-date=March 14, 2018 |last1=Hamburger |first1=Tom |last2=Helderman |first2=Rosalind S.}}</ref>
** "United Muslims of America", an IRA group, orders posters with fake Clinton quotes promoting [[Sharia Law]]. The posters are ordered for the "Support Hillary, Save American Muslims" rally they are organizing.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''July 5–6''': Denis Klimentov emails his brother Dmitri and Director of the MFA's Information and Press Department [[Maria Zakharova]] about Page's visit to Moscow and his connection to the Trump campaign. He offers to contact Page on behalf of the MFA. Dmitri Klimentov then contacts Peskov about introducing Page to Russian government officials. The next day, Peskov replies, "I have read about [Page]. Specialists say that he is far from being the main one. So I better not initate a meeting in the Kremlin."{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|pp=99–100}}
* '''July 6''':
** "Guccifer 2.0" releases another cache of DNC documents and sends copies to ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trumpocalypse and other DNC plans for July |url=https://guccifer2.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/trumpocalypse |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706232502/https://guccifer2.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/trumpocalypse |archive-date=July 6, 2016|access-date=March 14, 2016 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |author=Guccifer 2.0|publisher=[[WordPress]]|author-link=Guccifer 2.0 }}</ref><ref name=hillguccifer20>{{cite news|title=Guccifer 2.0 releases new DNC docs |url=http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/287558-guccifer-20-drops-new-dnc-docs |date=July 13, 2016|access-date=March 14, 2018 |last1=Uchill |first1=Joe|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]}}</ref>
** Assange, as "WikiLeaks", asks "Guccifer 2.0" via Twitter direct messaging to provide any information related to Clinton they may have.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=45}}<ref name="SecurityReportsRevealHowCNN-20190715" />
* '''July 6–10''': The IRA's "Don't Shoot" Facebook group and affiliated "Don't Shoot Us" website try to organize a protest outside the [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], police headquarters on July 10 in response to the July 6 fatal police [[shooting of Philando Castile]]. Some local activists become suspicious of the event because St. Paul police were not involved in the shooting: Castile was shot by a [[St. Anthony, Minnesota|St. Anthony]] police officer in nearby [[Falcon Heights, Minnesota|Falcon Heights]]. Local activists contact Don't Shoot. After being pressed on who they are and who supports them, Don't Shoot agrees to move the protest to the [[St. Anthony, Minnesota|St. Anthony]] police headquarters. The concerned local activists investigate further and urge protesters not to participate after deciding Don't Shoot is a "total troll job." Don't Shoot organizers eventually relinquish control of the event to local organizers, who subsequently decline to accept any money from Don't Shoot.<ref>{{cite news|title=Did Russian hackers organize Castile protest? Activists say no| url=https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/minnesota/2017/11/01/did-russian-hackers-organize-castile-protest-activists-say-no/820782001/|work=[[St. Cloud Times]]|publisher=[[Gannett Company]]|date=November 1, 2017|access-date=April 2, 2018| last=Furst|first=Randy}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Exclusive: Even Pokémon Go used by extensive Russian-linked meddling effort|url=http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/media/dont-shoot-us-russia-pokemon-go/index.html|publisher=[[CNN]] |date=October 13, 2017| access-date=April 2, 2018|last1=O'Sullivan|first1=Donie|last2=Byers|first2=Dylan}}</ref>
* '''July 7''':
** In a lecture at the [[New Economic School]] in Moscow,<ref>{{Citation |last=Katehon Think Tank |title=The Lecture of Trump's Advisor Carter Page in Moscow |date=July 7, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CYF29saA9w |accessdate=May 29, 2017}}</ref> Page criticizes American foreign policy, saying that many of the mistakes spoiling relations between the US and Russia "originated in my own country."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://apnews.com/7503064184be4df7a5ba021ddc8ea35c/trump-foreign-policy-adviser-has-advice-russian-grads |title=Trump foreign policy adviser has advice for Russian grads |work=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=May 29, 2017|language=en-US|date=July 8, 2016}}</ref> Page had received permission from the Trump campaign to make the trip.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/07/campaign-granted-page-permission-moscow-trip/98874648/ |title=Trump campaign gave Page permission for Moscow trip |work=[[USA Today]]|publisher=[[Gannett Company]]|access-date=May 29, 2017 |language=en|date=March 7, 2017|last=Reilly|first=Steve}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=100}}
** In an email exchange, Manafort and Kilimnik discuss whether his campaign work is helping his relationship with Deripaska.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=137}} Kilimnik writes that Deripaska is paying significantly more attention to the campaign and expects him to reach out to Manafort soon.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=137}} Using his official Trump campaign email address, Manafort asks Kilimnik to forward an offer to provide "private briefings" to Deripaska.<ref name=ManafortPrivateBriefings20170920>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/manafort-offered-to-give-russian-billionaire-private-briefings-on-2016-campaign/2017/09/20/399bba1a-9d48-11e7-8ea1-ed975285475e_story.html |title=Manafort offered to give Russian billionaire 'private briefings' on 2016 campaign |last=Hamburger |first=Tom |date=September 20, 2017 |work=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=September 20, 2017 |last2=Helderman |first2=Rosalind S. |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |last3=Leonnig |first3=Carol D. |last4=Entous |first4=Adam}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Manafort used Trump campaign account to email Ukrainian operative |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/20/paul-manafort-trump-campaign-email-ukrainian-operative-242949 |work=[[Politico]] |date=September 20, 2017|access-date=March 14, 2018 |last=Dawsey |first=Josh}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=137}}
* '''July 8''': Carter Page emails Dahl and Gordon about outreach he received "from a few Russian legislators and senior members of the Presidential Administration here."{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=101}}
* '''July 9''':
** ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reports that Trump is considering Flynn as his running mate, with support from Senator [[Jeff Sessions]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/09/a-curveball-in-trumps-veep-search-hes-seriously-considering-a-retired-general/ |title=A curveball in Trump's Veep search: He's seriously considering a retired general |date=July 9, 2016 |work=[[The Washington Post]] |last1=Costa |first1=Robert |accessdate=May 29, 2017}}</ref> Trump eventually selects [[Mike Pence]], [[Governor of Indiana]].
** The "Support Hillary, Save American Muslims" rally occurs in Washington, D.C. The rally is organized by the IRA group "United Muslims of America."<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** Page emails Clovis and describes a private meeting with [[Deputy Prime Minister of Russia]] [[Arkady Dvorkovich]].{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=101}}<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/carter-page-russia-testimony_us_5a01159be4b066c2c039cb79 |title=In New Testimony, Carter Page Forced To Reveal Meetings With Russian Officials |work=[[Huffington Post]] |date=July 11, 2017|last1=Schulberg|first1=Jessica|last2=Visser|first2=Nick|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109080707/http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/carter-page-russia-testimony_us_5a01159be4b066c2c039cb79|archive-date=November 9, 2017}}</ref> He says Dvorkovich "expressed strong support for Mr. Trump and a desire to work together toward devising better solutions in response to the vast range of current international problems."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/11/07/russian-officials-and-allies-repeatedly-signaled-support-for-trump-to-his-campaign-team |title=Russian officials and allies repeatedly signaled support for Trump to his campaign team|work=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 7, 2017 |access-date=March 26, 2018 |last=Bump|first=Philip}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=101}}
* '''July 10''':
** A [[Black Lives Matter]] protest rally is held in Dallas. A "Blue Lives Matter" counterprotest is held across the street. The Blue Lives Matter protest is organized by the "Heart of Texas" Facebook group, controlled by the IRA.<ref name=RussiaOrganizeProtestsVanityFair20171020>{{cite news|title=How Russia Secretly Orchestrated Dozens of U.S. Protests|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/how-russia-secretly-orchestrated-dozens-of-us-protests|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=October 30, 2017|access-date=March 31, 2018| last=Kosoff| first=Maya}}</ref><ref name=WhatRusiaReallyWantsNationalReview20171031>{{cite news|title=What Russia Really Wants: A Divided, Paralyzed America|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/what-russia-really-wants-divided-paralyzed-america/|work=[[National Review]]|date=October 31, 2017|access-date=April 2, 2018|last=Geraghty|first1=Jim}}</ref><ref name=FacebookPhonyEventsWapo20180125 />
** DNC staffer [[Seth Rich]] is murdered in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of Washington, D.C., a block from his home. Assange makes statements about Rich in July and August implying that he is the source of the stolen DNC emails.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/24/15685560/seth-rich-conspiracy-theory-explained-fox-news-hannity |title=The bonkers Seth Rich conspiracy theory, explained |last=Guo |first=Jeff |date=May 24, 2017 |website=[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]] |access-date=November 2, 2019}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/24/15685560/seth-rich-conspiracy-theory-explained-fox-news-hannity |title=The bonkers Seth Rich conspiracy theory, explained |last=Guo |first=Jeff |date=May 24, 2017 |website=[[Vox (magazine)|Vox]] |access-date=November 2, 2019}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|pp=48-49}}
* '''July 11–12''':
** FBI informant [[Stefan Halper]] has an initial encounter with [[Carter Page]] at a London symposium.<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/22/how-the-fbi-informants-outreach-to-trump-staffers-fits-into-overall-investigation/|title=Analysis &#124; How the FBI informant's outreach to Trump staffers fits into overall investigation|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 22, 2018|last=Bump |first=Philip}}</ref> A former federal law enforcement official tells ''The New York Times'' the encounter was a coincidence, rather than at the FBI's direction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/us/politics/barr-trump-campaign-spying.html|title=Barr Asserts Intelligence Agencies Spied on the Trump Campaign|first1=Nicholas|last1=Fandos|first2=Adam|last2=Goldman|date=April 10, 2019|website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
** Papadopoulos and fellow campaign foreign policy advisor [[Walid Phares]] exchange emails discussing the upcoming Transatlantic Parliamentary Group on Counterterrorism (TAG) conference, of which Phares is also co-secretary general. In the email chain, Phares advises Papadopoulos that other summit attendees "are very nervous about Russia. So be aware."{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=91}}
* '''July 12''':
** An IRA group buys ads on Facebook for the "Down with Hillary" rally in New York City.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** The Illinois State Board of Elections discovers some of its servers have been hacked and closes the security hole used to compromise the systems.<ref name="IllinoisChapterInTheCST-20170607"/><ref name="MuellerReportConfirmsTussiansCST-20190418"/>
* '''July 13''':
** A hacker or group calling themselves "Guccifer 2.0" releases over 10,000 names from the DNC in two spreadsheets and a list of objectionable quotes from [[Sarah Palin]].<ref name=hillguccifer20 />
** Kukes donates $49,000 to the [[Trump Victory Committee|Trump Victory fund]]. In 2017, his 2016 political donations become a subject of the Mueller investigation.<ref name=InsadeATrumpDonorsMSNBC20180930 />
** The Illinois State Board of Elections takes its website offline.<ref name="IllinoisChapterInTheCST-20170607"/><ref name="MuellerReportConfirmsTussiansCST-20190418"/>
* '''July 14''':
** "Guccifer 2.0" sends Assange an encrypted 1 GB file containing stolen DNC emails, and Assange confirms that he received it. WikiLeaks publishes the file's contents on July 22.<ref name=MuellerReportAssangeSmearedDailyBeast-20190418 />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=46}}
** German hackers [[Andy Müller-Maguhn|Andrew Müller-Maguhn]] and [[Bernd Fix]] meet with Assange for at least four hours. Müller-Maguhn is named in the Mueller report as a possible conduit for delivering hacked emails to Assange.<ref name="SecurityReportsRevealHowCNN-20190715" />
* '''July 15''': Sergei Millian reaches out to Papadopoulos on [[LinkedIn]], introducing himself "as president of [the] New York-based Russian American Chamber of Commerce." He claims to have "insider knowledge and direct access to the top hierarchy in Russian politics."{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=94}}<ref name=nyt-20171230 />
* '''July 16''':
** The IRA's Blacktivist group organizes a rally in Chicago to honor [[Sandra Bland]] on the first anniversary of her death. The rally is held in front of the [[Chicago Police Department]]'s [[Homan Square]] building. Participants pass around petitions calling for a Civilian Police Accountability Council ordinance.<ref>{{cite news|title=Demonstrators Remember Sandra Bland, Demand Greater Police Accountability |url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2016/07/16/demonstrators-remember-sandra-bland-demand-greater-police-accountability/|publisher=[[CBS Chicago]]|date=July 16, 2016|access-date=April 3, 2018|last=Dahn|first=Andy}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet|title=Google cache of "Rally in Memory of Sandra Bland" https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Y_RWmh-kKuUJ:https://www.facebook.com/events/1751718638376338/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us … |number=913812188170682368 |user=josh_emerson|first=Josh|last=Russell|date=September 29, 2017|access-date=April 3, 2018}}</ref>
** Papadopoulos, Clovis, and Phares attend the TAG conference. Contemporaneous handwritten notes in Papadopoulos's journal show that he, Clovis, and Phares discuss potential September meetings with representatives of the "office of Putin" in London. The notes say they will attend as unofficial campaign representatives. Later Clovis tells a grand jury that he does not recall attending the TAG conference, although a photograph from the conference shows him seated next to Papadopoulos.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=91}}
* '''July 18''':
** "Guccifer 2.0" dumps a new batch of documents from the DNC servers, including personal information of 20,000 Republican donors and [[opposition research]] on Trump.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/288119-new-guccifer-20-dump-highlights-wobbly-dems-on-iran-deal |title=New Guccifer 2.0 dump highlights 'wobbly Dems' on Iran deal |first=Joe |last=Uchill |date=July 18, 2016 |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=July 27, 2016}}</ref><!-- I think the preceding two entries may replace the one entry from June 15, cited for CN. I agree that the first one has little to do with Russian interference but I include it mostly for context. If you want to eliminate it, be sure that you merge the two entries together; something like "June 18: A hacker(s) going by the persona of "[[Guccifer 2.0]]" / dumped a batch of documents..." -RoyGoldsmith, 7/20/17 -->{{further|2016 Democratic National Committee email leak}}
** An Ecuadorian security guard is caught on video receiving a package outside the London embassy from a man wearing a mask and sunglasses. Later that day, Wikileaks tells Russian hackers that it received files and will be publishing them soon.<ref name="SecurityReportsRevealHowCNN-20190715" />
* '''July 18–21''': [[2016 Republican National Convention|Republican Convention]] in [[Cleveland]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/gop-convention-july-18-2016-114276.html |title=GOP convention set for July 18–21 in 2016 |last=Isenstadt |first=Alex |date=January 14, 2014 |work=[[Politico]]|access-date=January 15, 2015}}</ref>
**[[Nigel Farage]] encounters Stone and [[Alex Jones]] at a restaurant. The next day, Stone contacts Manafort and suggests a meeting between Trump and Farage. Manafort responds that he will pass on the request.<ref name=BadBoysOfBrexitRussiaTrumpWapo20180602 />
** '''July 18''':
*** Kislyak attends the convention, meeting Page and Gordon;<ref name="Ford" /> as Trump's foreign policy advisers, they stress that he would like to improve relations with Russia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/02/politics/russia-donald-trump-meetings-ambassador/index.html |title=More Trump advisers disclose meetings with Russia's ambassador |first1=Sara |last1=Murray|author-link2=Jim Acosta|last2=Acosta|first2=Jim|first3=Theodore|last3=Schleifer |publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=May 29, 2017|date=March 4, 2017}}</ref> Sessions speaks with Kislyak at a [[The Heritage Foundation|Heritage Foundation]] event.<ref name="Ford" /><ref name=WhatSessionsKnew20170302>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/03/02/what-jeff-sessions-said-about-russia-and-when/ |title=Analysis What Jeff Sessions said about Russia, and when |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=March 2, 2017 |access-date=May 29, 2017|last=Bump|first=Phillip}}</ref>
*** Gordon lobbies to remove arms sales to Ukraine from the Republican platform, citing concerns over [[War in Donbass|conflict escalation in Donbass]].<ref name="friedersdorf3march">{{cite news |last1=Friedersdorf |first1=Conor |title=Trump's Untruths About Russia Are Piling Up |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/the-untruths-of-president-trump-are-piling-up/518490/ |work=[[The Atlantic]] |date=March 3, 2017 |accessdate=May 29, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/08/06/488876597/how-the-trump-campaign-weakened-the-republican-platform-on-aid-to-ukraine |title=How The Trump Campaign Weakened The Republican Platform On Aid To Ukraine |publisher=[[NPR]] |first=Brian |last=Naylor |date=August 6, 2016 |access-date=May 29, 2017}}</ref> In December 2017, Diana Denman, a Republican delegate who supported the weapons sale, says that Trump directed Gordon to weaken that position.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/12/04/568310790/2016-rnc-delegate-trump-directed-change-to-party-platform-on-ukraine-support |title=2016 RNC Delegate: Trump Directed Change To Party Platform On Ukraine Support |publisher=[[NPR]]|access-date=December 5, 2017 |language=en|last=Johnson|first=Carrie|date=December 4, 2017}}</ref>
** '''July 21''':
*** Trump formally accepts the [[Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016|Republican nomination]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/us/politics/donald-trump-rnc-speech.html |title=His Tone Dark, Donald Trump Takes G.O.P. Mantle |last1=Healy |first1=Patrick |last2=Martin |first2=Jonathan |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 21, 2016 |access-date=July 22, 2016}}</ref>
*** Farage and [[Andy Wigmore]] encounter staffers for Mississippi Governor [[Phil Bryant]] at the bar in the Hilton Hotel. A staffer invites Wigmore and Farage to Mississippi.<ref name=BadBoysOfBrexitRussiaTrumpWapo20180602 />
* '''July 19''':
** Steele files a dossier memo alleging that during his Moscow trip, Page secretly met [[Rosneft]] chairman [[Igor Sechin]], together with a "senior Kremlin Internal Affairs official, DIVYEKIN", that Sechin offered Trump a 19% stake in Rosneft (worth about $11&nbsp;billion) in exchange for lifting the [[International sanctions during the Ukrainian crisis|sanctions against Russia]] after his election, and that Page confirmed, on Trump's "full authority", that he intended to lift the sanctions.<ref name="Prokop_2/2/2018"/><ref name="Bertrand_11/6/2017"/><ref name="Weindling_1/11/2017"/><ref name="Withnall_Sengupta_1/12/2017"/><ref name="Bertrand_1/27/2017"/><ref name="Tracy_11/7/2017"/>
** The Illinois State Board of Elections informs the [[Illinois Attorney General]] (IAG) and the [[Illinois General Assembly]] of the breach. The IAG notifies the FBI, which brings in the Department of Homeland Security to help investigate.<ref name="IllinoisChapterInTheCST-20170607"/><ref name="MuellerReportConfirmsTussiansCST-20190418"/>
* '''July 21–August 12''': The Illinois State Board of Elections brings its website back online. The GRU attacks the system five times per second before giving up on August 12.<ref name="IllinoisChapterInTheCST-20170607"/><ref name="MuellerReportConfirmsTussiansCST-20190418"/>
* '''July 22''': [[WikiLeaks]] publishes [[2016 Democratic National Committee email leak|20,000 emails]] from seven key DNC officials. The emails show them disparaging [[Bernie Sanders]] and favoring [[Hillary Clinton]] in the 2016 presidential primaries.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/24/politics/dnc-email-leak-wikileaks/index.html |title=What was in the DNC email leak? |first1=Theodore |last1=Schleifer |first2=Eugene |last2=Scott |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=July 24, 2016 |access-date=July 27, 2016}}</ref>
* '''July 22–26''': Papadopoulos asks Timofeev about Millian. Timofeev responds that he hasn't heard of him.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=94}}
* '''July 23''': The IRA-organized "Down with Hillary" rally is held in New York City. The agency sends 30 news releases to media outlets using the email address ''[email protected]''.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''July 24''':
** DNC Chairwoman [[Debbie Wasserman Schultz]] is forced to resign because of the WikiLeaks email publication.<ref>{{cite news |title=DNC chairwoman will resign in aftermath of committee email controversy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hacked-emails-cast-doubt-on-hopes-for-party-unity-at-democratic-convention/2016/07/24/a446c260-51a9-11e6-b7de-dfe509430c39_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |first1=Anne |last1=Gearan |first2=Philip |last2=Rucker |first3=Abby |last3=Phillip |date=July 24, 2016 |access-date=May 30, 2017}}</ref>
** Appearing on ''[[This Week (ABC TV series)|This Week]]'', Manafort denies there are any links between him, Trump, or the "campaign and Putin and his regime".<ref>{{cite news |title='This Week' Transcript: Live from Philadelphia Democratic National Convention |url=http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/week-transcript-live-philadelphia-democratic-national-convention/story?id=40825144 |publisher=[[ABC News]] |date=July 24, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018 |author=ABC News |work=[[This Week (ABC TV series)|This Week]]|author-link = ABC News}}</ref>
* '''July 25–28''': [[2016 Democratic National Convention|Democratic Convention]] in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/democratic-convention-2016 |title=Live Updates: 2016 Democratic Convention |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=July 28, 2016}}</ref>
* '''July 25''':
** Based on assessments from cybersecurity firms, the DNC and the Clinton campaign say that Russian intelligence operators have hacked their e-mails and forwarded them to WikiLeaks.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-07-25/cybersecurity-experts-say-russia-hacked-the-democrats |title=Cyber-Experts Say Russia Hacked the Democratic National Committee |last=Lake |first=Eli |author-link=Eli Lake |date=July 25, 2016 |work=[[Bloomberg View]] |access-date=October 23, 2016}}</ref>
** Stone emails his associate [[Jerome Corsi]], "Get to (Assange) [a]t Ecuadorian Embassy in London and get the pending (WikiLeaks) emails".<ref name=CorsiStone>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/mueller-has-emails-stone-pal-corsi-about-wikileaks-dem-email-n940611 |title=Mueller has emails from Stone pal Corsi about WikiLeaks Dem email dump; "Word is (Julian Assange) plans 2 more dumps...Impact planned to be very damaging," Jerome Corsi said in email to Stone, say draft court documents. |first=Anna|last=Schecter |date=November 27, 2018 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=November 27, 2018}}</ref> Corsi later passes this along to [[Ted Malloch]], a conservative author in London.<ref name=CorsiStone />
* '''July 26''':
** Trump denies having any investments in Russia.<ref name=TheEventsThatLedWapo20181129 /><ref>{{cite tweet| number=758071952498159616|author=Donald J. Trump|user=realDonaldTrump|date=July 26, 2016|access-date=December 3, 2018|title=For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia.|author-link=Donald Trump}}</ref>
** The Australian government informs the U.S. government of Papadopoulos's May 6 interactions with their ambassador in London. The FBI opens its investigation of potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign five days later.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=89}}<ref>{{cite news|last1=Goldman|first1=Adam |last2=Schmidt|first2=Michael S. |last3=Mazzetti|first3=Mark |title=F.B.I. Sent Investigator Posing as Assistant to Meet With Trump Aide in 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/us/politics/fbi-government-investigator-trump.html |accessdate=4 May 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 May 2019}}</ref>
* '''July 27''':
** On or about this date "the Conspirators attempted after hours to spearphish for the first time email accounts at a domain hosted by a third-party provider and used by Clinton's personal office. At or around the same time, they also targeted seventy-six email addresses at the domain for the Clinton Campaign."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/396915-indictment-russians-tried-to-hack-clinton-around-when-trump-publicly |title=Indictment: Russians tried to hack Clinton around when Trump publicly asked them to |author=Ben Kamisar |date=July 13, 2018 |website=TheHill.com |access-date=July 13, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/7/13/17569264/mueller-indictment-trump-russia-email-hack |title=July 27, 2016: Trump publicly asked Russia to find Hillary's emails. They acted within hours.; Apparently, Russia was listening. |author=Dylan Scott |date=July 13, 2018 |website=[[Vox.com]] |access-date=July 13, 2018}}</ref>
** Trump calls for Russia to give Clinton's missing emails to the FBI. His tweet is before his statements on the matter to the press.<ref>{{cite tweet |number=758335147183788032 |user=realDonaldTrump |title=If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton's 33,000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they should share them with the FBI! |first=Donald|last=Trump |author-link=Donald Trump |date=July 27, 2016|access-date=March 13, 2018}}</ref>
** Trump tells a [[CBS]] [[network affiliate|affiliate]] in [[Miami]], "I have nothing to do with Russia. Nothing to do. I never met Putin. I have nothing to do with Russia whatsoever." This contradicts his many claims since 2013 to have met Putin and done business in Russia.<ref name="TrumpLetterToPutin20180309"/>
** At a news conference, Trump says he "hopes" Russia can find [[Hillary Clinton email controversy|Clinton's missing emails]]. The remark triggers a backlash from media and politicians who criticize Trump's "urging a foreign adversary to conduct cyberespionage" against his political opponent.<ref name="parker27july">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-clinton-emails.html |title=Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton's Missing Emails |date=July 27, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |last2=Sanger |first2=David E. |quote=Donald J. Trump said on Wednesday that he hoped Russian intelligence services had successfully hacked Hillary Clinton's email, and encouraged them to publish whatever they may have stolen, essentially urging a foreign adversary to conduct cyberespionage against a former secretary of state. |last1=Parker |first1=Ashley |accessdate=May 29, 2017}}</ref><ref name="CrowleyPagerJuly27">{{cite news |url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/trump-putin-no-relationship-226282 |title=Trump urges Russia to hack Clinton's email |date=July 27, 2016 |work=[[Politico]] |quote=Donald Trump invited Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails on Wednesday, asking one of America's longstanding geopolitical adversaries to find 'the 30,000 emails that are missing' from the personal server she used during her time as secretary of state. |first=Michael |last=Crowley|first2=Tyler|last2=Pager}}</ref> Trump responds that he was being "sarcastic".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/donald-trump-russia-hack-sarcasm-226343 |title=Trump on Russia hacking comments: 'Of course I'm being sarcastic' |work=[[Politico]] |first=Nick |last=Gass |date=July 27, 2016 |access-date=May 31, 2017}}</ref> A 2018 indictment alleges [[GRU|Russian intelligence officers]] began a [[spearphishing]] attack on non-public Clinton campaign email accounts that night,<ref>{{cite web|title=The timing, the proof, the details: Takeaways from Mueller's new indictments|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/timing-proof-details-takeaways-mueller-s-new-indictments-n891356|website=[[NBC News]]|date=July 13, 2018|access-date=July 13, 2018|last=Dilanian|first=Ken}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=49}} In April–May 2018, Flynn tells Mueller's team that after this event, Trump repeatedly asks "individuals affiliated with his Campaign[sic]" to find Clinton's emails.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=62}}
** On ''[[CBS This Morning]]'', in response to a question from [[Norah O'Donnell]], Manafort denies any financial relationship between Trump and Russia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/campaign-chair-denies-financial-relationship-between-trump-and-russia |title=Trump campaign on DNC hack |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=July 27, 2016 |website=cbsnews.com |access-date=24 October 2019 |quote=See/hear starting at 1:26 of 4:13, specifically}}</ref>
* '''July 28''': Clinton formally accepts the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016|Democratic nomination]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2016/jul/28/democratic-national-convention-hillary-clinton-2016-election-live |title=Democratic convention live: Hillary Clinton to officially accept nomination |work=[[The Guardian]] |last=Bixby |first=Scott |date=July 28, 2016 |access-date=July 28, 2016}}</ref>
* '''July 29''':
** Kilimnik sends Manafort an email requesting to meet in person so he can brief Manafort on a meeting he had "with the guy who gave you your biggest black caviar jar several years ago", saying he has important messages to deliver from this person.<ref name=ManafortCurryFavorTheAtlantic201710 /> In September 2017, ''The Washington Post'' reports that investigators believe Kilimnik and Manafort used the term "black caviar" in communications [[Code word (figure of speech)|as a reference to expected]] payments from former clients.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manafort offered to give Russian billionaire 'private briefings' on 2016 campaign|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/manafort-offered-to-give-russian-billionaire-private-briefings-on-2016-campaign/2017/09/20/399bba1a-9d48-11e7-8ea1-ed975285475e_story.html|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 20, 2017|access-date=July 6, 2018|last1=Hamburger|first1=Tom|last2=Helderman|first2=Rosalind S.|last3=Leonnig|first3=Carol D.|author-link3=Carol D. Leonnig|last4=Entous|first4=Adam}}</ref> In December 2018, ''TIME'' magazine reveals that the names "Victor" and "V." mentioned in the emails between Kilimnik and Manafort refer to Deripaska aide and former Russian intelligence officer Commander Viktor A. Boyarkin.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Russian Ex-Spy Pressured Manafort Over Debts to an Oligarch |url=http://time.com/5490169/paul-manafort-victor-boyarkin-debts/ |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |last1=Shuster |first1=Simon |date=December 29, 2018 |access-date=January 7, 2019}}</ref> In 2018, Manafort tells Mueller's team that "the guy" was Yanukovych, who gave him a $30,000–$40,000 jar of [[caviar]] in 2010 to celebrate [[2010 Ukrainian presidential election|being elected President of Ukraine]].{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=139}}
** Cambridge Analytica employee Emily Cornell sends an email to people working with the pro-Trump [[Make America Number 1]] super PAC, which is funded by [[Robert Mercer|Robert]] and [[Rebekah Mercer]]. Cornell notes Cambridge Analytica's work for the [[super PAC]] and suggests they capitalize on the recently released DNC emails and any Clinton emails that may be stolen as suggested by Trump on July 27.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cambridge Analytica Looked to Pounce on Russian Hacks, Email Shows|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/cambridge-analytica-looked-to-pounce-on-russian-hacks-email-shows?ref=author|website=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=March 21, 2018|access-date=January 2, 2019|last=Woodruff|first=Betsy}}</ref>
* '''July 30''': Papadopoulos meets with Millian in New York City.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=94}}
* '''July 31''':
** The FBI starts a [[counter-intelligence]] investigation into Russian interference, including possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia.<ref name=Wilber>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-comey-fbi-launched-investigation-into-1490023083-htmlstory.html |title=Comey says FBI began investigation into Russia meddling in July |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |last1=Wilber |first1=Del Quentin |author-link=Del Quentin Wilber |last2=Cloud |first2=Davis S. |date=March 20, 2017 |accessdate=March 21, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bump |first=Philip |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/02/25/what-we-learned-from-the-democratic-response-to-the-nunes-memo-and-what-we-didnt/ |title=What we learned from the Democratic response to the Nunes memo – and what we didn't |date=February 25, 2018 |work=[[The Washington Post]] |accessdate=February 26, 2018}}</ref> The investigation is issued the [[Crossfire Hurricane (FBI investigation)|code name "Crossfire Hurricane."]]<ref name=CodeNameCrossfireHurricaneNYT20180516>{{cite web|title=Code Name Crossfire Hurricane: The Secret Origins of the Trump Investigation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/us/politics/crossfire-hurricane-trump-russia-fbi-mueller-investigation.html|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 16, 2018|access-date=July 5, 2018|last1=Apuzzo|first1=Matt|last2=Goldman|first2=Adam|last3=Fandos|first3=Nicholas|author-link1=Matt Apuzzo|author-link2=Adam Goldman}}</ref>
** In an interview on ''[[This Week (ABC TV series)|This Week]]'', Trump tells [[George Stephanopoulos]] that people in his campaign were responsible for changing the GOP's platform stance on Ukraine, but that he was not personally involved.<ref name="ABC_Trump_Stephanopoulos_7/31/2016">{{cite web |title='This Week' Transcript: Donald Trump, Vice President Joe Biden, and Ret. Gen. John Allen |url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-donald-trump-vice-president-joe-biden/story?id=41020870 |date=July 31, 2016 |publisher=[[ABC News]] |series=[[This Week (ABC TV series)|This Week]] |access-date=April 18, 2018 }}</ref>
** Manafort tells [[Chuck Todd]] on ''[[Meet the Press]]'' that the Trump campaign was not involved in changing the GOP's platform stance on Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/trump-chairman-denies-any-role-platform-change-ukraine-n620511 |title=Trump Chairman Denies Any Role in Platform Change on Ukraine |last=Bronston |first=Sally |date=July 31, 2016 |website=[[NBC News]] |access-date=October 23, 2019}}</ref>
** Kilimnik again emails Manafort to confirm their dinner meeting in New York, saying he needs two hours "because it is a long caviar story to tell."<ref name=ManafortCurryFavorTheAtlantic201710 />
** Stone emails [[Jerome Corsi]] telling him to use [[Ted Malloch]] as an intermediary with Assange. Malloch tells Corsi he doesn't have a relationship with Assange and suggests using people close to Farage instead.<ref name=RogerStoneSoughtContactABC-20180925>{{Cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/roger-stone-sought-contact-wikileaks-julian-assange-email/story?id=58032438 |title=Roger Stone sought contact with WikiLeaks' Julian Assange, email suggests |last=Dukakis |first=Ali |date=September 25, 2018 |website=[[ABC News]] |access-date=April 23, 2019}}</ref><ref name="WhatWeLearnedAboutWaPo-20190418">{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/04/18/what-we-just-learned-about-campaign-redacted-mueller-report/ |title=What we learned about the 2016 campaign from the redacted Mueller report |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=April 18, 2019 |website=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=April 23, 2019}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=55}}
** Papadopoulos emails Trump campaign official Bo Denysyk saying that he has been contacted "by some leaders of Russian-American voters here in the US about their interest in voting for Mr. Trump." He asks whether he should put Denysyk in contact with their group (the US-Russia chamber of commerce{{what?|date=August 2019}}). Denysyk responds that Papadopoulos should "hold off with outreach to Russian-Americans" because "too many articles" portray the campaign, Manafort, and Trump as "pro-Russian."{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=94–95}}
* '''July 31 – August 2''': The FBI sends two agents to London who interview Downer about his interactions with Papadopoulos.<ref name=CodeNameCrossfireHurricaneNYT20180516 />
* '''End July''': CIA Director [[John O. Brennan|John Brennan]], alarmed at intelligence that Russia is trying to "hack" the election, forms a working group of officials from the CIA, FBI, and NSA.<ref name=bostonglobe-20170523>{{cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/05/23/brennan-warned-russian-against-election-meddling/5hgmmAvmEt43MN8UZDHEGP/story.html|title=Brennan warned Russia against election meddling|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=May 23, 2017|access-date=May 25, 2017|last1=Sullivan|first1=Eileen|author-link1=Eileen Sullivan|last2=Riechmann|first2=Deb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523182922/https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2017/05/23/brennan-warned-russian-against-election-meddling/5hgmmAvmEt43MN8UZDHEGP/story.html|archive-date=May 23, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== August 2016 ===
* '''August''':
** Trump donor [[Rebekah Mercer]] asks the CEO of [[Cambridge Analytica]] whether the company could better organize the Clinton-related emails being released by WikiLeaks.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-donor-asked-data-firm-if-it-could-better-organize-hacked-emails-1509133587 |title=Trump Donor Asked Data Firm If It Could Better Organize Hacked Emails |last=Ballhaus |first=Rebecca |date=October 27, 2017 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|access-date=October 27, 2017 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>
** Butina arrives in the U.S. on a [[F visa|student visa]] to attend [[American University]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web|title=United States of America v. Mariia Butina Criminal Complaint|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1080761/download|website=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]|date=July 14, 2018|access-date=July 16, 2018}}</ref><ref name="KremlinGOPHaveNewFriendDailyBeast20180320">{{cite web|title=The Kremlin and GOP Have a New Friend – and Boy, Does She Love Guns|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-kremlin-and-gop-have-a-new-friendand-boy-does-she-love-guns|website=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=February 23, 2018|access-date=March 20, 2018|last=Mak|first=Tim}}</ref>
** With his lawyer, "Max" reveals data assembled to [[Eric Lichtblau]] of the ''New York Times''.<ref name=Filkins2018.10.15 />
** Crossfire Hurricane investigators discuss obtaining a warrant to wiretap [[Carter Page]] with their DoJ superiors.<ref name="NYT20190709">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/ig-russia-investigation-steele.html |title=Justice Dept. Watchdog Is Preparing to Deliver Verdict on the Russia Investigation |first1=Adam|last1=Goldman |first2=Charlie|last2=Savage |first3=Matthew|last3=Rosenberg |date=July 9, 2019 |website=NYTimes.com |accessdate=15 July 2019}}</ref>
* Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner vacation in Croatia with a "Russian billionaire".<ref name=secret-memos-1 />
* '''August 1''': Papadopoulos meets with Millian a second time in New York City.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=94}}
* '''August 2''':
** Manafort, Gates, and Kilimnik meet at the Grand Havana Room of [[666 Fifth Avenue]] in New York City.<ref>{{cite web|title=At height of Russia tensions, Trump campaign chairman Manafort met with business associate from Ukraine |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-height-of-russia-tensions-trump-campaign-chairman-manafort-met-with-business-associate-from-ukraine/2017/06/18/6ab8485c-4c5d-11e7-a186-60c031eab644_story.html |website=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 19, 2017 |access-date=July 6, 2018 |first1=Rosalind S. |last1=Helderman|last2=Hamburger|first2=Tom|last3=Weiner|first3=Rachel|last4=Crites|first4=Alice|last5=Barrett|first5=Devlin|last6=Zapotsky|first6=Matt|last7=Roth|first7=Andrew}} ...the longtime acquaintances "talked about bills unpaid by our clients, about [the] overall situation in Ukraine...and about the current news," including the presidential campaign, according to a statement provided by Kilimnik...</ref> This meeting is considered the "heart" of Mueller’s probe, per February 2019 reporting.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-manaforts-2016-meeting-with-a-russian-employee-at-new-york-cigar-club-goes-to-the-heart-of-muellers-probe/2019/02/12/655f84dc-2d67-11e9-8ad3-9a5b113ecd3c_story.html |title=How Manafort's 2016 meeting with a Russian employee at New York cigar club goes to 'the heart' of Mueller's probe |authors=Rosalind S. Helderman and Tom Hamburger |date=February 12, 2019 |website=WashingtonPost.com |access-date=February 14, 2019}}</ref> Manafort gives Kilimnik polling data and a briefing on campaign strategy, and, according to Gates, discusses the "battleground" states [[:Category:2016 Michigan elections|Michigan]], [[2016 Minnesota elections|Minnesota]], [[:Category:2016 Pennsylvania elections|Pennsylvania]], and [[2016 Wisconsin elections|Wisconsin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/23/us/politics/konstantin-kilimnik-russia.html |title=Russian Spy or Hustling Political Operative? The Enigmatic Figure at the Heart of Mueller's Inquiry |authors=Kenneth P. Vogel and Andrew E. Kramer |date=February 23, 2019 |website=NYTimes.com |access-date=6 March 2019}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=139}} Manafort asks Kilimnik to pass the data to pro-Russian Ukrainians [[Serhiy Lyovochkin]] and [[Rinat Akhmetov]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/08/politics/manafort-russia-court-deadline/index.html|title=Mueller believes Manafort fed information to Russian with intel ties|last=Polantz|first=Katelyn|date=January 8, 2019|work=CNN|accessdate=9 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/08/us/politics/manafort-trump-campaign-data-kilimnik.html|title=Manafort Accused of Sharing Trump Polling Data With Russian Associate |first1=Sharon|last1=LaFraniere |first2=Kenneth P.|last2=Vogel |first3=Maggie|last3=Haberman |date=8 January 2019|publisher=|accessdate=9 January 2019|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> and to [[Oleg Deripaska]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/10/08/ukraine-continued-the-key-witness-who-was-allowed-escape |title=Ukraine Continued: How a Crucial Witness Escaped |author=Murray Waas|authorlink=Murray Waas |date=October 8, 2019 |website=[[The New York Review of Books]] |access-date=October 20, 2019}}</ref> Kilimnik gives Manafort a message from Yanukovych about a peace plan for Ukraine that is an opportunity for Russian control of the region.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|pp=130,139–140}} The plan would require Trump's support and Manafort's influence in Europe.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=140}} The two discuss Manafort's financial disputes with Deripaska and the [[Opposition Bloc]] in Ukraine.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=141}} They leave separately to avoid media reporting on Manafort's connections to Kilimnik.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=141}}
** Corsi writes to Stone: "Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps," referring to Assange; and "One shortly after I'm back. 2nd in Oct. Impact planned to be very damaging."<ref name=CorsiStone />
* '''August 2–3''':
** The IRA's "Matt Skiber" persona contacts the real "Florida for Trump" Facebook account. The "T.W." persona contacts other grassroots groups.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** Millian invites Papadopoulos to attend and possibly speak at two international energy conferences, including one in Moscow in September. Papadopoulos does not attend the conferences.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=94}}
* '''August 3''':
** Trump Jr., [[George Nader (businessman)|George Nader]], [[Erik Prince]], [[Stephen Miller (political advisor)|Stephen Miller]], and [[Joel Zamel]] meet at Trump Jr.'s office in [[Trump Tower]]. Nader relays an offer from the leaders of [[Saudi Arabia]] and the [[United Arab Emirates]] (U.A.E.) to help get Trump elected. Zamel pitches his Israeli company's services for a multimillion-dollar campaign to manipulate social media. It is not known whether the social media campaign occurred.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trump Jr. and Other Aides Met With Gulf Emissary Offering Help to Win Election|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/19/us/politics/trump-jr-saudi-uae-nader-prince-zamel.html|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 19, 2018|access-date=June 14, 2018|last1=Mazzetti|first1=Mark|author-link1=Mark Mazzetti|last2=Bergman|first2=Ronen|author-link2=Ronen Bergman|last3=Kirkpatrick|first3=David D.|author-link3=David D. Kirkpatrick}}</ref>
** A private jet carrying Deripaska's wife, daughter, mother, and father-in-law{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=139}} arrives at [[Teterboro Airport]]{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=139}} near New York City a little after midnight New York time and returns to Moscow that afternoon.<ref name=ManafortRussianJetVice20180330 /> The trip's timing is considered suspicious because it is within hours of Manafort's meeting with Kilimnik.<ref name=ManafortRussianJetVice20180330 /> In 2018, a spokesperson for Deripaska confirms the flights and passengers.<ref name=ManafortRussianJetVice20180330>{{cite web|title=Paul Manafort, a mysterious Russian jet, and a secret meeting|url=https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/paxkpb/paul-manafort-a-mysterious-russian-jet-and-a-secret-meeting|website=[[Vice News]]|date=March 30, 2018|access-date=July 6, 2018|last=Walters|first=Greg}}</ref>
** Gordon receives an invitation from a Russian Embassy official to have breakfast with Kislyak at the Ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C., the next week. Gordon declines five days later, saying he is busy with debate preparation.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=127}}
** The Russian Foreign Ministry transfers $30,000 to its embassy's [[Citibank]] account in the U.S. with the memo line "to finance election campaign of 2016". The transaction triggers an internal investigation at Citibank that finds 60 transfers totaling $380,000 with similar memo lines to accounts at the bank for Russian embassies in 60 countries. The transactions are flagged as suspcious, reported to the U.S. government, and investigated by the FBI in 2017. In November 2017, ''BuzzFeed News'' reports the story after failing to get a response from the Ministry. Within hours, the Ministry denounces the ''BuzzFeed'' article on social media and implies the money was for polling stations for the [[2016 Russian legislative election|Russian parliamentary election on September 18]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/secret-finding-60-russian-payments-to-finance-election |title=Secret Finding: 60 Russian Payments "To Finance Election Campaign Of 2016" |last=Leopold |first=Jason |authorlink=Jason Leopold |last2=Cormier |first2=Anthony |authorlink2=Anthony Cormier |date=November 14, 2017 |website=[[BuzzFeed News]] |access-date=November 22, 2019 |last3=Garrison |first3=Jessica}}</ref>
* '''August 4''':
** Brennan calls his Russian counterpart [[Alexander Bortnikov]], head of the FSB, to warn him against meddling in the presidential election.<ref name=bostonglobe-20170523 />
** The IRA's Facebook account "Stop AI" accuses Clinton of [[voter fraud]] during the [[Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2016|Iowa Caucuses]]. They buy ads promoting the post.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** IRA groups buy ads for the "Florida Goes Trump" rallies. The 8,300 people who click on the ads are sent to the Agency's "Being Patriotic" Facebook page.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** In an ''[[InfoWars]]'' interview, Stone tells Jones that Assange has proof of wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation and is ready to release it.<ref name=StoneDevastatingWikiLeaksCNN20180404>{{cite web|title=Stone, on day he sent Assange dinner email, also said 'devastating' WikiLeaks were forthcoming|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/04/politics/roger-stone-julian-assange-email-wikileaks/index.html|website=[[CNN]]|last1=Kaczynski|first1=Andrew|last2=Borger|first2=Gloria|author-link1=Andrew Kaczynski|author-link2=Gloria Borger|date=April 4, 2018|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref>
** Stone sends [[Sam Nunberg]] an email in which he claims that he dined with Assange the night before.<ref name=StoneDevastatingWikiLeaksCNN20180404 />
* '''August 5''':
** Stone writes an article for ''[[Breitbart News]]'' in which he insists "Guccifer 2.0" hacked the DNC, using statements by "Guccifer 2.0" on Twitter and to ''The Hill'' as evidence for his claim. He tries to spin the [[Democratic National Committee cyber attacks|DNC's Russia claim]] as a coverup for their supposed embarrassment over being penetrated by a single hacker.<ref name=StoneGucciferNewsweek20170928>{{cite news |title=How Roger Stone Interacted with Russia's Guccifer and WikiLeaks |url=http://www.newsweek.com/how-stone-interacted-russias-guccifer-and-wikileaks-673268 |website=[[Newsweek]] |date=September 28, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last=Goodman |first=Ryan}}</ref> The article leads to "Guccifer 2.0" reaching out to and conversing with Stone via Twitter.<ref name=StoneGuccifer2020170310>{{cite news |title=Roger Stone, Trump confidant, acknowledges 'innocuous' Twitter conversation with DNC hackers |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/mar/10/roger-stone-trump-confidant-acknowledges-innocuous/ |work=[[The Washington Times]] |date=March 10, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last=Blake |first=Andrew}}</ref>
** In response to questions about Page's July 7 speech in Moscow, [[Hope Hicks]] describes him as an "informal foreign policy adviser [who] does not speak for Mr. Trump or the campaign."<ref name=PageRussiaCommentsAlarmingWapo20180529 />
** The IRA Twitter account @March_For_Trump hires an actress to play Hillary Clinton in prison garb and someone to build a cage to hold the actress. The actress and cage are to appear at the "Florida Goes Trump" rally in [[West Palm Beach, Florida]] on August 20.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''August 6''': Assange addresses the Green Party National Convention in Houston by videolink, to discuss the hacked DNC documents published by WikiLeaks.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvD6Aal6ZTI|title=Jullian Assange addressing the Green Party National Convention|publisher=Nathaniel Lane|date=August 6, 2016|type=video|via=YouTube}}</ref> Green candidate Jill Stein later states she does not know why or how this address was arranged.<ref name=politico-20170620>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/20/jill-stein-green-party-no-regrets-2016-215281 |title=Jill Stein Isn't Sorry |date=June 20, 2017 |work=[[Politico]]|last=Schreckinger|first=Ben}}</ref>
* '''August 8''': Stone, speaking in Florida to the Southwest [[Broward County, Florida|Broward]] Republican Organization, claims he is in contact with Assange, saying, "I actually have communicated with Assange. I believe his next tranche of his documents pertain to the Clinton Foundation."<ref>{{cite web |title=Roger Stone's Speech At The Southwest Broward Republican Organization (8/8/2016) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7oHyGyq1UM |type=video |publisher=Conservative Citizen |date=August 8, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018 |via=[[YouTube]]}} Time offset 45:50.</ref><ref name=StoneGucciferNewsweek20170928 /> Stone later claims the communications were through an intermediary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roger Stone: 'They have no proof' |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/roger-stone-they-have-no-proof-236526 |website=[[Politico]] |date=March 27, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last=Dovere |first=Edward-Isaac}}</ref>
* '''August 9''':
** WikiLeaks denies having communicated with Stone.<ref>{{cite tweet|title=We are not aware of having communicated with Roger Stone. We do however take, and verify, anonymous tips https://wikileaks.org/#submit| number=763047172023738369| date=August 9, 2016|access-date=March 26, 2018|user=WikiLeaks|author=WikiLeaks|author-link=WikiLeaks}}</ref> Privately, Assange tells a core group of WikiLeaks supporters that he is unaware of any communications with Stone.<ref name=InLeakedChatsWikiLeaksTheIntercept20180214 />
** ''Bloomberg'' reports that the [[Spanish Civil Guard]] believes Torshin assisted the [[Russian mafia|Taganskaya crime syndicate]] with money laundering through banks in Spain.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mobster or Central Banker? Spanish Cops Allege This Russian Both|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-09/mobster-or-central-banker-spanish-cops-allege-this-russian-both|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810160732/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-09/mobster-or-central-banker-spanish-cops-allege-this-russian-both |archive-date=August 10, 2016 |date=August 9, 2016|access-date=July 17, 2018|via=[[Internet Archive]]|last1=Duarte|first1=Esteban|last2=Meyer|first2=Henry|last3=Pismennaya|first3=Evgenia}}</ref>
* '''August 10''':
** The FBI opens separate counterintelligence [[Foreign Agents Registration Act]] (FARA) cases on Page, Manafort, and Papadopoulos on the grounds that they "may wittingly or unwittingly be involved in activity on behalf of the Russian Federation which may constitute a federal crime or threat to the national security."<ref name=DoJOIGReport201912>{{Cite web |url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Review_of_Four_FISA_Applications_and_Other_Aspects_of_the_FBI%27s_Crossfire_Hurricane_Investigation.pdf |title=Review of Four FISA Applications and Other Aspects of the FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Investigation |last=Office of the Inspector General |date=December 2019 |publisher=[[U.S. Department of Justice]] |via=[[Wikimedia Commons]] |access-date=December 10, 2019 |author-link=United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General}}</ref>{{rp|59-60}}
* '''August 11''': The IRA Twitter account @TEN_GOP claims that voter fraud is being investigated in [[North Carolina]].<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''August 12''':
** In a #[[Make America Great Again|MAGA]] Podcast, Stone says Assange has all the emails deleted by [[Huma Abedin]] and [[Cheryl Mills]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Roger Stone on #MAGA Podcast (8/12/2016) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVLwXsDA1yU |publisher=Conservative Citizen |date=August 12, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018 |via=[[YouTube]] |quote=I believe Julian Assange—who I think is a hero fighting the police state—has all of the emails that Huma [Abedin] and Cheryl Mills, the two Clinton aides, thought they had erased... I think Assange has them. I know he has them. And I believe he will expose the American people to this information, you know, in the next 90 days.}} Time offset 7:00.</ref>
** Journalist Emma Best has two simultaneous conversations by Twitter direct message with "Guccifer 2.0" and WikiLeaks. Best tries to negotiate the hosting of stolen [[Democratic National Committee|DNC]] emails and documents on [[archive.org]]. WikiLeaks wants Best to act as an intermediary to funnel the material from "Guccifer 2.0" to them. The conversation ends with "Guccifer 2.0" saying he will send the material directly to WikiLeaks.<ref>{{cite news|title=These Messages Show Julian Assange Talked About Seeking Hacked Files From Guccifer 2.0|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/kevincollier/assange-seth-rich-lies-guccifer-wikileaks-hannity|website=[[Buzzfeed News]]|date=April 5, 2018|access-date=April 6, 2018|last=Collier|first=Kevin}}</ref>
** "Guccifer 2.0" releases a cache of documents stolen from the [[Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]].<ref name=Guccifer20Suspended20160813 />
** The GRU stops its five-attempts-per-second attack on the Illinois State Board of Elections servers.<ref name=IllinoisChapterInTheCST-20170607 /><ref name=MuellerReportConfirmsTussiansCST-20190418 />
* '''August 12–18''': The IRA's persona "Josh Milton" communicates with Trump Campaign officials via email to request Trump/Pence signs and the phone numbers of campaign affiliates as part of an effort to organize pro-Trump campaign rallies in Florida.<ref name="AllTheTimesTrumpBusinessInsider-20190418">{{Cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/mueller-report-russia-trump-campaign-shared-russia-false-info-2019-4 |title=All the times Trump campaign figures shared false information sponsored by Russia that were included in the Mueller report |last=Panetta |first=Grace |date=April 18, 2019 |website=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=35}}
* '''August 13''':
** Twitter and [[WordPress]] temporarily suspend Guccifer 2.0's accounts.<ref name=Guccifer20Suspended20160813>{{cite web|title='Guccifer 2.0' Suspended From Twitter After Latest Hack of Democrats|url=https://www.newsweek.com/guccifer-20-twitter-suspended-dccc-hack-490165|website=[[Newsweek]]|date=August 13, 2016|access-date=July 15, 2018|last=Loffredo|first=Nicholas}}</ref> Stone calls "Guccifer 2.0" a hero.<ref name=RogerStonesRussianHackingHeroTSG20170308 />
** Russian-American [[Simon Kukes]] attends a $25,000-per-ticket Trump fundraising dinner at the home of [[Woody Johnson]] in New York. Kukes's 2016 political donations become a subject of the Mueller investigation.<ref name=RussianUSTycoonBoastedTheGuardian20180928 /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/big-donor-trump-campaign-made-overture-top-russian-official-boasting-n913791 |title=Big donor to Trump campaign made overture to top Russian official, boasting of connections; The businessman, who donated $273,000 in 2016, wanted a face-to-face meeting with a Russian official. |authors=Richard Engel, Kate Benyon-Tinker, Charlotte Gardiner and Kennett Werner |date=September 28, 2018 |website=NBCNews.com |access-date=September 30, 2018}}</ref>
* '''August 14''': ''The New York Times'' reports that Manafort's name has been found in the Ukrainian "black ledger". The ledger, belonging to the Ukrainian [[Party of Regions]], shows $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments to Manafort from 2007 to 2012. Manafort's lawyer, Richard A. Hibey, says Manafort never received "any such cash payments".<ref name=ManafortBlackLedgerNYT20160814>{{cite web |title=Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump's Campaign Chief |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 14, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last1=Kramer |first1=Andrew E. |last2=McIntire |first2=Mike |last3=Meir |first3=Barry}}</ref> The ''[[Associated Press]]'' later verifies some of the entries against financial records.<ref>{{cite web |title=AP Exclusive: Manafort firm received Ukraine ledger payout |url=https://www.apnews.com/20cfc75c82eb4a67b94e624e97207e23 |website=[[Associated Press]] |date=April 12, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last1=Gillum |first1=Jack |last2=Day |first2=Chad |last3=Horwitz |first3=Jeff}}</ref>
* '''August 15''':
** Papadopoulos emails Clovis about requests he received from multiple foreign governments, "even Russia[],"<!-- Note: "[]" is in the source PDF --> for "closed door workshops/consultations abroad." He asks if there is still interest for himself, Clovis, and Phares "to go on that trip." Clovis copies Phares and tells Papadopoulos that he can't "travel before the election", wtiting, "I would encourage you [and [[Walid Phares]] to] make the trip, if it is feasible." The trip never occurs.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=92}}<ref name=PapadopoulosStatementOfOffense /><ref name=PapadopoulosWhosWhoWapo20171102 />
** A Trump campaign county chair contacts the IRA through their phony email accounts to suggest locations for rallies.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** A candidate for Congress allegedly contacts Guccifer 2.0 to request information on the candidate's opponent. Guccifer 2.0 responds with the requested stolen information.<ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=43}}
** Guccifer 2.0 begins posting information about Florida and Pennsylvania races stolen from the DCCC.<ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 />
* '''August 16''':
** Stone tells Jones that he is in contact with Assange, claiming he has "political dynamite" on Clinton.<ref name="Kaczynski">{{cite news |last1=Kaczynski |first1=Andrew |last2=McDermott |first2=Nathan |last3=Massie |first3=Chris |title=Trump adviser Roger Stone repeatedly claimed to know of forthcoming WikiLeaks dumps |url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/20/politics/kfile-roger-stone-wikileaks-claims/ |accessdate=May 29, 2017 |work=[[CNN]] |date=March 20, 2017}}</ref>
** The IRA buys ads on Instagram for the "Florida Goes Trump" rallies.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** Stone sends "Guccifer 2.0" an article<ref>{{cite web|title=Can the 2016 election be rigged? You bet|url=http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/291534-can-the-2016-election-be-rigged-you-bet|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=August 16, 2016|access-date=July 13, 2018|last=Stone|first=Roger|author-link=Roger Stone}}</ref> he wrote for ''The Hill'' on manipulating the vote count in [[voting machines]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Charges against Russian intelligence officers intensify spotlight on Trump adviser Roger Stone|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/charges-against-russian-intelligence-officers-intensify-spotlight-on-trump-adviser-roger-stone/2018/07/13/ba0d0caa-86bb-11e8-8553-a3ce89036c78_story.html|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=July 13, 2018|access-date=July 13, 2018|last1=Helderman|first1=Rosalind S.|last2=Roig-Franzia|first2=Manuel}}</ref> "Guccifer 2.0" responds the next day, "@RogerJStoneJr paying u back".<ref name=RogerStonesRussianHackingHeroTSG20170308 />
** The FBI opens a counterintelligence FARA case on Flynn on the grounds that he "may wittingly or unwittingly be involved in activity on behalf of the Russian Federation which may constitute a federal crime or threat to the national security."{{r|DoJOIGReport201912|pp=59-60}}
* '''August 17''':
** Trump is warned in an FBI [[wikt:briefing|briefing]] that foreign adversaries including Russia would likely attempt to infiltrate his campaign. This is Trump's first [[Classified information|classified]] briefing. Clinton receives a similar briefing in the same month.<ref name=FBIWarnsTrumpNBC20171217>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-warned-trump-2016-russians-would-try-infiltrate-his-campaign-n830596 |title=FBI told Trump Russians would try to infiltrate his campaign |work=NBC News|access-date=December 18, 2017 |language=en|date=December 18, 2017|last1=Dilanian|first1=Ken|last2=Ainsley|first2=Julia|last3=Lee|first3=Carol E.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.businessinsider.com/fbi-warned-trump-russia-infiltrate-campaign-team-2017-12?r=US&IR=T |title=The FBI warned Trump that Russia would try to infiltrate his campaign team |website=Business Insider |date=December 17, 2017|last=Bertrand|first=Natasha}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=After dismissing intelligence experts, Donald Trump heads in for his classified briefing |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/17/after-dismissing-intelligence-experts-donald-trump-heads-in-for-his-classified-briefing/|website=[[The Washington Post]] |date=August 17, 2010 |last=Bump |first=Philip}}</ref>
** Bannon is named Trump campaign CEO.<ref name=BannonConwayNYT20160817>{{cite web |title=Donald Trump Appoints Media Firebrand to Run Campaign |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/18/us/politics/donald-trump-stephen-bannon-paul-manafort.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 17, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last1=Martin |first1=Jonathan |last2=Rutenberg |first2=Jim |last3=Haberman |first3=Maggie}}</ref>
** [[Kellyanne Conway]] is named Trump campaign manager.<ref name=BannonConwayNYT20160817 />
** Simes and Kushner meet at Kushner's New York office to discuss CNI's foreign policy advice and the Clinton campaign's Russia-related attacks on Trump. Simes gives Kushner unverified information from the 1990s about Bill Clinton and Russia. In 2018, Simes tells Mueller's team that Kushner was uninterested because he considered it "old news".{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=108-110}}
** The CIA informs the FBI that Page was an "operational contact" for the agency from 2008 to 2013.<ref name=InOpeningAnInvestigationWaPo20191209 />
* '''August 18''':
** The FBI issues a nationwide "flash alert" warning state election officials about foreign infiltration of [[Elections in the United States|election]] systems in two states, later reported to be Arizona and Illinois. The alert includes technical evidence suggesting Russian responsibility, and urges states to boost their cyberdefenses. Although labeled for distribution only to "NEED TO KNOW recipients," a copy is leaked to the media.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com/fbi-flash-alert-says-foreign-hackers-compromised-state-election-systems/ |title=FBI flash alert says foreign hackers compromised state election systems |work=Cyber Defense Magazine |first=Pierluigi |last=Paganini |date=August 31, 2016 |access-date=May 30, 2017}}</ref>
** The IRA uses its [email protected] email account to contact a Trump campaign official in Florida. The email requests campaign support at the forthcoming "Florida Goes Trump" rallies. It is unknown whether the campaign official responded.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** The IRA pays the person they hired to build a cage for a "Florida Goes Trump" rally in West Palm Beach, Florida.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''August 19''':
** Ukrainian Member of Parliament [[Serhiy Leshchenko]] holds a press conference in [[Kiev]] in which he reveals hand-written entries in the "black ledger" showing payments to Manafort.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-secret-payments-evidents-manafort/27933901.html |title=Ukraine Shows Evidence Of Secret Payments Allegedly Made To Trump Aide |last=Miller |first=Christopher |date=August 19, 2016 |website=[[Radio Free Europe]] |access-date=October 21, 2019}}</ref>
** Manafort resigns as Trump's campaign manager, but continues to advise Gates, Kushner, Bannon, and Trump until the election.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/us/politics/paul-manafort-resigns-donald-trump.html |title=Paul Manafort Quits Donald Trump's Campaign After a Tumultuous Run |last2=Martin |first2=Jonathan |date=August 19, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |first1=Maggie |last1=Haberman |accessdate=May 27, 2017}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=141}}
** A Trump supporter suggests to the IRA Twitter account "March for Trump" that it contact a Trump campaign official. The official is emailed by the agency's [email protected] account.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206/>
** The IRA's "Matt Skiber" persona contacts another Trump campaign official on Facebook.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** [[Arron Banks]] and [[Andy Wigmore]] meet with [[Alexander Vladimirovich Yakovenko|Alexander Yakovenko]] for lunch. They discuss their upcoming trip to Mississippi and the Trump campaign.<ref name=BanksMetRussiansTheGuardian20180609>{{cite web|title=Arron Banks 'met Russian officials multiple times before Brexit vote'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jun/09/arron-banks-russia-brexit-meeting|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=June 9, 2018|access-date=June 13, 2018|last1=Cadwalladr|first1=Carole|author-link1=Carole Cadwalladr|last2=Jukes|first2=Peter|author-link2=Peter Jukes}}</ref><ref name=BadBoysOfBrexitRussiaTrumpWapo20180602 />
** [[Volodymyr Ariev]], a member of the [[Verkhovna Rada|Ukrainian parliament]], formally asks the [[Prosecutor General of Ukraine]] to investigate Kilimnik based on media reports of his connections to [[Viktor Yanukovych]] and Russian intelligence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Authorities looked into Manafort protégé|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-russia-manafort-235850|date=March 3, 2017|access-date=July 6, 2018|last1=Vogel|first1=Kenneth P.|last2=Stern|first2=David|website=[[Politico]]}}</ref>
** [[CNN]] reports that the FBI is investigating Manafort's company's involvement in Ukrainian corruption.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/19/politics/paul-manafort-donald-trump-ukraine/index.html |title=First on CNN: Feds investigate Manafort firm as part of Ukraine probe |last=Perez |first=Evan |date=August 19, 2016 |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=October 14, 2019}}</ref>
* '''August 20''': 17 "Florida Goes Trump" rallies are held across Florida. The rallies are organized by Russian trolls from the IRA.<ref name=13RussiansInictment /><ref name=Russians17TrumpRalliesDailyBeast20170920>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: Russians Appear to Use Facebook to Push Trump Rallies in 17 U.S. Cities |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-appear-to-use-facebook-to-push-pro-trump-flash-mobs-in-florida |newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]] |date=September 20, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last1=Collins |first1=Ben |last2=Resnick |first2=Gideon |last3=Poulsen |first3=Kevin |last4=Ackerman |first4=Spencer}}</ref>
* '''August 21''': President Obama returns from vacation, which was a soft deadline for [[United States National Security Council]] staffers to forward cyber-related responses to Russian election meddling to interagency groups that Obama authorized and [[Susan Rice]] and her deputy headed.<ref>Isikoff, Michael, Yahoo News and Corn, David. Mother Jones. (9 March 2018). "‘Stand Down’: How The Obama Team Blew The Response To Russian Meddling". [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/stand-down-how-the-obama-team-blew-the-response-to-russian-meddling_n_5aa29a97e4b086698a9d1112 Huffington Post website] Retrieved 9 December 2019.</ref>
* '''August 22''':
** Florida GOP campaign advisor Aaron Nevins contacts Guccifer 2.0 and asks for material. Nevins sets up a [[Dropbox (service)|Dropbox]] account and "Guccifer 2.0" transfers 2.5 gigabytes of data into it. Nevins analyzes the data, posts the results on his blog, HelloFLA.com, and sends "Guccifer 2.0" a link. "Guccifer 2.0" forwards the link to Stone.<ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 /><ref>{{cite web|title=Florida GOP consultant admits he worked with "Guccifer 2.0", analyzing hacked data|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/05/florida-gop-consultant-admits-he-worked-with-guccifer-2-0-analyzing-hacked-data/|website=[[Ars Technica]]|date=May 25, 2017|access-date=July 15, 2018|last=Gallagher|first=Sean}}</ref>
** "Guccifer 2.0" allegedly sends DCCC material on Black Lives Matter to a reporter, and they discuss how to use it in a story. "Guccifer 2.0" also gives the reporter the password for accessing emails stolen from Clinton's staff that were posted to "Guccifer 2.0's" website but had not yet been made public. On August 31, ''[[The Washington Examiner]]'' publishes a story based on the material the same day the material is released publicly on Guccifer 2.0's website.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://slate.com/technology/2018/07/the-mueller-indictment-and-guccifer-2-0-what-we-now-know.html |title=What the Latest Mueller Indictment Reveals About Guccifer 2.0 |last=Glaser |first=April |date=July 13, 2018 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=April 22, 2019}}</ref><ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=43}}
* '''August 23''':
** ''[[The Smoking Gun]]'' reaches out to "Guccifer 2.0" for comment on its contacts with Stone. "Guccifer 2.0" accuses ''The Smoking Gun'' of working with the FBI.<ref name=RogerStonesRussianHackingHeroTSG20170308>{{cite web|title=Roger Stone's Russian Hacking "Hero"|url=http://thesmokinggun.com/documents/investigation/roger-stone-and-guccifer-913684|website=[[The Smoking Gun]]|date=March 8, 2017|access-date=July 14, 2018|last=Bastone|first=William}}</ref>
** Millian sends a Facebook message to Papadopoulos offering to "share with you a disruptive technology that might be instrumental in your political work for the campaign." In September 2017, Papadopoulos tells the FBI he does not recall the matter.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=95}}
* '''August 25''':
** Trump names Clovis as a campaign national co-chairman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trump tangles with Latino newsman, launches fresh attacks on GOP rivals |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-announces-hires-in-key-early-states/2015/08/25/6557056a-4b60-11e5-902f-39e9219e574b_story.html|website=[[The Washington Post]] |date=August 25, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last1=Rucker |first1=Philip |last2=Costa |first2=Robert}}</ref>
** Banks, Wigmore, and Farage attend a Trump fundraising dinner and participate in a [[Trump rally]] in the [[Mississippi Coliseum]]. Wigmore and Farage meet Trump for the first time at the dinner. At the rally, Trump introduces Farage to the crowd as "Mr. Brexit."<ref name=BanksMetRussiansTheGuardian20180609 /><ref>{{cite web|title=Farage at Trump rally: 'I wouldn't vote for Clinton if you paid me'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/24/nigel-farage-donald-trump-rally-hillary-clinton|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=August 25, 2016|access-date=June 13, 2018|last=Teague|first=Matthew}}</ref><ref name=BadBoysOfBrexitRussiaTrumpWapo20180602 />
** Interviewed by [[Megyn Kelly]] on ''[[The Kelly File]]'', Assange says that he will not release any damaging information on Trump. He also tells her significant information will be released on Clinton before November.<ref>{{cite web|title=Julian Assange tells Megyn Kelly why WikiLeaks isn't releasing dirt on Donald Trump|url=http://theweek.com/speedreads/645239/julian-assange-tells-megyn-kelly-why-wikileaks-isnt-releasing-dirt-donald-trump|website=[[The Week]]|date=August 26, 2016|access-date=July 14, 2018}}</ref>
** Arranged by Margaret Ratner Kunstler, a mutual friend who is Assange's attorney,<ref name=Bloomberg30012019>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-30/the-civil-rights-warrior-who-may-have-linked-stone-to-wikileaks |title=The Civil Rights Warrior Who May Have Linked Roger Stone to WikiLeaks |work=Bloomberg News |last=Kocieniewski |first=David |date=January 30, 2019 |access-date=November 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921020520/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-30/the-civil-rights-warrior-who-may-have-linked-stone-to-wikileaks |archive-date=September 5, 2019}}</ref> [[Randy Credico]] hosts Assange on Credico's radio show.<ref name=AP08112019>{{cite news |url=https://www.staradvertiser.com/2019/11/08/breaking-news/steve-bannon-says-roger-stone-was-trump-campaign-link-to-wikileaks/ |title=Steve Bannon says Roger Stone was Trump campaign link to WikiLeaks |newspaper=[[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]] |date=November 8, 2019 |access-date=November 8, 2019 |via=Associated Press}}</ref>
* '''August 26''':
** After Clinton claims that Russian intelligence was behind the leaks, Assange says she is causing "hysteria" about Russia, adding, "The Trump campaign has a lot of things wrong with it, but as far as we can see being Russian agents is not one of them."<ref name="foxnews-20160826">{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/08/26/assange-slams-incredible-politicization-media-covering-campaign.html |title=Assange blasts media for 'politicization' of election campaign in Fox interviews |date=August 26, 2016|access-date=May 25, 2017 |publisher=[[Fox News]]}}</ref>
** Illinois State Board of Elections produces a report on the June–August hacking of their systems by the GRU.<ref name="IllinoisChapterInTheCST-20170607"/><ref name="MuellerReportConfirmsTussiansCST-20190418"/>
* '''August 26–27''': Frederick Intrater registers several [[Internet domain names]] that are variations on the term "[[alt-right]]." The domain names are registered using his name and the name and contact information of his employer, private equity firm [[Columbus Nova]]. Intrater is the brother of Columbus Nova CEO Andrew Intrater and a cousin of Vekselberg. Columbus Nova is the American investment arm of Vekselberg's business empire.<ref>{{cite web|title=Russia-linked company that hired Michael Cohen registered alt-right websites during election|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/09/russia-linked-company-that-hired-michael-cohen-registered-alt-right-websites-during-election/|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 9, 2018|access-date=May 27, 2018|last=Rosenberg|first=Eli}}</ref>
* '''August 27''':
** The IRA Facebook group "SecuredBorders" organizes a "Citizens before refugees" protest rally at the [[City Council]] Chambers in [[Twin Falls, Idaho]]. Only a small number of people show up for the three-hour event, most likely because it is Saturday and the Chambers are closed.<ref name=RussiaFacebookOrganizeDailyBeast20170912>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/exclusive-russia-used-facebook-events-to-organize-anti-immigrant-rallies-on-us-soil |title=Exclusive: Russia Used Facebook Events to Organize Anti-Immigrant Rallies on U.S. Soil |last3=Ackerman |first2=Ben|last2=Collins|first1=Kevin|last1=Poulsen|first3=Spencer|date=September 12, 2017|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref>
** Through Assange's attorney Margaret Ratner Kunstler, the widow of [[William Kunstler]], [[Randy Credico]] knows that WikiLeaks will release information about the Clinton campaign in the near future and texts Stone that "Julian Assange has kryptonite on Hillary." Credico continues to update Stone about the upcoming WikiLeaks release of numerous emails stolen from Podesta and the Clinton campaign. The emails are released beginning on October 7.<ref name=NBCNewsSchecter2018-11-14>{{cite news|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/exclusive-text-messages-show-roger-stone-and-friend-discussing-wikileaks-plans/ar-BBPIm4E|title=Exclusive text messages show Roger Stone and friend discussing WikiLeaks plans|date=November 14, 2018|work=[[NBC News]]|last=Schecter|first=Anna|access-date=November 14, 2018}}</ref>
* '''August 28''': Peter W. Smith sends an encrypted email to an undisclosed list of recipients that includes Trump campaign co-chair Sam Clovis. The email says that after two days of meetings in D.C. on Clinton's private email server, he determined that the server was hacked by "State-related players" as well as private mercenaries. He writes, "Parties with varying interests, are circling to release ahead of the election."{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=63}}<ref name=TrumpCampaignAttemptedToWaPo-20190418>{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/trump-campaign-attempted-to-obtain-hillary-clintons-private-emails/2019/04/18/73a70466-61f1-11e9-bfad-36a7eb36cb60_story.html |title=Trump campaign attempted to obtain Hillary Clinton's private emails |last=Harris |first=Shane |authorlink=Shane Harris |date=April 18, 2019 |website=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref>
* '''August 29''': ''The Washington Post'' is the first to report that Illinois discovered in July that its voter registration servers were hacked, and that the user ID and password of an Arizona election official in [[Gila County]] was stolen in June. Arizona Secretary of State [[Michele Reagan]] shut down the state's voter registration system for a week but did not find that any state or county systems were compromised.<ref name="IllinoisChapterInTheCST-20170607" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-is-investigating-foreign-hacks-of-state-election-systems/2016/08/29/6e758ff4-6e00-11e6-8365-b19e428a975e_story.html |title=Russian hackers targeted Arizona election system |last=Nakashima |first=Ellen |authorlink=Ellen Nakashima |date=August 29, 2016 |website=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=April 23, 2019}}</ref>
* '''August 31''':
** "Guccifer 2.0" leaks campaign documents stolen from [[Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives|House Minority Leader]] [[Nancy Pelosi]]'s hacked [[personal computer]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Guccifer 2.0 leaks docs from 'Pelosi's PC' |url=http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/293958-guccifer-20-leaks-docs-from-pelosis-pc |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |date=August 31, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018|last=Uchill |first=Joe}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=DCCC Docs from Pelosi's PC |url=https://guccifer2.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/pelosi/ |author=Guccifer 2.0 |via=[[Internet Archive]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831231344/https://guccifer2.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/pelosi |archive-date=August 31, 2016 |date=August 31, 2016|access-date=March 15, 2018|author-link=Guccifer 2.0 }}</ref>
** An American contacts the IRA's "Being Patriotic" account about a possible September 11 event in Miami.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** The IRA buys ads for a September 11 rally in New York City.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** Smith sends an email to an undisclosed list of recipients in which he claims KLS Research met with parties who had access to Clinton's missing emails, including some with "ties and affiliations to Russia". Mueller's team is unable to determine whether such meetings occurred or find any evidence that Smith's team was in contact with Russian hackers.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=65}}
* '''Late August''': Brennan gives individual briefings to the [[Gang of Eight (intelligence)|Gang of Eight]] on links between the Trump campaign and Russian interference in the election.<ref>{{cite web |title=C.I.A. Had Evidence of Russian Effort to Help Trump Earlier Than Believed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/us/trump-russia-cia-john-brennan.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 6, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last=Lichtblau |first=Eric}}</ref>
* '''Late August–Early September''':
** According to December 2018 ''McClatchy DC'' reporting, Cohen's cellphone communicates with [[cell towers]] in the vicinity of [[Prague]], and communication intercepts by an Eastern European intelligence agency overhear a Russian conversation that states Cohen is in Prague. If true, it would lend credence to the allegation in the Steele dossier that Cohen traveled to Prague to meet with Russians.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cell signal puts Cohen outside Prague around time of purported Russian meeting |url=https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/investigations/article219016820.html |website=[[McClatchy DC]]|date=December 27, 2018|access-date=December 27, 2018|last1=Stone|first1=Pater|last2=Gordon|first2=Greg|last3=Hall|first3=Kevin G.}}</ref>
** August 31 or September 1: FBI informant [[Stefan Halper]] meets with Trump advisor [[Sam Clovis]], who stated they talked about China.<ref name="auto4"/>

=== September 2016 ===
* '''September''':
** The Egyptian Embassy in [[Washington, D.C.]], reaches out to Papadopoulos expressing [[Egyptian President]] [[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi]]'s interest in meeting Trump. With Bannon's approval, Papadopoulos arranges a meeting between Trump and el-Sisi at the [[Plaza Hotel]] in [[New York City]].<ref name=PapadopoulosForeignOutreachWapo20180323 /> While the meeting does not appear to relate to campaign contacts with Russia, it highlights that Papadopoulos was more than a "coffee boy", as Trump campaign officials later claim.<ref name=nyt-20171230 />
** The CIA gives a secret briefing to congressional leaders on [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|Russian interference in the election]]. [[Senate Majority Leader]] [[Mitch McConnell]] voices doubts about the intelligence.<ref name=SecretCIAAssessmentWapo20161209>{{cite web|title=Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-orders-review-of-russian-hacking-during-presidential-campaign/2016/12/09/31d6b300-be2a-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 9, 2016|access-date=March 26, 2018|last1=Entous|first1=Adam|last2=Nakashima|first2=Ellen|last3=Miller|first3=Greg}}</ref>
** Mifsud hires Mangiante to work for the London Centre of International Law Practice, on Pittella's recommendation. Papadopoulos, a former employee of the Centre, contacts her via [[LinkedIn]]. They begin dating in March 2017.<ref name=BossBoyfriendFBITheGuardian20180118 />
** Stone emails Credico to ask Assange for Clinton emails from August 10–30, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Roger Stone sought dirt on Clinton from Assange during 2016 election: report|url=http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/389273-roger-stone-sought-damaging-info-on-clinton-wikileaks-during-2016|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=May 24, 2018|access-date=July 15, 2018|last=Thomsen|first=Jaqueline}} "Please ask Assange for any State or HRC e-mail from August 10 to August 30—particularly on August 20, 2011," Stone wrote in a September 2016 email to Randy Credico, a New York radio host who had recently interviewed Assange.</ref>
** The FBI makes a second attempt to recruit Deripaska as an informant on Manafort, the Kremlin, and Russian organized crime in exchange for a U.S. visa.<ref name=AgentsTriedToFlipNYT20180901 />
* '''September 2''':
** [[Lisa Page]] writes in a text message to [[Peter Strzok]] that a meeting at the FBI was set up "because Obama wanted 'to know everything we are doing'."<ref name="Darcy_2/7/2018">{{cite news|last=Darcy |first=Oliver |title=Right-wing media obsesses over FBI text message story; hours later it's debunked |work=CNN Money |date=February 7, 2018 |url=http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/07/media/right-wing-media-fbi-text-message-clinton-investigation/index.html | access-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> She was referring to the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, not the Clinton emails investigation, which had been concluded months earlier.<ref name="Wilber_2/7/2018">{{cite news |last=Wilber |first=Del Quentin |title=Text From 2016 Shows Obama's Interest in FBI Employees' Work |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=February 7, 2018 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/texts-from-2016-show-fbi-employees-preparing-obama-briefing-on-russia-1518036629 | access-date=February 9, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Darcy_2/7/2018"/>
** Peter W. Smith and John Szobocsan<ref name=MuellerReportConnectsLateChicagoSunTimes20190418>{{Cite web |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2019/4/18/18621353/mueller-report-connects-late-lake-forest-operative-peter-smith-to-michael-flynn |title=Mueller report connects late Lake Forest operative Peter Smith to Michael Flynn |website=[[Chicago Sun Times]] |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=November 1, 2019 |last=Sweet |first=Lynn |author-link=Lynn Sweet}}</ref> incorporate "KLS Research", an [[LLC]] registered in [[Delaware]], as a vehicle to manage funds raised to pay for the search for Clinton's emails and "to avoid campaign reporting."<ref>{{cite web|title='I got recruited to collude with the Russians': An unexpected player has added a new layer to the Trump campaign's Russia ties|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-trump-campaign-collusion-matt-tait-peter-smith-2017-7|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=July 1, 2017|access-date=April 9, 2018|last=Bertrand|first=Natasha}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=63}} KLS is structured as an "independent expenditure group," which is forbidden by law from coordinating with the Trump campaign.<ref name="InTheMuellerReportTheNewYorker-20190418">{{Cite web |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/in-the-mueller-report-erik-prince-funds-a-covert-effort-to-obtain-clintons-e-mails-from-a-foreign-state |title=In the Mueller Report, Erik Prince Funds a Covert Effort to Obtain Clinton's E-mails from a Foreign State |last=Mayer |first=Jane |authorlink=Jane Mayer |date=April 18, 2019 |access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref> Over $30,000 flows through the company during the campaign.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=63}}
* '''September 3''': The IRA Facebook group "United Muslims of America" organizes a "Safe Space for Muslim Neighborhood" rally outside the White House, attracting at least 57 people.<ref name=RussiansImpersonatedMuslims20170927>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/exclusive-russians-impersonated-real-american-muslims-to-stir-chaos-on-facebook-and-instagram |title=Exclusive: Russians Impersonated Real American Muslims to Stir Chaos on Facebook and Instagram |last3=Ackerman|first1=Ben|last1=Collins|first2=Kevin|last2=Poulsen|first3=Spencer|date=September 27, 2017|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=September 28, 2017}}</ref>
{{anchor|20160903-05}}
* '''September 3–5''': Wealthy Republican donor [[Peter W. Smith]] gathers a team to try to acquire the [[Hillary Clinton email controversy|30,000 deleted Clinton emails]] from hackers. He believes Clinton's private email server was hacked and copies of the emails were stolen.<ref name=PeterSmithClintonEmailsChicagoTribune20170713 /> Among the people recruited are former [[GCHQ]] information-security specialist Matt Tait,<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |url=http://uk.businessinsider.com/mueller-trump-russia-matt-tait-michael-flynn-investigation-2017-10?r=US&IR=T |title=Mueller has interviewed the cybersecurity expert who said he was 'recruited to collude with the Russians' |date=October 16, 2017 |work=[[Business Insider]]|last=Bertrand|first=Natasha}}</ref> [[alt-right]] activist [[Charles C. Johnson]], former [[Business Insider]] CTO and alt-right activist Pax Dickinson, "dark web expert" Royal O'Brien, and Jonathan Safron.<ref name=GOPResearcherWhoSoughtPolitico20170711>{{cite web|title=GOP Researcher Who Sought Clinton Emails Had Alt-Right Help|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/11/gop-researcher-who-sought-clinton-emails-had-alt-right-help-215359|website=[[Politico]]|date=July 11, 2017|access-date=August 13, 2018|last=Schreckinger|first=Ben}}</ref> Tait quickly abandons the team after learning the true purpose of the endeavor.<ref name=GOPResearcherWhoSoughtPolitico20170711 /> Hackers contacted in the search include "[[Guccifer 2.0]]" and [[Andrew Auernheimer]] (a.k.a. "weev").<ref name=GOPResearcherWhoSoughtPolitico20170711 /> The team finds five groups of hackers claiming to have the emails. Two of the groups are Russian. Flynn is in email contact with the team. Smith commits suicide on May 14, 2017, about ten days after telling the story to ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' but before the story is published in June.<ref name=PeterSmithClintonEmailsChicagoTribune20170713>{{cite web |title=Peter W. Smith, GOP operative who sought Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide, records show |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-peter-smith-death-met-0713-20170713-story.html |website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=July 13, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last1=Skiba |first1=Katherine |last2=Heinzmann |first2=David |last3=Lighty |first3=Todd}}</ref>
* '''September 4–5''': At the [[2016 G20 Hangzhou summit]], Obama confronts Putin about Russian cyber attacks, telling him to stop. Putin explains Russia's stance on the issue.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sharman |first=Jon |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/vladimir-putin-really-clear-barack-obama-us-election-hack-g20-cut-it-out-a7481686.html |title=The Kremlin has responded to hacking allegations for the first time |date=December 17, 2016 |work=The Independent |accessdate=February 8, 2018}}</ref>
* '''September 8''':
** Smith transfers $9,500 from KLS Research to his personal account, then withdraws $4,900 of it in cash and writes checks for the remaining amount. In August 2018, ''BuzzFeed News'' reports that the FBI suspects the money was used to pay hackers.<ref>{{cite web|title=GOP Operative Made "Suspicious" Cash Withdrawals During Pursuit Of Clinton Emails|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonleopold/peter-w-smith-hillary-clinton-emails-trump-flynn-money?bfsplash|website=[[BuzzFeed News]]|date=August 10, 2018|access-date=August 10, 2018|last1=Leopold|first1=Jason|last2=Cormier|first2=Anthony|author-link1=Jason Leopold|author-link2=Anthony Cormier}}</ref>
** Sessions meets with Kislyak a third time<ref name=Ford /> in his Senate office with two members of his Senate staff, Sandra Luff and Pete Landrum.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=128}} They discuss Russian military actions and the presence of NATO forces in former [[Soviet-bloc|Soviet bloc]] countries bordering Russia.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=128}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000597891|title=Session: Discussed Ukraine & terrorism with Russian amb.|website=[[CNBC]]|date=March 2, 2017|type=video}}</ref> Kislyak invites Sessions to have further discussions with him over a meal at his residence.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|pp=128}} In 2018, Luff and Landum tell Mueller's team that they don't recall Sessions dining with Kislyak before the election.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|pp=128-129}}
* '''September 9''':
** Papadopoulos contacts deputy communications director Bryan Lanza about a request from ''[[Interfax]]'' for an interview with Ksenia Baygarova. Lanza approves the interview.<ref name=PapadopoulosForeignOutreachWapo20180323 />
** The IRA sends money to its American groups to fund the September 11 rally in Miami, and to pay the actress who portrayed Clinton at the West Palm Beach, Florida, rally.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** Smith circulates a document claiming his Clinton email search initiative is being performed in coordination with the Trump campaign "to the extent permitted as an independent expenditure organization." The document lists Flynn, Clovis, Bannon, and Conway as involved campaign members, and Corsi under "Independent Groups/Organizations/Individuals". Later, Mueller's team is unable to confirm the active participation of Bannon and Conway.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=63–64}}<ref name=TrumpCampaignAttemptedToWaPo-20190418 />
* '''Mid-September''': Papadopoulos approaches British government officials asking for a meeting with senior ministers. He is given a meeting with a mid-level [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|Foreign Office]] official in [[London]]. Papadopoulos mentions he has senior contacts in the Russian government. British officials conclude he is not a major player and discontinue contact.<ref>{{cite web |title=For 'low level volunteer,' Papadopoulos sought high profile as Trump adviser |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-low-level-volunteer-papadopoulos-sought-high-profile-as-trump-adviser/2017/10/31/dc737a42-be5f-11e7-8444-a0d4f04b89eb_story.html|website=[[The Washington Post]] |date=October 31, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last1=Helderman |first1=Rosalind S. |last2=DeYoung |first2=Karen |last3=Hamburger |first3=Tom}}</ref>
* '''September 11''': A pro-Trump rally organized by the IRA is held in Miami. The rally includes a flatbed truck with a person dressed as Clinton in a prison jumpsuit inside a cage, all paid for by the IRA.<ref name=RussianSydicateDupedTrumpMiamiHerald-20180216>{{Cite web |url=https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article200660314.html |title=Russian syndicate duped Trump supporters into organizing Florida rallies, feds say |last=Smiley |first=David |date=February 16, 2018 |website=[[Miami Herald]] |access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>
* '''September 15''':
** DCLeaks sends a Twitter direct message to WikiLeaks asking how to discuss submission-related issues because WikiLeaks is not responding to messages on their secure chat and DCLeaks has something of interest to share.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=46}}
** "Guccifer 2.0" sends a Twitter direct message to DCLeaks informing them that WikiLeaks is trying to contact them to set up communications using encrypted emails.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=46–47}}
** Papadopoulos meets with Stefan Halper's research assistant Azra Turk for drinks in London. She asks him questions about whether the Trump campaign was working with Russia. Papadopoulos becomes suspicious about the line of questioning and comes to believe Turk is an intelligence agent, possibly from Turkey. In May 2019, ''The New York Times'' reports that Turk was an undercover FBI agent supervising Halper's inquiries into possible connections between the Trump Campaign and Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/us/politics/fbi-government-investigator-trump.html |title=F.B.I. Sent Investigator Posing as Assistant to Meet With Trump Aide in 2016 |last1=Goldman|first1=Adam|authorlink1=Adam Goldman |last2=Schmidt|first2=Michael S.|authorlink2=Michael S. Schmidt |last3=Mazzetti|first3=Mark|authorlink3=Mark Mazzetti |date=May 2, 2019 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=May 2, 2019}}</ref>
* '''September 16''': Barbara Ledeen emails Smith about a cache of purported Clinton emails she says she found on the [[dark web]]. She asks for help raising money to pay for a technical advisor to authenticate the emails. Erik Prince provides the money. In April 2018 Prince tells Mueller's team that the technical advisor determined that the emails were forgeries.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=64}}<ref name=TrumpCampaignAttemptedToWaPo-20190418 />
* '''September 19''': Crossfire Hurricane investigators obtain [[Steele dossier]].<ref name="NYT20190709"/>
{{anchor|20160920}}
* '''September 20''':
** Flynn meets with Rohrabacher. On November 10, 2017, the Mueller investigation is reported to have asked questions about this meeting.<ref name=MuellerFlynnRohrabacherNBC20171110>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mueller-probing-pre-election-flynn-meeting-pro-russia-congressman-n819676 |title=Mueller probing pre-election Flynn meeting with pro-Russia congressman |publisher=NBC News|date=November 10, 2017 |language=en|access-date=April 4, 2018|last=Ainsley|first=Julia}}</ref>
** GRU hackers compromise a DNC account on a cloud-computing service and begin copying 300 GB of data off of the servers.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=49–50}}
** While browsing a political [[chatroom]], Jason Fishbein comes across the password to a non-public website (<code>PutinTrump.org</code>) focusing on Trump's ties to Russia that is nearing launch. He sends the password and website to WikiLeaks in a Twitter direct message. WikiLeaks tweets about the website and password.<ref name="New DetailsFromTheSlate-20190418">{{Cite web |url=https://slate.com/technology/2019/04/mueller-report-donald-trump-jr-wikileaks-twitter-hacking.html |title=New Details From the Mueller Report About Don Jr.'s Interactions With WikiLeaks |last=Glaser |first=April |date=April 18, 2019 |website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=59–60}}
* '''September 20–26''': BlackMattersUS, an IRA website, recruits activists to participate in protests over the police [[shooting of Keith Lamont Scott]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]]. The IRA pays for expenses such as microphones and speakers.<ref name=AmericansTrickedByRussiaBuzzFeedNews20171017 />
* '''September 21''':
** ''[[The New York Times]]'' delivers potential evidence of communications with Trump's domain with Alfa-Bank and other entities to [[BGR Group]], a Washington lobbying firm that worked for Alfa-Bank, from a story Lichtblau was pursuing following findings "Max" and his lawyer decided to hand over to him.<ref name=Filkins2018.10.15 />
** WikiLeaks sends a Twitter direct message to Trump Jr. about the password to <code>PutinTrump.org</code>. Several hours later, Trump Jr. emails senior campaign staff about the WikiLeaks direct message and website, including Conway, Bannon, Kushner, [[David Bossie]], and [[Brad Parscale]]. After the public launch of <code>PutinTrump.org</code>, Trump Jr. sends a Twitter direct message to WikiLeaks, "Off the record, l don't know who that is but I'll ask around. Thanks." This is believed to be the first direct communication between Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks.<ref name="New DetailsFromTheSlate-20190418" />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=60}}<ref name=MinorityViewsHPSCI-20180326>{{Cite web |url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/HRPT-115-2_Minority_Views.pdf |title=Minority Views |date=March 26, 2018 |access-date=April 24, 2019 |author=The Minority Members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence |author-link=United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence}}</ref>{{rp|33}}
* '''September 22''':
** Senator [[Dianne Feinstein]] and Representative [[Adam Schiff]] issue a statement warning that Russia is trying to undermine the election. Their warning is based on what they learned from intelligence briefings as members of the [[Gang of Eight (intelligence)|Gang of Eight]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Obama's secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin's election assault |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/obama-putin-election-hacking/ |website=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 23, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2017 |last1=Miller |first1=Greg |last2=Nakashuma |first2=Ellen |last3=Entous |first3=Adam}}</ref>
** The IRA buys ads on Facebook for "Miners for Trump" rallies in Pennsylvania.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** DCLeaks sends an encrypted file to WikiLeaks and, separately, a tweet with a string of characters. The Mueller Report suspects that this was a transfer of stolen documents, but does not rule out that Andrew "Andy" Müller-Maguhn or another intermediary may have hand-delivered the documents. In 2018, Müller-Maguhn, a known hacker and frequent visitor to Assange, denies transporting material to him.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=47}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/a-german-hacker-offers-a-rare-look-inside-the-secretive-world-of-julian-assange-and-wikileaks/2018/01/17/e6211180-f311-11e7-b390-a36dc3fa2842_story.html |title=A German hacker offers a rare look inside the secretive world of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks |last=Nakashima |first=Ellen |authorlink=Ellen Nakashima |last2=Mekhennet |first2=Souad |authorlink2=Souad Mekhennet |date=January 17, 2018 |website=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=April 23, 2019 |last3=Jaffe |first3=Greg |last4=Miller |first4=Greg |last5=Weiner |first5=Rachel |last6=Tate |first6=Julie |last7=Adam |first7=Karla |last8=Pauly |first8=Stefan}}</ref>
* '''September 23''':
** ''Yahoo News'' reports that U.S. intelligence officials are investigating whether Page has set up private communications between the Trump campaign and senior Russian officials, including talks on possibly lifting sanctions if Trump is elected.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. intel officials probe ties between Trump adviser and Kremlin |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-s-intel-officials-probe-ties-between-trump-adviser-and-kremlin-175046002.html |date=September 23, 2016|access-date=March 16, 2018 |last=Isikoff |first=Michael}}</ref> The report leads to an email discussion between [[Jason Miller (communications strategist)|J. Miller]], Bannon, and Stephen Miller about removing Page from the campaign.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=102}}
** The "[[List of DNS record types#A|A record]]" of the Trump Organization's <code>mail1.trump-email.com</code> domain is deleted.<ref name=Filkins2018.10.15 />
* '''September 24''': Page is formally removed from the Trump campaign.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=102}} Publicly, the campaign denies all knowledge of Page.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/297599-trump-campaign-backs-away-from-adviser-suspected-of-ties-to-kremlin|title=Trump camp backs away from adviser suspected of Kremlin ties|first=Harper|last=Neidig|date=September 24, 2016|website=TheHill}}</ref>
* '''September 25''':
** Hicks emails Conway and Bannon instructing them to answer inquiries about Page with "[h]e was an informal advisor in March. Since then he has had no role or official contact with the campaign. We have no knowledge of activities past or present and he now officially has been removed from all lists etc."{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=102}}
** When asked by [[CNN]] about allegations linking Page to Russia, Conway denies that Page is part of the Trump campaign.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/carter-page-trump-conway-228641 |title=Conway denies Trump campaign ties to Russia figure |agency=Politico |date=September 25, 2016|last=Cohen|first=David}}</ref><ref name=guardian-20170711>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/11/donald-trump-russia-timeline-campaign-denials |title=Timeline: Trump and associates denied Russia involvement at least 20 times |agency=Guardian |date=July 11, 2017|last=Holpuch|first=Amanda}}</ref>
** Page sends Comey a letter asking that the FBI drop the reported investigation into his activities in Russia. He denies meeting with sanctioned Russian officials.<ref>{{cite web |title=Letter from Carter Page to James Comey |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/r/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/09/26/Editorial-Opinion/Graphics/2016.09.25_FBI_letter.pdf |website=[[The Washington Post]] |date=September 25, 2016|access-date=March 16, 2018 |last=Page |first=Carter}}</ref>
** FBI informant [[Stefan Halper]] asks Trump advisor [[George Papadopoulos]] if he is aware of any efforts by Russians to interfere with the 2016 election; Papadopoulos twice denies it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/18/us/politics/trump-fbi-informant-russia-investigation.html|title=F.B.I. Used Informant to Investigate Russia Ties to Campaign, Not to Spy, as Trump Claims|first1=Adam|last1=Goldman|first2=Mark|last2=Mazzetti|first3=Matthew|last3=Rosenberg|date=May 18, 2018|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>
* '''September 26''': Page tells [[Josh Rogin]] in an interview for [[The Washington Post]] that he is taking a leave of absence from the Trump campaign. He denies meeting with sanctioned individuals in Moscow.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trump's Russia adviser speaks out, calls accusations 'complete garbage' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2016/09/26/trumps-russia-adviser-speaks-out-calls-accusations-complete-garbage/|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=September 26, 2016|access-date=March 27, 2018|last=Rogin|first=Josh|quote=All of these accusations are just complete garbage.}}</ref>
* '''September 27''': Ten minutes after Alfa-Bank servers made a last failed attempt to contact to Trump Organization's <code>mail1.trump-email.com</code> domain (which had its "A record" deleted September 23), one of the Alfa-Bank servers looks up the new domain name <code>trump1.contact-client.com</code>, which was routed to the same Trump server. The new domain does not appear to have been previously active and the [[PTR record]] did not include the new, alternate name. According to "Max"'s data, the Alfa-Bank server only looked up the new domain once.<ref name=Filkins2018.10.15 /> Spectrum Health never succeeded in relocating the Trump server through the new route.<ref name=Filkins2018.10.15 />
* '''September 28''': Russian-American [[Simon Kukes]] donates $99,000 to the [[Trump Victory Committee]], which distributes donations between Trump, the RNC, and state Republican parties. His 2016 political donations become a subject of the Mueller investigation.<ref name=RussianUSTycoonBoastedTheGuardian20180928>{{cite web|title=Russian-US tycoon boasted of 'active' involvement in Trump election campaign|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/28/russian-us-tycoon-boasted-of-active-involvement-in-trump-election-campaign-simon-kukes|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=September 28, 2018|access-date=September 28, 2018|last=Harding|first=Luke|author-link=Luke Harding}}</ref>
* '''September 29''':
** Comey testifies before the [[House Judiciary Committee]], confirming that federal investigators have detected suspicious activities in [[Voter registration in the United States|voter registration]] databases, as stated in the August 18 alert.<ref name="APVoteReg">{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-hackers-target-election-systems-20160930-story.html |title=U.S. official: Hackers targeted voter registration systems of 20 states |date=September 30, 2016|author=Tribune news services|website=Chicago Tribune|access-date=May 24, 2018}}</ref>
** Butina meets Gordon at a party at the [[Martin Dahinden|Swiss ambassador]]'s residence. Gordon was the Director of National Security for the Trump campaign from February to August. That night, Paul Erickson emails Butina and Gordon offering to "add an electronic bridge" to their meeting at the party. In his email to Butina, Erickson writes that Gordon is "playing a crucial role in the Trump transition effort and would be an excellent addition to any of the U.S./Russia friendship dinners to occasionally hold." He writes that all the "right" people listen to Gordon on international security. Erickson's email to Gordon describes Butina as a "special friend" of the NRA and the special assistant to the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia.<ref name=TrumpAssociateSocializedWapo20180803>{{cite web|title=Trump associate socialized with alleged Russian agent Maria Butina in final weeks of 2016 campaign|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-associate-socialized-with-alleged-russian-agent-maria-butina-in-final-weeks-of-2016-campaign/2018/08/03/d87c1d84-96a6-11e8-80e1-00e80e1fdf43_story.html|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=August 3, 2018|access-date=August 3, 2018|last1=Helderman|first1=Rosalind S.|last2=Leonnig|first2=Carol D.|author-link2=Carol D. Leonnig|last3=Crites|first3=Alice|last4=Harris|first4=Shane|author-link4=Shane Harris}}</ref>
* '''September 30''': Ksenia Baygarova interviews Papadopoulos for ''[[Interfax]]'' on Trump's foreign policy positions in relation to Russia.<ref>{{cite news |title=George Papadopoulos: Sanctions have done little more than to turn Russia towards China |url=http://www.interfax.com/interview.asp?id=704556 |agency=[[Interfax]] |date=September 30, 2016 |access-date=March 23, 2018 |last=Baygarova |first=Ksenia}}</ref> The interview was approved by Trump campaign deputy communications director Bryan Lanza. Baygarova later tells ''The Washington Post'' that she had been tasked to interview a representative from each campaign. She says Papadopoulos was the only person from the Trump campaign to respond. She describes him as not very experienced.<ref name=PapadopoulosForeignOutreachWapo20180323 /> Adverse publicity generated by the interview leads to Papadopoulous being fired from the campaign in October.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=93}}
* '''Late September''': Lichtblau and his lawyer meet a roomful of officials at [[FBI HQ]], and are told the officials are looking into potential Russian interference in the election. FBI officials ask Lichtblau to delay publishing his story.<ref name=Filkins2018.10.15 />

=== October–November 2016 ===
* '''Early October''': A team of FBI agents travel to Europe to speak with Steele about his dossier.<ref name=nyt-20171230>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/30/us/politics/how-fbi-russia-investigation-began-george-papadopoulos.html |title=How the Russia Inquiry Began: A Campaign Aide, Drinks and Talk of Political Dirt |work=[[The New York Times]] |last1=LaFraniere |first1=Sharon |last2=Mazzetti |first2=Mark |last3=Apuzzo |first3=Matt |date=December 30, 2017 |access-date=December 30, 2017}}</ref> On or about the same date, Steele gives the FBI a dossier of allegations compiled by Cody Shearer, which corresponded "with what he had separately heard from his own independent sources." It includes the unverified allegation that Trump was sexually compromised by the Russian secret service at the [[Ritz-Carlton Hotel Moscow|Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow]] in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/30/trump-russia-collusion-fbi-cody-shearer-memo |title=FBI has second dossier on possible Trump-Russia collusion |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 30, 2018|last1=Kirchgaessner|first1=Stephanie|last2=Hopkins|first2=Nick}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/15/how-trump-walked-into-putins-web-luke |title=How Trump walked into Putin's web |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=November 15, 2017|last=Harding|first=Luke}}</ref>
* '''October 1''': Stone tweets that something damaging to Clinton will happen soon.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=782443074874138624|author=Roger Stone|author-link=Roger Stone|user=RogerJStoneJr|title=Wednesday@HillaryClinton is done. |archive-date=October 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002190139/https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/782443074874138624 |date=October 1, 2016 |access-date=July 14, 2018}}</ref>
* '''October 2''':
** "Miners for Trump" rallies are held across Pennsylvania. The IRA uses the same techniques to organize the rallies as they used for the "Florida Goes Trump" rallies, including hiring a person to wear a Clinton mask and a prison uniform.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
** Stone tells Jones on ''InfoWars'', "I'm assured the motherlode is coming Wednesday...I have reason to believe that it is devastating."<ref name=RogerStonesRussianHackingHeroTSG20170308 />
* '''October 3''':
** Stone tweets that Assange will release something soon.<ref>{{cite tweet|number=782994854964031489|author=Roger Stone|author-link=Roger Stone|user=RogerJStoneJr|title=I have total confidence that @wikileaks and my hero Julian Assange will educate the American people soon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016065754/https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/782994854964031489 |archive-date=October 16, 2016 |date=October 3, 2016 |access-date=July 14, 2018}}</ref>
** WikiLeaks sends a Twitter direct message to Trump Jr. asking him to help "push" a WikiLeaks tweet from earlier in the day ("Hillary Clinton on Assange 'Can't we just drone this guy?[']") that includes a link to <code>truepundit.com</code>. Trump Jr. responds, "Already did that earlier today. It’s amazing what she can get away with. What’s behind this Wednesday leak I keep reading about?"<ref name="New DetailsFromTheSlate-20190418" />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=60}}{{r|MinorityViewsHPSCI-20180326|p=34}}
* '''October 4''': Assange announces the pending release of a million documents about the U.S. presidential election. He denies any specific intent to harm Clinton.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ecuador-sweden-assange-idUSKCN1240UG |title=WikiLeaks' Assange signals release of documents before U.S. election |agency=[[Reuters]] |first=Andrea |last=Shalal |date=October 4, 2016 |access-date=November 5, 2018}}</ref>
* '''October 5''':
** (Wednesday) Stone tweets that a payload from Assange is coming.<ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 />
** Trump Jr. retweets a WikiLeaks tweet announcing an "860Mb [sic]" archive of various Clinton campaign documents from "Guccifer 2.0".{{r|MinorityViewsHPSCI-20180326|p=34}}
* '''October 6''': Stone tweets, "Julian Assange will deliver a devastating expose on Hillary at a time of his choosing. I stand by my prediction."<ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 />
* '''October 7''':
** At 12:40 PM EDT,<ref name=HowRussiaHelpedSwingNewYorker20181001>{{cite web|title=How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/01/how-russia-helped-to-swing-the-election-for-trump|website=[[NewYorker.com]]|date=October 1, 2018|access-date=September 24, 2018|last=Mayer|first=Jane|author-link=Jane Mayer}}</ref> The [[United States Department of Homeland Security|DHS]] and the [[Office of the Director of National Intelligence|ODNI]] issue a joint statement<ref>{{cite web |title=Joint Statement from the Department Of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security |publisher=Department of Homeland Security |date=October 7, 2016 |url=https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/10/07/joint-statement-department-homeland-security-and-office-director-national |accessdate=April 10, 2017}}</ref> accusing the Russian government of breaking into the computer systems of several political organizations and releasing the obtained material via [[DCLeaks]], WikiLeaks, and "Guccifer 2.0", with the intent "to interfere with the U.S. election process."<ref name=Nakashima1>{{cite news |last1=Nakashima |first1=Ellen |title=US government officially accuses Russia of hacking campaign to interfere with elections |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-government-officially-accuses-russia-of-hacking-campaign-to-influence-elections/2016/10/07/4e0b9654-8cbf-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html |work=[[The Washington Post]] |accessdate=October 7, 2016}}</ref>
** Corsi holds a conference call with members of [[WorldNetDaily]] in which he warns them of the imminent release of the Access Hollywood tape and tells them "to reach Assange immediately". In November 2018 he tells Mueller's team that he thought Malloch was on the call and assumed Malloch had successfully contacted Assange because of the subsequent Podesta emails release later in the day. Travel records show Malloch was on a trans-Atlantic flight at the time. The Mueller Report says Corsi's sometimes conflicting statements about the call's contents have not been corroborated.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=58–59}}
** At 4:03 PM EDT,<ref name=HowRussiaHelpedSwingNewYorker20181001 /> ''[[The Washington Post]]'' publishes [[Donald Trump Access Hollywood tape|a raw video tape]] from the television show ''[[Access (U.S. TV series)|Access Hollywood]]'' of Trump bragging about grabbing women by their genitals.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trump recorded having extremely lewd conversation about women in 2005 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4_story.html |website=[[The Washington Post]] |date=October 8, 2016|access-date=October 8, 2016 |last=Fahrenthold |first=David A.}}</ref> While the tape is not relevant to the Russian interference in the election, the distraction of its release lessens the public impact of the joint intelligence report released hours earlier and may have triggered WikiLeaks' [[Podesta emails]] release 30 minutes later.<ref name=HowRussiaHelpedSwingNewYorker20181001 /><ref>{{cite web |title=This one insane day changed the course of U.S. politics forever |url=https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/wjzk4w/this-one-insane-day-changed-the-course-of-u-s-politics-forever |website=[[Vice News]] |date=June 23, 2017|access-date=March 15, 2018 |last=Lubben |first=Alex}}</ref><ref name=StoneGucciferNewsweek20170928 />
** Around 4:30 PM EDT,<ref name=HowRussiaHelpedSwingNewYorker20181001 /> WikiLeaks begins publishing [[Podesta emails|thousands of Podesta emails]], revealing excerpts from Clinton's paid speeches to Wall Street.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Koran |first1=Laura |last2=Merica |first2=Dan |last3=LoBianco |first3=Tom |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/07/politics/john-podesta-emails-hacked/ |title=WikiLeaks posts apparent excerpts of Clinton Wall Street speeches |date=October 7, 2016 |work=CNN |accessdate=January 6, 2017}}</ref><ref>"[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37639370 18 revelations from Wikileaks' hacked Clinton emails]". [[BBC News]]. October 27, 2016.</ref> Trump Jr. retweets WikiLeaks' and others' announcements about the release.{{r|MinorityViewsHPSCI-20180326|p=34}}
* '''October 8''': Kushner's company receives $370 million in new loans, including $285 million from [[Deutsche Bank]], to refinance his portion of the [[229 West 43rd Street|former New York Times building]]. The size and timing of the Deutsche Bank loan draws scrutiny from the [[House Financial Services Committee]], the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]], and, later, the Mueller investigation. The concern is that the transaction may be related to [[Deutsche Bank#2017 money-laundering fine|Russian money laundering]] through Deutsche Bank.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kushner firm's $285 million Deutsche Bank loan came just before Election Day|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/kushner-firms-285-million-deutsche-bank-loan-came-just-before-election-day/2017/06/25/984f3acc-4f88-11e7-b064-828ba60fbb98_story.html|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 25, 2017|access-date=March 30, 2018|last=Kranish|first=Michael}}</ref><ref name=KushnerDeutscheBankRecordsNYT20171222>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/business/kushner-deutsche-bank-subpoena.html |title=Prosecutors Said to Seek Kushner Records From Deutsche Bank |last=Protess |first=Ben |date=December 22, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=December 23, 2017 |last2=Silver-Greenberg |first2=Jessica |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |last3=Enrich |first3=David}}</ref>
* '''October 8–14''': The U.S. government expresses to Ecuadorian officials its concerns that Assange is using their London embassy to help Russian's interfere in the U.S. election.<ref name="SecurityReportsRevealHowCNN-20190715" />
* '''October 9''': Banks, Wigmore, and Farage attend the [[United States presidential debates, 2016|second presidential debate]] in [[St. Louis, Missouri]].<ref name=BadBoysOfBrexitRussiaTrumpWapo20180602 />
* '''October 11''':
** Trump Jr. travels to Paris to give a paid speech at the [[Hôtel Ritz Paris|Ritz Hotel]]. The dinner event is sponsored by the Center of Political and Foreign Affairs, a group founded by [[Fabien Baussart]] and his business partner. Baussart is openly linked to Russian government officials. [[Randa Kassis]], one of the hosts, travels to Moscow after the election and reports the details of the event to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister [[Mikhail Bogdanov (diplomat)|Mikhail Bogdanov]].<ref>{{cite web|title=For Donald Trump Jr., lingering questions about meeting with pro-Russia group|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-jr-lingering-questions-meeting-pro-russia-group/story?id=45858839|website=[[ABC News]]|date=March 2, 2017|access-date=March 27, 2018|last1=Ross|first1=Brian|last2=Mosk|first2=Matthew|last3=Momtaz|first3=Rym}}</ref>
** Podesta says he thinks the Trump campaign had advance notice of WikiLeaks's release of his emails.<ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 />
* '''October 12''': WikiLeaks writes to Trump Jr., "Hey Donald, great to see you and your dad talking about our publications" and "Strongly suggest your dad tweets this link if he mentions us wlsearch.tk."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-jr-communicated-with-wikileaks-during-2016-campaign/2017/11/13/947e64d4-c8bb-11e7-aa96-54417592cf72_story.html |title=Donald Trump Jr. communicated with WikiLeaks during 2016 campaign |first=Carol D.|last=Leonnig|first2=Rosalind S.|last2=Helderman |date=November 13, 2017 |work=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref><ref name="New DetailsFromTheSlate-20190418" />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=60}} Fifteen minutes later, Donald Trump tweets, "Very little pick-up by the dishonest media of incredible information provided by WikiLeaks. So dishonest! Rigged system!"<ref name=TrumpJrWikiLeaksAtlantic20171113>{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-secret-correspondence-between-donald-trump-jr-and-wikileaks/545738/ |title=The Secret Correspondence Between Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks |date=November 13, 2017 |work=[[The Atlantic]]|last=Ioffe|first=Julia|author-link=Julia Ioffe}}</ref>
* '''October 13''': WikiLeaks again denies communicating with Stone.<ref>{{cite tweet|title=Editorial: WikiLeaks has never communicated with Roger Stone as we have previously, repeatedly stated <code>https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=from%3Awikileaks%20stone%20-oliver&src=typd</code> … |number=786609272729632768 |user=wikileaks|author=WikiLeaks|author-link=WikiLeaks |date=October 13, 2016|access-date=July 15, 2018}}</ref> Later that day, Stone and WikiLeaks communicate by private Twitter message.<ref name=TimlineHowRussianAgentsNYT20180713 /><ref>{{cite news|title=Roger Stone's Secret Messages with WikiLeaks|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/roger-stones-secret-messages-with-wikileaks/554432/|work=[[The Atlantic]]|date=February 2018|access-date=March 27, 2018|last=Bertrand|first=Natasha}}</ref>
* '''October 14''':
** Trump Jr. tweets about <code>wlsearch.tk</code> as requested by WikiLeaks on October 12.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/11/14/the-clear-timeline-suggesting-donald-trump-jr-coordinated-with-wikileaks |title=The clear timeline suggesting Donald Trump Jr. coordinated with WikiLeaks |first=Aaron |last=Blake |date=November 14, 2017 |work=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=November 14, 2017}}</ref><ref name="New DetailsFromTheSlate-20190418" />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=60}}<ref>{{Cite tweet |number=786923210512142336 |user=DonaldJTrumpJr |title=For those who have the time to read about all the corruption and hypocrisy all the @wikileaks emails are right here: http://wlsearch.tk/ |author=Donald Trump Jr. |author-link=Donald Trump Jr. |date=October 14, 2016 |access-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref>
** Pence denies that the Trump campaign is working with WikiLeaks, stating that "nothing could be further from the truth".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/mike-pence-denies-trump-wikileaks-229786 |title=Pence denies Trump camp in cahoots with WikiLeaks |date=October 14, 2016 |work=[[Politico]]|last=Nelson|first=Louis}}</ref>
* '''October 15''':
** The [[Democratic Coalition Against Trump]] files a complaint with the FBI against Stone for colluding with Russia. They ask the FBI to look into connections between Stone, the Trump campaign, and the hacking of Podesta's emails.<ref>{{cite web|title=Anti-Trump group files FBI complaint over alleged Russian collusion|url=http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/301203-anti-trump-group-files-complaint-to-fbi-over-alleged-russian-collusion|website=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|date=October 15, 2016|access-date=July 15, 2018|last=Uchill|first=Joe}}</ref>
** The [[United States Department of Justice National Security Division|National Security Division]] of the Justice Department acquires a FISA warrant to monitor the communications of two Russian banks as part of an investigation into whether they illegally transferred money to the Trump campaign.<ref name=TrumpCompromisingClaimsHowBBCNews20170112>{{cite web|title=Trump 'compromising' claims: How and why did we get here?|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38589427|date=January 12, 2017|access-date=September 22, 2018|last=Wood|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Wood (journalist)|website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>
** The Ecuadorian Embassy cuts Assange's Internet access and telephone service.<ref name="SecurityReportsRevealHowCNN-20190715" /><ref name="ExuadorTakesResponsibilityForCNN-20161018" />
* '''October 16''': The IRA's Instagram account "Woke Blacks" makes a post aimed at suppressing black voter turnout.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''October 18''':
** Butina and Gordon attend a [[Styx (band)|Styx]] concert together.<ref name=TrumpAssociateSocializedWapo20180803 /><ref>{{cite web|title=Styx's Concert History|url=https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/styx|website=Concert Archives|access-date=September 3, 2018}}</ref>
** Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs releases a public statement announcing that it "exercised its right" to "temporarily restrict access to some of [WikiLeaks'] private communications network within its Embassy in the United Kingdom" and that the government of Ecuador "does not interfere in external electoral processes, nor does it favor any particular candidate".<ref name="SecurityReportsRevealHowCNN-20190715" /><ref name="ExuadorTakesResponsibilityForCNN-20161018">{{Cite web |title=Ecuador takes responsibility for cutting internet to Assange |url=https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/18/politics/ecuador-julian-assange-wikileaks-internet/index.html |last=Jones |first=Julia |last2=Perez |first2=Evan |date=October 18, 2016 |website=[[CNN]] |access-date=July 19, 2019}}</ref>
* '''October 19''':[[File:Reid-letter-to-comey.pdf|thumb|Senator Harry Reid Letter to FBI Director James B. Comey<ref name=ReidAccusesFBI20161031 />]]
** The FBI and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) apply for a FISA warrant to conduct surveillance on Carter Page.<ref name=PageNakashima20170411 /><ref name="Zapotosky_Demirjian_Costa_Nakashima_1/29/2018">{{cite news |last1=Zapotosky |first1=Matt |last2=Demirjian |first2=Karoun |last3=Costa |first3=Robert |last4=Nakashima |first4=Ellen |title=How a classified four-page Russia memo triggered a political firestorm |work=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 29, 2018 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-a-classified-four-page-russia-memo-triggered-a-political-firestorm/2018/01/29/42f94628-0516-11e8-94e8-e8b8600ade23_story.html | access-date=February 6, 2018}}</ref> In its approval, the FISA Court finds there is [[probable cause]] to believe Page is a Russian agent.<ref name=PageFISADocs20180721>{{cite web |title=Carter Page FISA documents |url=https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/95-carter-page-fisa-documents-foia-release/full/optimized.pdf |via=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=July 21, 2018 }}</ref>{{rp|67–68}}<ref name=PageFISADocsReleased20180721>{{cite web|title=Carter Page FISA Documents Are Released by Justice Department|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/21/us/politics/carter-page-fisa.html|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 21, 2018|last=Savage|first=Charlie|access-date=July 21, 2018|author-link=Charlie Savage}}</ref>
** During the third [[United States presidential debates, 2016|presidential debate]], Clinton blames Russia for the DNC email leaks and accuses Trump of being a "puppet" of Putin.<ref>{{cite news |last=Blake |first=Aaron |title=The final Trump-Clinton debate transcript, annotated |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=October 19, 2016 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/19/the-final-trump-clinton-debate-transcript-annotated/ |accessdate=April 3, 2017}}</ref> Trump denies ever having met Putin and any connection to him.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-putin-presidential-debate-ive-never-met-him-fact-check-a7371061.html |title=Donald Trump denies he's ever met Putin despite someone called Donald Trump once saying he had |work=[[The Independent]] |date=October 20, 2017|last=Osborne|first=Samuel}}</ref> Banks, Wigmore, and Farage are in attendance.<ref name=BadBoysOfBrexitRussiaTrumpWapo20180602 />
** A ''[[Financial Times]]'' probe finds evidence a Trump venture has links to an alleged [[money laundering]] network.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/33285dfa-9231-11e6-8df8-d3778b55a923 |title=Dirty money: Trump and the Kazakh connection |last=Burgis |first=Tom |date=October 19, 2016 |work=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=October 26, 2017}}</ref>
** Stone denies having advance knowledge of WikiLeaks' release of Podesta's emails.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/20/politics/kfile-roger-stone-wikileaks-claims/index.html |title=Trump adviser Roger Stone repeatedly claimed to know of forthcoming WikiLeaks dumps |authors=Andrew Kaczynski, Nathan McDermott, and Chris Massie |date=March 20, 2017 |website=CNN.com |access-date=October 3, 2018 |quote=Stone claimed in an October 19 Breitbart post that he did not have advanced knowledge that Podesta's hacked emails would be leaked, claiming his tweet was about Podesta's business dealings.}}</ref><ref name=StoneGucciferNewsweek20170928 />
** The IRA runs its most popular ad on Facebook. The ad is for the IRA's Back the Badge Facebook group and shows a badge with the words "Back the Badge" in front of police lights under the caption "Community of people who support our brave Police Officers."<ref>{{cite news|title=Russians' Biggest Facebook Ad Promoted 'Blue Lives Matter'|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/russians-biggest-facebook-ad-promoted-blue-lives-matter|newspaper=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=May 10, 2018|access-date=January 5, 2019|last=Ackerman|author-link=Spencer Ackerman}}</ref>
** Hours after a heated argument between Assange and Ecuadorian Ambassador Carlos Abad Ortiz the night before, two Wikileaks personnel remove computer equipment and "about 100 hard drives" from the embassy.<ref name="SecurityReportsRevealHowCNN-20190715" />
* '''October 21''':
**WikiLeaks sends Trump Jr. private tweets suggesting that the campaign give them Trump's tax returns to publish so that they seem less of a "'pro-Trump' 'pro-Russia'" source.<ref name=TrumpJrWikiLeaksAtlantic20171113 />
** DoJ and FBI request and obtain new FISA wiretap on [[Carter Page]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.justsecurity.org/46786/timeline-carter-pages-contacts-russia |title=Timeline of Carter Page's Contacts with Russia [Updated] |date=February 5, 2018 |website=[[New York University School of Law#Centers and institutes|Just Security]]}}</ref>
** Manafort emails Kushner a strategy memorandum proposing the Trump campaign portray Clinton "as the failed and corrupt champion of the establishment." He suggests using Wikileaks as a source of Clinton quotes that could be used against her.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=141}}
* '''October 22''': A large rally is held in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], protesting the police [[shooting of Keith Lamont Scott]]. The IRA website BlackMattersUS recruits unwitting local activists to organize the rally.<ref>{{cite news|title=Charlotte shooting protest had hidden help – a Russian troll farm, news site says |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article179562956.html|work=[[The Charlotte Observer]]|date=October 19, 2018| access-date=April 2, 2018|last1=Henderson|first1=Bruce|last2=Harrison|first2=Steve}}</ref> BlackMattersUS provides an activist with a bank card to pay for rally expenses.<ref name=AmericansTrickedByRussiaBuzzFeedNews20171017>{{cite news| title=These Americans Were Tricked Into Working For Russia. They Say They Had No Idea. |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/rosalindadams/these-americans-were-tricked-into-working-for-russia-they|work=[[BuzzFeed News]]| date=October 17, 2017|access-date=April 2, 2018|last1=Adams|first1=Rosalind|last2=Brown|first2=Hayes}}</ref>
* '''October 24''': Trump announces at a Florida campaign rally, "I have nothing to do with Russia, folks. I'll give you a written statement."<ref name=guardian-20170711 />
* '''October 27''': At the [[Valdai Discussion Club]] yearly forum, Putin denounces American "hysteria" over accusations of Russian interference, saying "Does anyone seriously think that Russia can influence the choice of the American people?"<ref name="putin-bloomberg">{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-27/putin-says-u-s-isn-t-banana-republic-should-get-over-itself |title=Putin Says U.S. Isn't Banana Republic, Must Get Over Itself |publisher=[[Bloomberg News]] |first1=Anton |last1=Doroshev |first2=Ilya |last2=Arkhipov |date=October 27, 2016 |access-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref>
* '''October 28''':
** The FBI reopens its Hillary Clinton email investigation after a monthlong delay during which it focused on investigating the Trump campaign's connections to Russia, according to the report of the Justice Department's inspector general.<ref name=UrgentFBIInvestigationIntoTheIntercept20180719>{{cite web |url=https://theintercept.com/2018/07/19/fbi-russia-clinton-email-inspector-general |title=Urgent FBI Investigation Into Russian Interference Delayed Clinton Email Revelations Until Days Before 2016 Election |first=Eric|last=Lichtblau|author-link=Eric Lichtblau |date=July 19, 2018 |website=[[The Intercept]]|access-date=July 20, 2018}}</ref><ref name=AReviewOfVVariousDOJ201806>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/file/1071991/download |title=A Review of Various Actions by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Justice in Advance of the 2016 Election |date=June 2018 |website=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]|access-date=July 20, 2018|author=Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice|author-link=United States Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General }}</ref> A key influence on the decision was a probably fake Russian intelligence document discussing a purported email from Attorney General [[Loretta E. Lynch]] to Clinton campaign staffer [[Amanda Renteria]] in which she promises to go easy on Clinton.<ref name=HowRussiaHelpedSwingNewYorker20181001 /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-a-dubious-russian-document-influenced-the-fbis-handling-of-the-clinton-probe/2017/05/24/f375c07c-3a95-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html|title=How a dubious Russian document influenced the FBI's handling of the Clinton probe|website=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 24, 2017|access-date=September 24, 2018|last1=Demirhian|first1=Karoun|author-link=Karoun Demirjian|last2=Barrett|first2=Devlin|first3=Ellen|last3=Nakashima}}</ref> Nine days after announcing he was reopening the probe, Comey said the FBI found nothing to change its July decision against bringing charges.<ref name=UrgentFBIInvestigationIntoTheIntercept20180719 /><ref name=AReviewOfVVariousDOJ201806 />
** Peter W. Smith sends an email to an undisclosed list of recipients in which he writes that there is a "tug-of-war going on within WikiLeaks over its planned releases in the next few days" and that WikiLeaks "has maintained that it will save its best revelations for last, under the theory this allows little time for response prior to the U.S. election November 8." An attachment to the email says that WikiLeaks will release "All 33k deleted Emails" by November 1.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=64–65}}
* '''October 30''':
** Senate Minority Leader [[Harry Reid]] sends FBI Director [[James Comey]] a letter asking him to reveal Trump's ties to the Russian Federation.<ref name=ReidAccusesFBI20161031>{{Cite news |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/10/harry-reid-james-comey-letter |title=Harry Reid Accuses the F.B.I. of Withholding "Explosive Information" About Trump |last=Tracy |first=Abigail |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|access-date=February 2, 2018|date=October 31, 2016}}</ref>
** Cohen and Giorgi Rtskhiladze exchange text messages in which they discuss suppressing tapes of Trump's 2013 trip to Moscow rumored to be in the possession of Aras Agalarov's company, {{ill|Crocus Group|ru}}. In May 2018 Rtskhiladze tells Mueller's team that he was told the tapes were fake but did not relay that information to Cohen.<ref name="MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-II">{{Cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf|title=Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election Volume II |last=Mueller III |first=Robert S. |authorlink=Robert Mueller |work=[[Justice.gov]] |date=March 2019 |access-date=April 19, 2019}}</ref>{{rp|27–28}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-24/rtskhiladze-cohen-trump-russia-tapes |title=Georgian Businessman Offers More Texts With Cohen to Rebut Mueller Footnote |last=Baker |first=Stephanie |last2=Bedwell |first2=Helena |date=April 24, 2019 |website=[[Bloomberg LP]] |access-date=April 25, 2019}}</ref>
* '''October 31''':
** Through the [[Moscow–Washington hotline|"red phone"]], Obama tells Putin to stop interfering or face consequences.<ref name="whatobamasaid">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/what-obama-said-putin-red-phone-about-election-hack-n697116 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |title=What Obama Said to Putin on the Red Phone About the Election Hack |first1=William M. |last1=Arkin |authorlink=William M. Arkin |first2=Ken |last2=Dilanian |first3=Cynthia |last3=McFadden |author3link=Cynthia McFadden |date=December 19, 2016 |accessdate=December 22, 2016}}</ref>
** ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' magazine's [[David Corn]] reports that a veteran spy, later publicly identified as Steele, gave the FBI information alleging a Russian operation to cultivate Trump, later known as the "Steele dossier".<ref name=Corn_spy>{{cite web |last=Corn |first=David |author-link=David Corn |date=October 31, 2016 |title=A Veteran Spy Has Given the FBI Information Alleging a Russian Operation to Cultivate Donald Trump |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/veteran-spy-gave-fbi-info-alleging-russian-operation-cultivate-donald-trump |accessdate=December 19, 2017}}</ref>
** ''Slate'' publishes an article by [[Franklin Foer]] alleging that a Trump server was in suspicious contact with [[Alfa-Bank]] in Russia.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/10/was_a_server_registered_to_the_trump_organization_communicating_with_russia.html |title=Was a Trump Server Communicating With Russia? |first=Franklin|last=Foer |date=October 31, 2016 |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |accessdate=19 October 2018}}</ref> [[Snopes]] examined the story and rated it "Unproven". Several cyber security experts saw nothing nefarious, while the FBI was still investigating the matter: "One U.S. official said investigators find the server relationship 'odd' and are not ignoring it. But the official said there is still more work for the FBI to do. Investigators have not yet determined whether a connection would be significant."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.snopes.com/trump-server-tied-to-russian-bank |title=Trump Organization Computer Server Tied to Russian Bank? |first=Kim |last=LaCapria |date=March 10, 2017 |website=[[Snopes.com]] |access-date=February 23, 2018}}</ref>
**''The New York Times'' publishes an article by Lichtblau and Steven Lee Myers with a headline that seems to exonerate the Trump campaign, but withholds some information.{{sfnp|Filkins|2018|ps=: ""We had a window," Lichtblau said. His story about Alfa Bank ran the next day. But it bore only a modest resemblance to what he had filed. The headline— "investigating donald trump, f.b.i. sees no clear link to russia" —seemed to exonerate the Trump campaign. And, though the article mentioned the server, it omitted any reference to the computer scientists who had told Lichtblau that the Trump Organization and Alfa Bank might have been communicating. "We were saying that the investigation was basically over—and it was just beginning," Lichtblau told me."}}
* '''November–December''': [[Michael Flynn]] serves as an advisor to [[SCL Group]], the parent company of [[Cambridge Analytica]]. {{clarify |date=August 2019 |reason=What "agreement"? |text=The agreement}} was broken shortly after the election. <ref name=FlynnDetailsPayAP20170804>{{Cite news|url=https://www.apnews.com/a250d1088af44a3b8b55275dc97de608 |title=APNewsBreak: Flynn details tie to data firm, transition pay |work=[[AP News]]|access-date=April 11, 2018 |language=en-US| last1=Day|first1=Chad|last2=Braun|first2=Stephen |archive-date=August 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804184829/https://www.apnews.com/a250d1088af44a3b8b55275dc97de608 |via=[[Internet Archive]]|date=August 4, 2017}}</ref><ref name=FlynnAmmendedDisclosure20170122>{{cite web|title=Michael Flynn amended public financial disclosure|url=https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3913715-Michael-Flynn-amended-public-financial-disclosure.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806183152/https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3913715-Michael-Flynn-amended-public-financial-disclosure.html |archive-date=August 6, 2017 |access-date=April 11, 2018 |date=January 22, 2017|authorlink=Michael Flynn|last=Flynn|first=Michael|via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref>
* '''November''':
** Mangiante quits the London Centre of International Law Practice after complaining to Mifsud about not being paid her salary.<ref name=BossBoyfriendFBITheGuardian20180118 />
** Paul Manafort and Rick Gates falsely assert in writing to the Justice Department that their work for the Ukrainian government did not require [[Foreign Agents Registration Act|registering as foreign agents]] in the United States. In September 2018, Manafort pleads guilty to lying to the Justice Department about the extent of his work for Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paul_Manafort_statement_of_the_offense_and_other_acts_17-201-01(ABJ)).pdf |title=United States of America v. Paul Manafort, Jr. – Statement of the offense and other acts |date=September 14, 2018|access-date=September 14, 2018|last1=Mueller III|first1=Robert S.|author-link1=Robert Mueller|last2=Weissmann|first2=Andrew|last3=Rhee| first3=Jeanie S.|last4=Andres|first4=Greg D.|last5=Freeny|first5=Kyle R.|author-link2=Andrew Weissmann|via=[[Wikimedia Commons]]}}</ref>
** The GRU targets over 120 Florida election officials' email accounts with spearphishing attacks.<ref name=MuellerReportAtLeastOrlandoSentinnel-20190418 />{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=51}} They receive emails purportedly from [[VR Systems]], the state's voter registration and election results service provider, asking them to open a purported [[Word document]] containing a [[Trojan horse (computing)|trojan]].<ref name=MuellerReportAtLeastOrlandoSentinnel-20190418 /><ref name=RussianHackersWereNYT-20190426 /> At least some emails contain [[American and British English spelling differences|British spellings]] and come from [[Gmail]] accounts, which VR Systems doesn't use.<ref name=RussianHackersWereNYT-20190426 /> Many of the emails are flagged by [[spam filters]].<ref name=RussianHackersWereNYT-20190426>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/26/us/florida-russia-hacking-election.html |title=Russian Hackers Were 'In a Position' to Alter Florida Voter Rolls, Rubio Confirms |last=Robles |first=Frances |date=April 26, 2019 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=April 27, 2019}}</ref> They also receive an email from VR's [[chief operating officer]] warning them about the malicious emails.<ref name=RussianHackersWereNYT-20190426 /> Later, the FBI believes one county government's network was compromised in a way that would have given [[security hacker]]s the ability to alter voter registration data, but this is disputed by state election officials.<ref name=MuellerReportAtLeastOrlandoSentinnel-20190418>{{Cite web |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-mueller-report-florida-20190418-story.html |title=Mueller Report: 'At least one Florida county' hacked and accessed by Russian intelligence |last=Lemongello |first=Steven |date=April 18, 2019 |website=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |access-date=April 23, 2019}}</ref>{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=51}}<ref name=RussianHackersWereNYT-20190426 />
* '''November 2''': The IRA Twitter account @TEN_GOP alleges "#VoterFraud by counting tens of thousands of ineligible mail in Hillary votes being reported in Broward County, Florida." Trump Jr. retweets it.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''November 3''': The IRA Instagram account "Blacktivist" suggests people vote for Stein instead of Clinton.<ref name=TrollsTimelineWapo20180206 /><ref name=13RussiansInictment />
* '''November 4''': ''Mother Jones'' reports that an October security sweep of the DNC offices in Washington, D.C., discovered a signal that may have belonged to a device outside the office that could intercept cell phone calls. The DNC says details of the security sweep were passed on to the FBI and "another agency with three letters," but no device was ever found.<ref>{{cite web|title=Exclusive: The Democratic National Committee Has Told the FBI It Found Evidence Its HQ Was Bugged |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/11/dnc-told-fbi-it-may-have-been-bugged |website=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|date=November 4, 2016|access-date=January 11, 2019|last=Corn|first=David|author-link=David Corn}}</ref>
* '''November 5''':
** Konstantin Sidorkov again emails Trump Jr. and Trump campaign social media director [[Dan Scavino]]. He again offers to promote Trump to VK's 100 million users. His previous email was sent on January 19, 2016.<ref name=SidorkovTrumpJrWapo20171207 />
** Anti-Clinton "Texit" rallies are held across Texas. The IRA's "Heart of Texas" Facebook group organizes the rallies around the theme of [[Texas secession movements|Texas seceding]] from the United States if Clinton is elected. The group contacts the [[Texas Nationalist Movement]], a [[secessionist]] organization, to help with organizing efforts, but they decline to help. Small rallies are held in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and other cities. No one attends the Lubbock rally.<ref>{{cite web|title=Texas secession movement: Russia-linked Facebook group asked us to participate in anti-Clinton rallies |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-facebook-group-ads-texas-secession-secede-trump-clinton-2017-9|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=September 14, 2017|access-date=April 2, 2018|last=Bertrand|first=Natasha}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Texit Rallies Kick Off Across the State Without Local Support|url=http://www.everythinglubbock.com/news/klbk-news/texit-rallies-kick-off-across-the-state-without-local-support/606499870|website=everythinglubbock.com|date=November 5, 2016|type=video|access-date=April 2, 2018}}</ref><ref name=CaliforniaIndependenceBBC20171104>{{cite news|title='Russian trolls' promoted California independence|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-41853131|website=[[BBC News]]|date=November 4, 2017|access-date=April 2, 2018|last1=Yates|first1=Will|last2=Wendling|first2=Mike}}</ref>
** Manafort emails Kushner a warning that if Clinton loses, her campaign will respond to the loss by claiming voter fraud, [[Cybercrime|cyber-fraud]], and Russian hacking of voting machines contributed to Trump's victory.{{r|MUELLER-REPORT-VOL-I|p=141}}
* '''November 8''':
** Trump [[2016 United States presidential election|is elected]] President of the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Presidential Election Results: Donald J. Trump Wins |url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/president |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 9, 2016 |access-date=December 20, 2016}}</ref>
** Hours after the polls close, the [[hashtag]] #Calexit is retweeted by thousands of IRA accounts.<ref name=CaliforniaIndependenceBBC20171104 />
** [[Rospatent]], the Russian government agency responsible for intellectual property, grants 10-year extensions on four of Trump's [[trademarks]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Russia Renewed Unused Trump Trademarks in 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/18/us/politics/russia-trump-trademarks.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 18, 2017|access-date=March 12, 2018 |last=McIntire |first=Mike}}</ref>


== Post-election transition ==
== Post-election transition ==

Revision as of 23:13, 23 December 2019

This article is part of
a series about
Donald Trump
Business and personal
45th President of the United States
Tenure
Policies
Appointments
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Impeachments
Prosecutions
Interactions involving Russia
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Donald Trump's signature

Seal of the President of the United States

This is a timeline of events related to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.

It includes events described in investigations into suspected inappropriate links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials through Election Day, 2016.[1] Events and investigations also occurred during the presidential transition from November 9, 2016 to January 20, 2017, and continued through 2017, the first and second halves of 2018, 2019 and 2020, largely as parts of the Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation, the Special Counsel investigation, multiple ongoing criminal investigations by several State Attorneys General, and the investigation resulting in the Inspector General report on FBI and DOJ actions in the 2016 election.

Related information is sorted by some topic threads in another timeline.

Relevant individuals and organizations

This is a list of individuals and organizations that have been involved in the events related to either the election interference that Russia conducted against the 2016 U.S. elections and/or the resulting investigations into suspected inappropriate links between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials. Seth Abramson estimated more than 400 people could be listed here.[2]: 3 

A–E

F–K

L–Q

R–Z

Before Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy

1986

1987

1991

1996

  • Trump returns to Russia, visits Moscow with Howard Lorber and Bennett S. LeBow[17] to scout potential properties for "skyscrapers and hotels",[18] registers his trademark, and makes connections with the development company Bayrock Group (which would result in Trump Soho) and Felix Sater, who became crucial to later Trump Moscow talks.[19][15] Trump subsequently announces a plan to invest $250 million in Russia and brand two luxury residential buildings in Moscow, which doesn't come to fruition.[2]: 14 

2000

2001–2004

2004

2005

  • Trump gives Bayrock Group an exclusive deal to build a Trump-branded property in Moscow.[24]
  • Kilimnik leaves the IRI to work for Manafort in Ukraine.[23]
  • June 23: Paul Manafort and his business partner Rick Davis propose a plan to Deripaska under which they would influence news coverage, business dealings, and politics in the former Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States "to benefit President Vladimir Putin's government."[25][26]: 131  They eventually sign a $10 million contract that starts in 2006 using LOAV Ltd. instead of Davis-Manafort; they maintain a business relationship until at least 2009.[25]

2006

2007

  • Manafort and Richard Davis found Pericles Emerging Markets, an investment fund solely backed by Deripaska.[29][30][26]: 131 
  • October 15: Trump praises Putin in an interview on CNN.[31]
  • 2007–2012: Manafort receives $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments from Viktor Yanukovych's pro-Russian Ukrainian Party of Regions.[30]
  • November: Trump attends the Millionaire's Fair in Moscow, where he announces that Trump Vodka will expand its distribution into Russia, his first foray into the Russian market.[32][33][34]
  • November 20 Manafort receives his first payment from the Ukrainian Party of Regions.[35]

2008

  • 2008:
    • Around 2008, Trump Jr. travels to Russia a half-dozen times in 18 months, looking for deals.[36]
    • Deripaska transfers $18.9 million to Pericles Emerging Markets to purchase Black Sea Cable. It is unclear what happened to the money: Deripaska demands an accounting of the funds in 2013, sues Pericles in 2014, and sues Manafort in 2018.[29][30][37]
    • A spokesperson for Deripaska denies he ever hired Manafort's consulting company.[25]
  • 2008–2013: Carter Page is an "operational contact" for the CIA, which means the agency can ask him for information he already knows but not task him with gathering information.[38]
  • July: Trump sells the Palm Beach estate Maison de L'Amitie to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for a record $95 million. Trump bought the property for $41.35 million three years earlier and made only minor improvements.[39]
  • September: Trump Jr., then an executive vice president of The Trump Organization, says, "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets, say, in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."[40][41][42]
  • November: Davis-Manafort is disbanded shortly after the presidential election.[43]

2010

2011

  • October 12–27: Mueller resigns his family membership from the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia and asks for a refund of the unused portion of the annual fees. Two weeks later, the club confirms the membership will end on October 31 and says he will be put on a waitlist for fee refunds, but Mueller never receives the refund. Beginning in May 2017, Trump claims this incident forms a conflict of interest that should prevent Mueller from serving as the special counsel investigating him.[53]: 80-81 [54]
  • December 8: Putin states that Clinton "set the tone for some opposition activists", and "gave them a signal, they heard this signal and started active work".[55]

2012

2013

  • Apparent security hackers gain access to the Trump Organization's domain registrar account at GoDaddy and register hundreds of "shadow" subdomains with IP addresses located at a company in St. Petersburg Russia known for hosting websites containing malware. Most of the subdomains are created in August. By November 1, 2017, the subdomains disappeared after the Trump Organization was notified of the issue, although the organization denied that any breach occurred. [61]
  • January: Carter Page, a petroleum industry consultant, passes documents about the oil market to Victor Podobnyy, a Russian intelligence agent. He later claims the documents were public information. Podobnyy is charged with being an unregistered foreign agent in 2015.[62]
  • March 13: The FBI interviews Manafort about his offshore business dealings.[63]
  • March 19: Manafort has dinner with Rohrabacher as part of his lobbying efforts for the government of Ukraine. Vin Weber, a partner at Mercury Affairs, is also in attendance.[64] Three days later, Manafort gives Rohrabacher a $1,000 campaign contribution.[65] Richard Gates, Manafort's deputy, pleads guilty in 2018 to lying about the meeting to the FBI.[64]
  • April 13: Two agents of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) discuss recruiting Page.[66][67]
  • May 3–5: Butina and Torshin attend the NRA convention in Houston, Texas.[68][69]
  • June 15–18: Attending the Miss USA 2013 pageant, Trump dines with Aras Agalarov, Emin Agalarov, and Rob Goldstone in Las Vegas.[70] The next day he announces that Miss Universe 2013 will be held in Moscow.[70] He sends Putin a letter inviting him to the pageant[71] and asks on Twitter whether the Russian president will be his "new best friend".[72]
  • July 3: Carter Page schedules a dinner with potential investor Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg to pitch his fledgling natural gas business. It is unclear whether the meeting took place.[73]
  • August: Eric Trump tells author James Dodson, "We don't rely on American banks [...] We have all the funding we need out of Russia", and says, "We go there all the time". In May 2017, Eric Trump calls this "fabricated" and an example of why people distrust the media.[74][40][75][76][77]
  • August 25: Page sends a letter to an academic press in which he claims to be an adviser to the Kremlin.[78]
  • Early October: Butina makes a presentation on "Right to Bear Arms" to the Association for the Promotion of Weapons Culture in Israel. Her presentation includes a slide claiming her organization has cooperation agreements with similar organizations in Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Estonia, and she informs the group that it also has a cooperation agreement with the NRA. Another slide states it has a cooperation agreement with the International Defensive Pistol Association, which the Texas-based organization denies when asked in 2018.[79]
  • October 17: In an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Donald Trump says he has conducted "a lot of business with the Russians" and that he has met President Vladimir Putin.[80][81]
  • Early November: Keene, Alan Gottlieb, Gottlieb's wife, and Paul Erickson attend the "Right to Bear Arms" conference in Moscow where they meet with Butina and Torshin.[82][50][83] Gottlieb and Keene are invited speakers at the event.[84][58][85] Gottlieb and his wife dine with Torshin and Butina, and receive "gifts that [display] research into their interests." In 2017, Gottlieb tells the Washington Post, "They wanted to keep communications open and form friendships."[50]
  • November 9–11: The Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant is held in Moscow, sponsored by Sberbank.[74] According to various reports, the event's $20 million licensing fee is paid by a Moscow real estate development firm called the Crocus Group, whose president is Aras Agalarov and vice president is his son, pop singer Emin Agalarov.[32][86] One VIP guest is Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, an alleged Russian mobster and fugitive who was recently indicted for running a high-stakes illegal gambling ring out of a Trump Tower apartment in New York City.[87] While Putin does not attend, the event is attended by Vladimir Kozhin,[87] the head of the Kremlin's property department,[88] which is responsible for development projects.[89] After the event, Trump tells Real Estate Weekly, "the Russian market is attracted to me. I have a great relationship with many Russians".[40][90] During the trip, Trump meets Herman Gref, the CEO of state-controlled Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, and other oligarchs close to Putin.[91] Agalarov and Gref co-host a dinner for Trump at the Moscow branch of Nobu, which is owned by Agalarov.[92] Afterwards, Trump tweets to Agalarov, "I had a great weekend with you and your family. You have done a FANTASTIC job. TRUMP TOWER-MOSCOW is next."[92][93]
  • November 12: The Moscow Times reports that Trump is in talks with Russian companies to build a new Trump tower in Moscow.[94]
  • November 21: The Ukrainian crisis starts when President Yanukovych suspends preparations for the implementation of an association agreement with the European Union.[16]: 150, 157 [95]
  • December 10: John Bolton promotes gun rights in Russia in a video made for Butina's "Right to Bear Arms" organization.[96][68]
  • December 23: Trump, Trump Jr., Emin Agalarov, and Kaveladze reach an agreement for the Trump Tower Moscow project under which the Trump Organization would receive a 3.5% commission on all sales.[26]: 67–68 

2014

  • 2014:
    • Butina tells an American Facebook friend who complained about California's gun restrictions that he should "hold demonstrations" for gun rights.[97]
    • Patten provides lobbying and consulting services to the Ukrainian Opposition Bloc political party and Lyovochkin, a party leader, without registering as a foreign agent. He travels many times to Ukraine to meet with Lyovochkin and Kilimnik.[98]
    • Patten works for Cambridge Analytica to hone their microtargeting operations during the 2014 midterm elections.[99]
  • Before January 24: The Crocus Group sends The Trump Organization a proposal to build a 194-meter tall building with 800 units at the Crocus City site in Moscow where the Miss Universe pageant was held. Trump Jr. and Emin Agalarov sign the proposal.[26]: 68 
  • February 1–4: Kushner and Ivanka Trump travel to Russia on a four-day trip at the invitation of Dasha Zhukova, a longtime friend of Ivanka and the wife of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.[100] They attend a gala fundraiser for the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center in Moscow along with Vekselberg, other oligarchs, Russian government officials, and their families.[100] Ivanka and Emin Agalarov tour the proposed Trump Tower Moscow site at Crocus City.[26]: 68  In 2016–17, Kushner omits the trip from his security clearance applications.[100]
  • February 10: In a Fox and Friends phone interview, Trump says Putin contacted him while he was in Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant.[101]
  • March 6:
  • March 21: Trump posts two tweets praising Putin regarding "Russian Empire"[104][105] on the day the Russian Federal Assembly ratifies the Treaty on Accession of the "Republic of Crimea", formalizing the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.
  • April: The Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) creates a department called the "translator project". The department's focus is on interfering in the U.S. election.[106][107]
  • April 12: Asked about Putin by Eric Bolling on the Fox News show Cashin' In, Trump says Putin has taken the mantle from Obama. He continues, "Interestingly, I own the Miss Universe pageant, and we just left Moscow. He could not have been nicer. He was so nice and so everything. But you have to give him credit that what he's doing for that country in terms of their world prestige is very strong."[108]
  • April 24: Butina presents NRA president Jim Porter with an honorary membership in "Right to Bear Arms".[109][110]
  • April 25–27: Butina and Torshin attend the NRA annual conference in Indianapolis. Butina attends several meetings as a guest of Keene.[82][111]
  • May: The IRA begins its election interference campaign of "spread[ing] distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general."[106][107]
  • May 27: Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon, Trump again claims to have spoken to Putin. "I own the Miss Universe [pageant]. I was in Russia. I was in Moscow recently. And I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin who could not have been nicer. And we had a tremendous success."[112]
  • June 3: Kaveladze emails Trump Jr. and others about design elements and architectural details for Trump Tower Moscow.[26]: 68 
  • June 4–26: Aleksandra Krylova and Anna Bogacheva, two IRA employees, travel to the U.S. to collect intelligence. Maria Bovda, a third employee, is denied a visa.[106] All three are indicted in February 2018 for their work on election interference.[107]
  • June 10: Trump Jr. emails Kaveladze and others about design elements and architectural details for Trump Tower Moscow.[26]: 68 
  • June 16: Trump Jr. emails Kaveladze and others again about design elements and architectural details for Trump Tower Moscow.[26]: 68 
  • Mid 2014: Dutch intelligence gains access to Russian hacking group Cozy Bear, which later, together with Fancy Bear, hacked the DNC servers. They were able to photograph each hacker, get their names, and compile dossiers on each, as they were watching the Russians perform their hacking operations in real time.[113]
  • July 2: The FBI interviews Richard Gates about his international business dealings.[63]
  • July 7: The Trump Organization sends Crocus Group a set of questions about the "demographics of these prospective buyers" in the area around the proposed Trump Tower Moscow site, the development of neighboring parcels, and concepts for redesigning portions of the building.[26]: 68 
  • July 22: Laurence Levy, a lawyer with the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, advises Rebekah Mercer, Steve Bannon, and Alexander Nix on the legality of their company, Cambridge Analytica, being involved in U.S. elections. He advises that Nix and any foreign nationals without a green card working for the company not be involved in any decisions about work the company performs for any clients related to U.S. elections. He further advises Nix to recuse himself from any involvement with the company's U.S. election work because he is not a U.S. citizen.[114][115]
  • July 30: The FBI interviews Manafort about his international business dealings.[63][26]: 132 
  • August 4: The Trump Organization requests from Crocus Group the specifications for a Marriott-branded tower under construction near Crocus City.[26]: 68 
  • Late 2014: Butina resigns from her position as the head of "Right to Bear Arms".[116]
  • September–November: The Trump Organization becomes less and less responsive to emails from the Crocus Group about the Trump Tower Moscow project, with the last response sent on November 24. Discussions end in the planning stage with no construction occurring.[26]: 68  The death of Tamir Sapir, a potential funding source for the project, may be a contributing factor in the project's collapse.[117]
  • September 3: Paul Erickson attends a "Right to Bear Arms" forum in Moscow where he is a featured speaker.[82][118][119]
  • September 11: The IRA spreads a hoax they created about a fictitious chemical plant fire in Centerville, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, purportedly started by ISIS. The hoax includes tweets and YouTube videos showing a chemical plant fire. Centerville is home to many chemical plants, but the plant named in the tweets does not exist. Initial tweets are sent directly to politicians, journalists, and Centerville residents.[120]
  • September 21 – October 11: The Material Evidence art exhibition is displayed at the Art Beam gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. It portrays the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine in a pro-Russian light. It is promoted by Twitter accounts that also spread the September 11 chemical plant fire hoax.[120] The exhibition is partly funded by the IRA.[121]
  • November 21: Bruce Ohr and Christopher Steele discuss cultivating Deripaska as a U.S. intelligence asset.[122]
  • November 26–30: An unnamed IRA employee travels to Atlanta.[106][107]
  • December 13:
    • The IRA uses Twitter to spread a hoax about an Ebola outbreak in Atlanta. Many of the Twitter accounts used in the September 11 chemical plant fire hoax also spread this hoax. The hoax includes a YouTube video of medical workers wearing hazmat suits.[120]
    • Using a different set of Twitter accounts, the IRA spreads a hoax about a purported police shooting of an unarmed black woman in Atlanta. The hoax includes a blurry video of the purported event.[120]

January–June 2015

  • 2015
    • Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin's investment fund AltPoint Capital Partners purchases ByteGrid LLC, which operates some of Maryland's election systems. Potanin is described as "very close" to Putin.[123] State officials are not informed of the purchase, and remain unaware until the FBI briefs them in July 2018.[124]
    • Patten and Kilimnik start a consulting firm together in Washington, D.C., called Begemot Ventures International Ltd. The firm provides consulting services in Ukraine and lobbying services in the U.S. for Ukrainian political parties without registering as a foreign agent.[98][125] Begemot shares office space with Cambridge Analytica.[99]
  • January 19–21: Patten and Kilimnik coordinate to arrange meetings for Serhiy Lyovochkin with members of the Senate Foreign Relations and the House Foreign Affairs committees, with officials from the State Department, and with numerous members of the U.S. media. In August 2018, Patten pleads guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent for this work.[23][125]
  • January 23: A court filing by the U.S. government contains a transcript of a recorded conversation between two members of a Russian SVR spy ring, Victor Podobnyy and Igor Sporyshev. Their conversation concerns efforts to recruit "Male-1", later confirmed as Carter Page. Podobnyy calls Page an "idiot" and tells Sporyshev, "You get the documents from him and tell him to go fuck himself".[66][62][126]
  • February: Dimitri Simes meets with Putin and other Russian officials in Moscow. Simes is the publisher of The National Interest and CEO of the think tank Center for the National Interest (CNI). The Center arranges meetings between Torshin, Butina, and U.S. government officials in April, and also arranges Trump's April 27, 2016, speech at the Mayflower Hotel.[127]
  • February 26–28: Butina attends CPAC.[109][128]
  • March 18: Trump announces he is forming a presidential exploratory committee.[129]
  • Spring: U.S. Intelligence intercepts conversations of Russian government officials discussing associates of Donald Trump.[130]
  • April
    • Flynn begins advising ACU Strategic Partners, a company seeking to build nuclear power plants in the Middle East involving a sanctioned Russian company.[131]
    • Butina and Torshin meet with Treasury undersecretary for international affairs Nathan Sheets to discuss U.S. Russian economic relations during the Obama administration. The meeting was arranged by the CNI.[127]
    • Torshin and Butina participate in discussions about the "Russian financial situation and its impact on Russian politics" at a private event moderated by Hank Greenberg and organized by the CNI.[127]
  • April 7: Torshin and Butina meet with Federal Reserve vice chairman Stanley Fischer to discuss U.S. Russian economic relations during the Obama administration. The meeting was arranged by the CNI.[127]
  • April 10: Butina, Torshin, and David Keene attend a fundraiser in Tennessee for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.[132][82]
  • April 11–12: Torshin and Butina attend the NRA convention in Nashville, Tennessee.[82] Torshin briefly converses with Trump. Torshin and the Trump family dispute how much was said.[133]
  • June 10: Flynn testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on nuclear power in the Middle East. He omits his work for ACU Strategic Partners from both a committee disclosure form and his testimony.[134]
  • June 12: Maria Butina argues in an article she wrote for The National Interest that only a Republican president can improve relations between the U.S. and Russia.[135][136]

2016 presidential campaign

Further information: Donald Trump 2016 presidential campaign

June–December 2015

  • June 16: Donald Trump announces his candidacy for president.[137]
  • June 17: In an interview on the Fox News show Hannity, Sean Hannity asks Trump if he has talked to Putin. Trump replies, "I don't want to say. But I got to meet all of the leaders. I got to meet all—I mean, everybody was there. It was a massive event. And let me tell you, it was tremendous."[138]
  • Late June: Flynn travels to Egypt and Israel.[134] In September 2017, members of Congress present evidence to Mueller that Flynn's purpose was to promote a Russian-backed plan for the building of 40 nuclear reactors, with "total regional security" to be provided by U.S.-sanctioned Russian weapons exporter Rosoboron.[139][140][141][142]
  • July: Trump receives an invitation to Moscow for the 60th birthday of Aras Agalarov, who co-hosted the Miss Universe pageant with him in 2013.[143]
  • July onward: Thousands of fake Twitter accounts run by the IRA begin to praise Trump over his political opponents by a wide margin, according to a later analysis by The Wall Street Journal.[144][145]
  • July 11: Butina attends FreedomFest in Las Vegas, where Trump is speaking and taking questions. She asks Trump his stance on continuing sanctions; he replies he knows Putin and doesn't think sanctions are needed.[47] Reviewing a video of the encounter, Bannon points out that "Trump had a fully developed answer".[146]
  • July 13: Butina is present at Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's presidential candidacy announcement.[47]
  • July 15: George Papadopoulos contacts Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski about joining the campaign as a policy advisor.[147][26]: 81 
  • July 24: Rob Goldstone emails Trump's assistant Rhona Graff, suggesting that Emin Agalarov could arrange a meeting between Putin and Trump.[148][149]
  • Summer: Hackers linked to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) gain access to the Democratic National Committee's computer network.[150] Dutch intelligence services gain access to Russian hacking group Cozy Bear in mid-2014 and later alert their U.S. counterparts that Cozy Bear, together with Fancy Bear, have penetrated the Democratic National Committee (DNC) servers.[113]
  • August: Papadopoulos emails Michael Glassner, the executive director of Trump's campaign committee, expressing further interest in joining the campaign as a policy advisor. He continues corresponding with Glassner and Lewandowski for months, but is repeatedly told no position is available for him.[147]
  • August 4–6: Rohrabacher and Behrends travel to Russia.[151] While there, Rohrabacher meets Butina and Torshin for breakfast.[152] In July 2018, Rohrabacher tells Politico he dined with Butina and another congressman accompanying him on the trip.[153]
  • August 8: Roger Stone leaves the Trump campaign. The campaign says it fired Stone, but Stone insists he quit. He subsequently gives the press a resignation letter that the campaign says it never received.[154]
  • August 17: Konstantin Rykov, the founder of the Russian online newspaper Vzglyad, registers two domain names: Trump2016.ru and DonaldTrump2016.ru.[26]: 66 
  • August 18: Georgi Asatryan of Vzglyad emails Hope Hicks to arrange an in-person or phone interview with Trump. According to the Mueller Report, the proposed interview never occurs.[26]: 66 
  • August 21: Sessions makes his first appearance at a Trump campaign rally.[155]
  • September:
    • An FBI special agent reports to the DNC that at least one of its computer systems has been hacked by an espionage team linked to the Russian government. The agent is transferred to a tech-support contractor at the help desk, who makes a cursory check of DNC server logs and does not reply to the agent's follow-up calls, allegedly because of a belief that the call might have been a prank.[156]
    • Jill Stein speaks briefly with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a Russia Today gala in New York City.[157]
    • The FBI and Ohr try to recruit Deripaska as an informant on the Kremlin and Russian organized crime in exchange for a U.S. visa. Steele helped set up the meeting.[122]
    • A New York architect completes plans for a bold glass obelisk 100 stories high in Moscow, with the Trump logo on multiple sides.[158]
  • September–October: The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website primarily funded by billionaire Paul Singer, hires Fusion GPS to perform opposition research on Trump. Initially a Marco Rubio supporter, Singer continues to fund the research after Rubio withdraws from the race.[159][160]
  • September 11: Trump speaks at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kiev via satellite. The organizer of the event, Victor Pinchuk, donates $150,000 to Trump's charity, the Trump Foundation.[161][162]
  • Late September: Felix Sater meets with Michael Cohen on behalf of I.C. Expert Investment Company to discuss building a Trump Tower in Moscow. I.C. Expert is a Russian real estate development corporation controlled by Andrei Vladimirovich Rozov. Sater agrees to find a developer and arrange for financing. Sater later contacts Rozov to propose that I.C. Expert work with the Trump Organization on the project.[163][164][26]: 69 
  • September 21: On Hugh Hewitt's radio program, Trump says, "The oligarchs are under [Putin's] control, to a large extent. I mean, he can destroy them, and he has destroyed some of them... Two years ago, I was in Moscow... I was with the top-level people, both oligarchs and generals, and top-of-the-government people. I can't go further than that, but I will tell you that I met the top people, and the relationship was extraordinary."[165]
  • September 22: Cohen forwards a Trump Tower Moscow preliminary design study to Giorgi Rtskhiladze, who then emails it to his associate Simon Nizharadze, writing, ""[i]f we could organize the meeting in New York at the highest level of the Russian Government and Mr. Trump this project would definitely receive the worldwide attention."[26]: 70 
  • September 24: Rtskhiladze emails Cohen a draft letter for the Trump Organization to send to the mayor of Moscow, explaining, ""[w]e need to send this letter to the Mayor of Moscow (second guy in Russia) he is aware of the potential project and will pledge his support." Later that day he sends Cohen a translation of the letter that describes Trump Tower Moscow as a "symbol of stronger economic, business and cultural relationships between New York and Moscow and therefore United States and the Russian Federation."[26]: 70 
  • September 27: Rtskhiladze emails Cohen a proposal for the Trump Organization to partner with Global Development Group LLC on the Trump Tower Moscow project. He describes Global Development as controlled by Nizharadze and the architect Michail Posikhin. In September 2018 Cohen tells Mueller's team that he declined the proposal and decided to continue with Sater's proposed partner, I.C. Expert Investment Company.[26]: 69–70 
  • October: For his remarks during a cybersecurity forum in Washington, D.C., Flynn receives $11,250 from Kaspersky Government Security Solutions Inc., the American subsidiary of Kaspersky Lab, owned by Eugene Kaspersky.[166][167]
  • October 9: Sater emails Cohen about his plans to meet with and persuade Andrey Molchanov to provide the land for a Trump Tower in Moscow.[163][164]
  • October 12: Cohen has a series of email exchanges with Felix Sater about developing a Trump property in Moscow.[143] Sater tells Cohen that VTB Bank will fund the project, and that his associates will be meeting with Putin and a deputy on October 14.[163][164]
  • October 13: Sater sends Cohen a letter of intent signed by Andrey Rozov for Trump to sign in order to move the Moscow project forward.[168][164]
  • October 28: Trump signs a letter of intent (LOI) to construct a Trump-branded building in Moscow hours before the third Republican presidential debate, a fact made public in August 2017.[169][170][163][164][171] The LOI proposes that the tower have "[a]pproximately 250 first class, luxury residential condominiums" and "[o]ne first class, luxury hotel consisting of approximately 15 floors and containing not fewer than 150 hotel rooms." The Trump Organization would receive 1%–5% of all condominium sales and 3% of all rental and other revenues, and 20% of the operating profit.[26]: 71 
  • November: Trump associate Felix Sater emails Trump lawyer Michael Cohen: "Michael, I arranged for Ivanka to sit in Putin's private chair at his desk and office in the Kremlin [...] Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putin's team to buy in on this".[172][32] Sater also tells Cohen that the Kremlin's VTB Bank is ready to finance a Trump Tower project in Moscow.[74]
  • November 2: Cohen emails the Trump Tower Moscow letter of intent to Rozov.[26]: 69 
  • November 3:
    • In an email to Cohen, Sater predicts that building a Trump Tower in Moscow will help Trump's presidential campaign. "I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected."[143][164]
    • The IRA Instagram account "Stand For Freedom" attempts to organize a confederate rally in Houston, Texas, on November 14. It is unclear whether anyone showed up. The Mueller Report identifies this as the IRA's first attempt to organize a U.S. rally.[173][26]: 29 
  • November 10: At the Republican debate in Milwaukee, Trump claims that he met Putin in a green room and "got to know him very well" while waiting to record their 60 minutes interviews that aired on September 27. Fact checkers quickly point out that Trump and Putin could not have met in the green room because Trump was interviewed in New York City and Putin was interviewed in Moscow.[174]
  • November 16: Lana Erchova (a.k.a. Lana E. Alexander) sends an email to Ivanka Trump in which she offers the services of her husband, Dmitry Klokov, to the Trump campaign.[175][26]: 72  According to the Mueller Report, Klokov is the "Director of External Communications for PJSC Federal Grid Company of Unified Energy System, a large Russian electricity transmission company, and had been previously employed as an aide and press secretary to Russia's energy minister."[26]: 72–73  Ivanka forwards the email to Cohen.[26]: 73  In July 2018, Erchova tells Mueller's team that Russian officials wanted to offer Trump "land in Crimea among other things" and an "unofficial meeting with Putin."[26]: 73  At least until August 2018, Cohen mistakenly thinks Klokov is the Olympic weightlifter of the same name.[175][26]: 73 
  • November 18:
    • IC Expert, the developer for the Trump Tower Moscow project and a signatory to Trump's letter of intent, receives a non-revolving line of credit from Sberbank for 10.6 billion rubles.[176] IC Expert provides 100% of its equity to secure the line of credit.[176] Sberbank agrees to finance 70% of the project, its largest commercial real estate loan to date.[73]
    • Klokov writes in an email to Cohen that he is a "trusted person" offering "political synergy" and "synergy on a government level" to the Trump campaign. He suggests that Cohen travel to Moscow and meet with him and an intermediary. He says the conversations could facilitate an informal meeting between Trump and Putin, and that any such meeting must be separate from any business negotiations, though it would lead to high-level support for projects.[26]: 73 [175]
  • November 19:
    • The IRA creates the @TEN_GOP Twitter account. Purporting to be the "Unofficial Twitter account of Tennessee Republicans," it peaks at over 100,000 followers.[177]
    • Julian Assange privately tells a group of core WikiLeaks supporters that he prefers the GOP win the election because Clinton "is a bright, well connected, sadistic sociopath" who will have "greater freedom to start wars than the GOP and has the will to do so."[178]
    • Kolokov writes in an email to Cohen that a properly publicized meeting between Trump and Putin could have a "phenomenal" impact "in a businesss dimension" and boost the "level" of projects if he receives Putin's endorsement.[26]: 73–74  Cohen rejects Kolokov's offers, writing, ""[c]urrently our LOI developer is in talks with VP's Chief of Staff and arranging a formal invite for the two to meet."[26]: 74 [175] In September 2018, Cohen tells Mueller's team that he rejected the offers because he was already pursuing business with Sater and understood Sater had Russian government connections of his own.[26]: 74 
  • November 25: In an email to incoming NRA President Pete Brownell, Erickson writes, "most of the FSB agents 'assigned' to her [Butina] want to marry her", saying that is why she was able to arrange a tour of a Russian arms factory for the NRA delegation.[179]
  • December: Unable to find a position in the Trump campaign, Papadopoulos joins the Ben Carson campaign.[147]
  • December 1: Sater emails Cohen, asking, "Please scan and send me a copy of your passport for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs."[26]: 76 
  • December 2:
    • Trump tells the Associated Press that he is "not that familiar with" Felix Sater and refers questions to his staff.[180][164]
    • Flynn and his son, Michael G. Flynn (called "Jr."), visit Kislyak at his home.[181]
  • December 3: Barbara Ledeen, a longtime staffer for Senator Chuck Grassley on the Senate Judiciary Committee and wife of close Flynn associate and Iran–Contra affair figure Michael Ledeen, sends Peter W. Smith a 25-page proposal for finding Clinton's missing emails.[182][26]: 62  The proposal posits that Clinton's private email server was hacked and proposes, among other things, contacting foreign intelligence services to determine if they have any copies of Clinton's emails.[26]: 62  At the time, her investigation is not connected to the Trump campaign, though she gives Flynn regular updates throughout the summer of 2016.[26]: 62  Smith forwards the email to Jonathan Safron and John Szobocsan.[183][26]: 62–63 
  • December 8–13: Outspoken Trump supporter Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke, former NRA President David Keene, future NRA President Pete Brownell, NRA Golden Ring of Freedom Chair Joe Gregory, major NRA donors Hilary[184] and Arnold Goldschlager, Outdoor Channel CEO Jim Liberatore,[185] and NRA member Paul Erickson travel to Moscow for the "Right to Bear Arms" convention. They meet Russian government officials, including Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Rogozin[186] and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Rogozin is under U.S. sanctions. Butina accompanies the delegation on a tour of the gun manufacturer ORSIS, where they meet with the company's executives, including Svetlana Nikolaev, president of ORSIS's parent company and wife of billionaire Konstantin Nikolaev. They also meet with Torshin and Sergei Rudov, the head of the Saint Basil the Great Charitable Foundation. They attend a party at a Moscow hunting club hosted by Torshin and Pavel Gusev, the Chairman of the Public Council of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Clarke later files an ethics report showing that Butina's organization, "Right to Bear Arms", covered $6,000 of his expenses.[47][132][187][188][189][190][191] Butina covers some of the cost of Liberatore's attendance, and is subsequently reimbursed $6,000 by the NRA from its president's budget.[192][193] After the Lavrov meeting, Butina emails Torshin, writing, "We should let them express their gratitude now, and put pressure on them quietly later."[194] In May 2018, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch denies there was an NRA trip to Moscow, then clarifies in July 2018 that it wasn't an official trip.[118][195][196] A 2019 report by the Democratic Minority of the Senate Finance Committee concludes that despite the public denials, internal NRA documents show the trip was an officially sanctioned event that may have imperiled the NRA's tax-free status.[197][193]
  • December 10:
    • Flynn gives a paid speech on world affairs in Moscow, at a gala dinner organized by RT News.[198] Flynn had appeared on RT as an analyst after retiring from the U.S. Army. Putin is the dinner's guest of honor.[199] Flynn is seated next to Putin; also seated at the head table are Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and members of Putin's inner circle, including Sergei Ivanov, Dmitry Peskov, Vekselberg, and Alexey Gromov.[200][201] For his speech, Flynn nets $33,500 of the $45,000 paid to his speakers bureau.[202] For all of 2015, Flynn receives more than $65,000 from companies linked to Russia.[203]
    • ABC News reports that Trump denied knowing Sater under oath in a 2013 video deposition even though Sater was involved in several of his high-profile projects. Trump testified, "If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn't know what he looked like." On December 30, Sater tells Cohen that he helped bury the story.[164][204][205]
  • December 16: Smith declines to help Ledeen's endeavor to find Clinton's emails because he feels the search isn't viable at the time.[26]: 63 
  • December 19: In an email to Cohen, Sater talks about securing financing from VTB, a Russian bank under American sanctions.[143][26]: 76  Sater also asks for Cohen's and Trump's passport information so that VTB can facilitate obtaining visas.[26]: 76  VTB would be issuing the invitation, he writes, because "[p]olitically neither Putins office nor Ministry of Foreign Affairs cannot issue invite, so they are inviting commercially/ business."[26]: 76  He writes that they will be invited to the Russian consulate that week to receive an invitation and visas for traveling to Russia.[26]: 76  Cohen sends images of his own passport but not Trump's.[164][206][26]: 76 
  • December 21:
    • Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta receives an email, which is later leaked by WikiLeaks, advising the campaign on how to handle Trump, recommending that the "best approach is to slaughter Donald for his bromance with Putin".[207]
    • Sater texts Cohen asking again for a copy of Trump's passport.[26]: 77  Cohen replies, "After I return from Moscow with you with a date for him."[26]: 77  In September 2018 Cohen tells Mueller's team that Rhona Graff provided Trump's passport to Cohen's office, but the Mueller Report says the team could not find any evidence of a copy being sent to Sater.[26]: 76-77 
    • On Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko's behalf, Mira Duma emails Ivanka Trump an invitation for Donald Trump to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Duma is acquainted with Ivanka from the fashion industry.[26]: 78 
  • December 30: Cohen emails Sater complaining about the lack of progress on the Trump Tower Moscow project. Sater responds that he helped bury an ABC News story in which Trump denied knowing him.[164][204] Cohen tells Sater in a text message that he will set up a meeting with Russian government officials himself."[26]: 74 
  • December 31: Sater tells Cohen that Genbank (Генбанк [ru]), recently put under U.S. sanctions, will be the new funder for the Trump Tower Moscow project.[164]
  • Late 2015 – early 2016: Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump are included on emails about the Trump Tower Moscow project. Ivanka Trump recommends an architect.[164][208]

January–March 2016

  • January:
    • Flynn applies to renew his security clearance for five years. In an interview with security investigators he claims U.S. companies paid for his trip to the RT dinner in Moscow. Documents subsequently obtained by the House Oversight Committee show that RT paid for the trip.[209]
    • FBI initiates tax evasion and money laundering investigation regarding payments from the Ukrainian government to Paul Manafort.[210]
  • January 7: Ivanka Trump forwards to Rhona Graff the December 21 invitation for her father she received from Duma on Prikhodko's behalf.[26]: 78 
  • January 11: Cohen tries to send an email to Dmitry Peskov asking to be connected to Putin's chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, but it bounces because of a typo in the email address.[26]: 74 
  • January 14:
    • Cohen emails Peskov at[email protected] seeking help to jump-start the Trump Tower Moscow project because "the communication between our two sides has stalled", but does not receive a response.[143][164][211][212][26]: 74  In August 2017 Peskov tells CNN that Cohen's email "went unanswered [because it] was solely regarding a real estate deal and nothing more."[211]
    • Graff responds to Duma's December 21 email that Trump is "honored to be asked to participate in the highly prestigious" St. Petersburg Forum, but must decline the invitation because of his "very grueling and full travel schedule." Graff asks Duma if she should "send a formal note to the Deputy Prime Minister," and Duma replies that that would be "great."[26]: 78–79 
  • January 16: Cohen emails at Peskov at [email protected], the correct address he mistyped on January 11, and repeats his request to speak with Ivanov.[164][26]: 74  Later Cohen tells Congress and Mueller's team that he received no response to this email and abandoned the Trump Moscow Project. He later admits to federal prosecutors that he did receive a response and continued working on the project and keeping Trump updated on progress into June 2016.[213][26]: 74–75 
  • January 19: Konstantin Sidorkov, executive at VKontakte (commonly called VK, Russia's equivalent of Facebook), emails Trump Jr. and social media director Dan Scavino offering to help promote Trump's campaign to its nearly 100 million users. Goldstone brokered the overture.[143] Sidorkov emails again on November 5, 2016.[214]
  • January 20:
    • A Russian social media company emails Trump Jr., Trump's personal assistant, and Scavino about setting up a page for Trump's campaign.[143]
    • Peskov's personal assistant Elena Polikova sends an email to Cohen from her personal account asking him to call her on her personal phone number, which she provides.[26]: 75  Cohen calls her and explains the nature and status of the project, and asks for assistance with securing land and financing.[26]: 75 [164][215] The conversation includes a discussion of giving Putin a $50 million penthouse in the tower as a gift.[164][215] Later Cohen tells prosecutors that Polikova took notes, asked detailed questions, and said she needed to follow up with people in Russia.[26]: 75 
  • January 21: Sater texts Cohen asking for a call. He writes, "It's about Putin they called today."[26]: 75 [164] Sater emails Cohen a draft invitation from Genbank for Cohen to visit Russia, which Sater says is being offered at the behest of VTB, and asks Cohen if any changes need to be made.[26]: 75  Sater and Cohen work on edits for the next few days.[26]: 75 
  • January 25: Sater sends Cohen a signed invitation from Andrey Ryabinskiy of the company MHJ to travel to "Moscow for a working visit" about the "prospects of development and the construction business in Russia," "the various land plots available suited for construction of this enormous Tower," and "the opportunity to co-ordinate a follow up visit to Moscow by Mr. Donald Trump."[26]: 75 [164] In September 2018 Cohen tells Mueller's team that he didn't use the invitation to travel to Moscow because he didn't receive any concrete proposals for suitable land plots.[26]: 75-76 
  • January 26: Sater asks Cohen to take a call from Evgeny Shmykov, who is coordinating their project in Moscow. Cohen agrees.[164]
  • January 30: Carter Page emails senior Trump Campaign officials, including Glassner, informing them that his discussions with "high level contacts" with "close ties to the Kremlin" led him to believe "a direct meeting in Moscow between Mr[.] Trump and Putin could be arranged."[26]: 98 
  • February–April: Papadopoulos works for the same company as Mifsud, the London Centre of International Law Practice.[57][216][217]
  • February 2: Trump comes in second in the Iowa caucuses. In 2017 Cohen asserts that all efforts on the Trump Tower Moscow project ended before this date.[164]
  • February 4: Papadopoulos contacts Lewandowski via LinkedIn and emails Michael Glassner about joining the Trump campaign.[26]: 82 
  • February 4–6: Papadopoulos reaches out to the London Centre of International Law Practice (LCILP) looking for a job because his role at the Carson campaign is over. He takes a position at the ICILP's London office.[26]: 81–82 
  • February 10: IRA instructs workers to "use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump—we support them)."[143]
  • February 28: Sessions formally endorses Trump.[155]
  • February 29:
    • Manafort submits a five-page proposal to Trump outlining his qualifications to help Trump secure enough convention delegates and win the Republican presidential nomination. Manafort describes how he assisted several business and political leaders, notably in Russia and Ukraine.[218]
    • Trump receives a letter from Aras Agalarov expressing "great interest" in Trump's "bright electoral campaign."[143]
  • March: Carter Page begins working for the Trump campaign as an unpaid foreign policy adviser.[219][220][221]
  • Early March: Papadopoulos tells Glassner he is free again to join Trump's campaign. Glassner connects Papadopoulos with campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis. Clovis tells Papadopoulos that improving Russia relations is a top foreign policy goal for the campaign.[147]
  • Clovis recommends Carter Page to the campaign.[222]
  • March 2:
    • Assange consoles a core WikiLeaks supporter who is upset about Clinton's success in the primary elections the day before, writing, "Perhaps Hillary will have a stroke."[178]
    • Papadopoulos again emails Glassner about joining the Trump campaign. Joy Lutes responds to Papaoapoulos that Glassner instructed her to introduce him to national co-chair and chief policy advisor Sam Clovis.[26]: 82 
  • March 3:
    • Sessions is appointed to the Trump campaign's national security advisory committee.[155]
    • Clovis researches Papadopoulos on Google. Clovis is impressed with his past work at the Hudson Institute and arranges a phone call for March 6.[26]: 82 
  • March 6: Clovis asks Papadopoulos to join the Trump campaign as a foreign policy advisor after discussing the position in a phone call.[26]: 82 [223][224][225] The campaign hires Papadopoulos on Ben Carson's recommendation.[226] Papadopoulos is told that a priority of the campaign is a better relationship with Russia.[143][26]: 82 
  • March 12: Russian-American Simon Kukes donates $2,700 to the Trump campaign. It is his first-ever political donation. In 2017, his 2016 political donations become a subject of the Mueller investigation.[227]

  • March 14:
    • Papadopoulos first meets Mifsud while in Rome on a trip to visit officials affiliated with Link Campus University as part of his LCILP job.[223][228][26]: 82–83  After Papadopoulos mentions his position with the Trump campaign, Mifsud shows more interest and offers to introduce him to European leaders and others with contacts to the Russian government.[26]: 83 
    • Kushner attends a CNI lunch for Henry Kissinger at the invitation of CNI board member Richard Plepler. Kushner uses it as an opportunity to seek Simes's assistance in securing foreign policy professionals' support for the Trump campaign.[229][26]: 104 
  • March 15:
    • Trump closes in on the Republican nomination, having won five primaries.[230]
    • In Moscow, Russian military intelligence hacker Ivan Yermakov, working for Fancy Bear, begins probing the DNC computer network.[230]
    • In St. Petersburg, shift workers posing as Americans follow instructions to attack Clinton on Facebook and Twitter.[230]
  • March 16:
    • The FBI releases its Report of Investigation on Flynn's security clearance renewal application.[209]
    • WikiLeaks publishes a searchable archive of 30,000 Clinton emails that had been released by the State Department in response to a FOIA request.[231][26]: 44–45  Internal WikiLeaks messages indicate the purpose of the archive is to annoy Clinton and establish WikiLeaks as a "resource/player" in the election.[26]: 44–45 
  • March 17:
    • According to Trump's written answers to Mueller's team, Prikhodko sends another invitation for Trump to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum to Rhona Graff.[26]: 79 
    • Papadopoulos returns to London from his Rome trip.[26]: 84 
  • March 19: Podesta is asked to change his email password in an apparent phishing attempt, believed to be spearheaded by Russian hackers. They gain access to his account,[150] and proceed to steal the entire contents of his account, about 50,000 emails.[143]
  • March 21:
    • In a Washington Post interview,[232][233] Trump names members of his foreign policy team, including Papadopoulos and Page.[143][26]: 84, 98  Page had helped open the Moscow office of investment banking firm Merrill Lynch and advised Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom, in which Page is an investor. He had blamed 2014 US sanctions relating to Russia's annexation of Crimea for driving down Gazprom's stock price.[234]
    • Russian hackers steal over 50,000 emails from Podesta's account.[235]
  • March 24:
    • In London, Papadopoulos meets Mifsud and Olga Polonskaya, who falsely claims to be Putin's niece.[236] Polonskaya tells Papadopoulos that she is a friend of the Russian ambassador in London and offers to help establish contacts with Russia.[26]: 84  Papadopoulos leaves the meeting with the expectation that he will be introduced to the Russian ambassador, but it never occurs.[26]: 84  Polonskaya is in regular email contact with Papadopoulos, in one message writing, "We are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump".[228]
    • Papadopoulos emails Trump campaign officials about his new Russian contacts.[143] He emails Trump's foreign policy team that he met with Putin's niece and the Russian ambassador in London, and claims the ambassador also acts the as the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia.[26]: 84  He writes that the Russian leadership wants to meet with campaign officials in a "neutral" city or Moscow "to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump", and that Putin and the Russian leadership are ready to meet with Trump.[26]: 84  Clovis replies that he thinks any meetings with Russians should be delayed until after the campaign has a chance to talk with NATO allies and "we have everyone on the same page."[26]: 85 
    • Papadopoulos searches Google for information on Polonskaya and discovers that she is not Putin's niece.[26]: 84 
  • March 25: Lawyer Alexandra Chalupa, who worked in the White House Office of Public Liaison during the Clinton administration and has strong ties to the Ukrainian-American community, shares with the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. her concerns that Manafort may get involved with the Trump campaign. Chalupa had become familiar with Manafort's activities in Ukraine while researching the turmoil in the country over the previous two years for a pro bono client.[237]
  • March 28:
    • Manafort is brought on to the campaign to lead the delegate-wrangling effort.[143] According to Gates, Manafort travels to Mar-a-Lago in Florida to ask for the job, without pay, and is hired on the spot.[26]: 135  In 2018, Gates tells Mueller's team that Manafort's intention was to monetize his relationship with the new administration should Trump win.[26]: 135 
    • Clovis emails Lewandowski and other campaign officials praising Page's work for the campaign.[26]: 98 
  • March 29:
    • On Stone's recommendation,[238] Manafort joins the Trump campaign as convention manager, tasked with lining up delegates.[239]
    • Polonskaya attempts to send Papadopoulos a text message that was drafted by Mifsud. The message addresses Papadopoulos's "wish to engage with the Russian Federation."[26]: 87 
    • The Trump campaign announces that Manafort will be the campaign's Convention Manager.[26]: 134 [240]

  • March 30:
    • Chalupa briefs the DNC's communications staff on Manafort's and Trump's ties to Russia.[237]
    • Gates sends four memoranda written by Manafort to Kilimnik for translation and distribution. The memoranda, addressed separately to Deripaska and Ukrainian oligarchs Lyovochkin, Akhmetov, and Boris Kolesnikov, describe Manafort's new role with the Trump campaign and express his willingness to continue consulting on Ukrainian politics. Manafort follows up with Kilimnik on April 11 to ensure the messages were sent and seen by the recipients.[26]: 135 

  • March 31:
    • At the first meeting of Trump's foreign policy team, which includes Trump and Sessions, Papadopoulos speaks of his connections with Russia, and offers to negotiate a meeting between Trump and Putin.[143][241][26]: 86  The meeting is held at the yet-to-open Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C..[147] Sessions later states he opposed the idea,[228][242][243][244] and two people who were present support his assertions, but differ in what he objected to and how strongly.[26]: 86  In late summer 2017 Papadopoulos and Gordon tell Mueller's team that Trump was "supportive and receptive to the idea of a meeting with Putin," and that Sessions supported Papadopoulos's efforts to arrange a meeting.[26]: 86  Papadopoulos's lawyers assert in a September 2018 court filing that Trump nodded in agreement to the offer, and that Sessions said the campaign should look into it.[245]
    • Graff prepares a letter for Trump's signature that declines Prikhodko's March 17 invitation to St. Petersburg because of Trump's busy schedule, but says he otherwise "would have gladly given every consideration to attending such an important event."[26]: 79 
    • New York investment banker Robert Foresman emails Graff seeking an in-person meeting with Trump. The email is sent after Trump business associate Mark Burnett brokers an introductory phone call. Foresman writes that he has long-standing personal and professional expertise in Russia and Ukraine, and mentions that he was involved with setting up an early private back channel between Putin and former president George W. Bush. He also writes about an "approach" he received from "senior Kremlin officials" about Trump. He asks Graff for a meeting with Trump, Lewandowski, or "another relevant person" to discuss the approach and other "concrete things" that he doesn't want to discuss over "unsecure email."[26]: 79 
  • Spring:
    • U.S. intelligence officials' suspicions of Russian meddling in the presidential election grow after their counterparts in Europe warn that Russian money might be flowing into the election.[130]
    • Stone tells associates he is in contact with Assange.[246]

April 2016

  • April:
    • Between April and November 2016, there are at least 18 further exchanges by telephone and email between Russian officials and the Trump team.[247][248]
    • Hackers linked to the GRU gain access to the DNC computer network.[150]
    • Russian social media company SocialPuncher releases an analysis showing that Trump has quoted or retweeted Twitter bots 150 times since the beginning of 2016.[249][250]
    • The IRA starts buying online ads on social media and other sites. The ads support Trump and attack Clinton.[106][107]
    • Marc Elias, a lawyer at Perkins Coie and general counsel for the Clinton campaign, takes over funding of the Fusion GPS Trump investigation. He uses discretionary funds at his disposal and does not inform the campaign about the research.[251][252][160]
    • The intelligence agency of a Baltic state shares a piece of intelligence with the director of the CIA regarding the Trump campaign. The intelligence is allegedly a recording of a conversation about Russian government money going to the Trump campaign.[253]
    • Stone first told one of Trump’s top aides WikiLeaks had plans to leak information during the presidential race, kickstarting the campaign to take advantage of the expected releases.[254][255][256]
  • April 1: Carter Page is invited to deliver a commencement address at the New Economic School in Moscow in July.[143][26]: 98–99 

  • April 1–3:
    • Rohrabacher meets with Natalia Veselnitskaya in Moscow to discuss the Magnitsky Act. Vladimir Yakunin, under U.S. sanctions, is also present.[257][258] Rohrabacher later says he met Yakunin at the request of Kislyak.[259] He also meets with officials at the Russian Prosecutor General's office, where he receives a document full of accusations against Magnitsky. U.S. Embassy officials are worried Rohrabacher may be meeting with FSB agents. The meeting at the prosecutor's office is not on his itinerary.[257] The document is given to Rohrabacher by Deputy Prosecutor Viktor Grin, who is under U.S. sanctions authorized by the Magnitsky Act. Rohrabacher subsequently uses the document in efforts to undermine the Magnitsky Act.[259] His accepting the document from Grin, a sanctioned individual, and using it to influence U.S. government policy leads to a July 21, 2017, complaint being filed against Rohrabacher and his staff director, Paul Behrends, for violating Magnitsky Act sanctions.[260]
    • While in Moscow with Rohrabacher, Rohrabacher's aide Paul Behrends introduces Congressman French Hill to Veselnitskaya and Rinat Akhmetshin.[261][258] Veselnitskaya gives Hill a document nearly identical to the one Grin gave to Rohrabacher.[262]
  • April 3: The IRA twitter account @TEN_GOP announces that the Tennessee Republican Party endorses Trump.[26]: 22 
  • April 4:
    • A rally is held in Buffalo, New York, protesting the death of India Cummings. Cummings was a black woman who had recently died in police custody. The IRA's "Blacktivist" account on Facebook actively promotes the event, reaching out directly to local activists on Facebook Messenger asking them to circulate petitions and print posters for the event. Blacktivist supplies the petitions and poster artwork.[263]
    • Graff emails her March 31 letter for Prikhodko to Jessica Macchia, another executive assistant to Trump, to print on letterhead for Trump to sign.[26]: 79 
    • Graff forwards Foresman's March 31 email to Macchia.[26]: 79 
  • April 6:
  • April 10–11: Papadopoulos learns of Polonskaya's attempt to send him a text message on March 29 and sends her an email to arrange another meeting. She reponds that she is "back in St. Petersburg" but "would be very pleased to support [Papadopoulos's] initiatives between our two countries" and "to meet [him] again." Papadopoulos replies that she should introduce him to "the Russian Ambassador in London" to talk to him or "anyone else you recommend, about a potential foreign policy trip to Russia." Mifsud is copied on the email exchange. Mifsud writes, "This is already been agreed. I am flying to Moscow on the 18th for a Valdai meeting, plus other meetings at the Duma. We will talk tomorrow." Polonskaya responds that she has "already alerted my personal links to our conversation and your request," that "we are all very excited the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump," and that "[t]he Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced."[26]: 87 
  • April 11: Manafort and Konstantin Kilimnik exchange emails about whether recent press coverage of Manafort joining the Trump campaign can be used to make them "whole" with Deripaska. Manafort is in debt to Deripaska for millions of dollars at the time.[29] Kilimnik confirms to Manafort that Deripaska is aware Manafort is on Trump's campaign team.[143]
  • April 12:
    • Russian hackers use stolen credentials to infiltrate the DCCC's computer network and install malware.[143]
    • Papadopoulos and Mifsud meet at the Andaz Hotel in London.[26]: 88 
  • April 16: A rally protesting the death of Freddie Gray attracts large crowds in Baltimore. The IRA's Blacktivist Facebook group promotes and organizes the event, including reaching out to local activists.[264]
  • April 18:
    • While in Moscow, Mifsud introduces Papadopoulos to Ivan Timofeev via email. Timofeev is the program director of the Kremlin-sponsored Valdai Discussion Club and a member of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC). Papadopoulos and Timofeev communicate for months over email and Skype about potential meetings between Russian government officials and members of the Trump campaign. Later records indicate that Timofeev discussed Papadopoulos with former Russian Foreign Minister Igor S. Ivanov.[236][228][225][26]: 88  In August 2017, Papadopoulos tells Mueller's team that he believed at the time his conversations with Timofeev were monitored.[26]: 88 
    • Russian hackers break into the DNC's computers.[143]
  • April 19:
    • Russian hackers create a fictitious online persona, "Carrie Feehan", to register the domain DCLeaks.com, paid for in bitcoin, to release stolen documents.[235][143]
    • The IRA purchases its first pro-Trump ad through its "Tea Party News" Instagram account. The Instagram ad asks users to upload photos with the hashtag #KIDS4TRU to "make a patriotic team of young Trump supporters."[265]
  • April 20:
    • Sater texts Cohen asking when he is going to travel to Moscow.[26]: 77 
    • Chalupa receives from the administrators of her email account the first in a series of messages warning that "state-sponsored actors" were trying to hack in to her emails.[237]
  • April 21: A staffer at the CNI photographs a detailed outline of the foreign policy speech Trump was scheduled to deliver on April 27, which was sitting on the desk of Simes, the Center's president. The House Intelligence Committee would later investigate Simes' involvement in drafting the speech.[266]
  • April 22: Ivan Timofeev thanks Papadopoulos "for an extensive talk" and proposes meeting in London or Moscow.[143]
  • April 23: A small group of white-power demonstrators hold a rally they call "Rock Stone Mountain" at Stone Mountain Park near Stone Mountain, Georgia. They are confronted by a large group of protesters, and some violent clashes ensue. The counterprotest was heavily promoted by IRA accounts on Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook, and the IRA website blackmatters.com. The IRA uses its Blacktivist account on Facebook to reach out, to no avail, to activist and academic Barbara Williams Emerson, the daughter of Hosea Williams, to help promote the protests. Afterward, RT blames anti-racist protesters for violence and promotes two videos shot at the event.[263]
  • April 25:
    • Timofeev emails Papadopoulos that he spoke "to Igor Ivanov[,] the President ofRIAC and former Foreign Minister of Russia," and relays Ivanov's advice on how best to arrange a "Moscow visit."[26]: 88 
    • Before the second Mifsud meeting, Papadopoulos emails Stephen Miller, informing him that "[t]he Russian government has an open invitation by Putin for Mr. Trump to meet him when he is ready" and that "[t]he advantage of being in London is that these governments tend to speak a bit more openly in 'neutral' cities."[236][143][26]: 89 
    • Papadopoulos meets Mifsud in London again at the Andaz Hotel. Mifsud claims that he has learned that Russians are in possession of thousands of stolen emails that may be politically damaging to Clinton.[267][228][236][26]: 88–89  This is the first of at least two times the Trump campaign is told Russia has "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. Two months later the Russian hacking is publicly revealed.[143]
    • Foresman emails Graff to remind her of his March 31 email seeking a meeting with Trump, Lewandowski, or another appropriate person.[26]: 79–80 
  • April 26: Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News is the first to report on Manafort's legal dispute with Deripaska in the Cayman Islands.[268]
  • April 27:
    • Trump, Sessions and Jared Kushner greet Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. This contact is repeatedly omitted from testimony or denied.[233][269][270] Kushner and Sessions knew in advance that the CNI invited Kislyak to the event.[26]: 106  Mueller's team did not find any evidence that Trump or Sessions conversed with Kislyak after Trump's speech.[26]: 107  Afterward, Kislyak reports the conversation with Sessions to Moscow.[271] Kushner is the first to publicly admit the Kislyak meeting took place in his prepared statement for Senate investigators on July 24, 2017.[272] Also in attendance are the ambassadors from Italy and Singapore, who are major players in the upcoming sale of stakes in Rosneft.[2]: 124 
    • Trump speaks at the Mayflower Hotel at the invitation of The National Interest, the magazine of the CNI.[127] He delivers a speech that calls for improved relations between the US and Russia. The speech was edited by Papadopoulos[228][26]: 98  and crafted with the assistance of Simes[2]: 126  and Richard Burt.[273] Burt is a board member of the CNI and a lobbyist for Gazprom.[274] Papadopoulos brings the speech to the attention of Mifsud and Polonskaya, and tells Timofeev that it should be considered "the signal to meet".[228] Simes later moves to Moscow.[275]
    • Papadopoulos emails Stephen Miller that he has "some interesting messages coming in from Moscow about a trip when the time is right."[236]
    • Papadopoulos tells Lewandowski via email that he has "been receiving a lot of calls over the last month about Putin wanting to host [Trump] and the team when the time is right."[225][26]: 89 
    • Graff sends Foresman an apology and forwards his March 31 and April 26 emails to Lewandowski.[26]: 80 
    • Chalupa discusses her Manafort research with Ukrainian investigative journalists at an event organized by the Open World Leadership Center at the Library of Congress.[237][276]
  • Late April: The DNC's IT department notices suspicious computer activity. Within 24 hours, the DNC contacts the FBI, and hires a private cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, to investigate.[277]
  • April 29: DNC staffer Rachel Palermo notifies her colleagues by email that their Factivists blog has been "compromised" and includes the new password.[278][279]
  • April 30: Foresman sends Graff another email reminding her of his meeting requests on March 31 and April 26. He suggests an alternative meeting with Trump Jr. or Eric Trump so that he can tell them information that "should be conveyed to [the candidate] personally or [to] someone [the candidate] absolutely trusts".[26]: 80 

May 2016

  • May:
    • CrowdStrike determines that sophisticated adversaries—denominated Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear—are responsible for the DNC hack. Fancy Bear, in particular, is suspected of affiliation with Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).[280]
    • Erickson contacts Trump campaign advisor Rick Dearborn. In an email headed "Kremlin Connection", Erickson seeks the advice of Dearborn and Sessions about how to arrange a meeting between Trump and Putin. Erickson suggests making contact at the NRA's annual convention in Kentucky. The communication refers to Torshin, who is under instructions to contact the Trump campaign.[281][282]
    • At Butina's urging, Christian activist Rick Clay emails Dearborn with the subject "Russian backdoor overture and dinner invite"[283] offering a meeting between Trump and Torshin.[284] Dearborn, then Sessions's Chief of Staff, sends an email mentioning a person from West Virginia seeking to connect Trump campaign members with Putin. Dearborn appears "skeptical" of the meeting request.[285] Jared Kushner rejects the request. Torshin and Trump Jr. later meet and speak at the NRA convention.[284]
    • Papadopoulos travels to Greece and meets with Greece's president Prokopios Pavlopoulos, defense minister Panos Kammenos, foreign minister Nikos Kotzias, and a former prime minister. Putin makes an official visit to Athens during Papadopoulos's trip.[286]
    • Michael Caputo arranges a meeting in Miami with Stone, Florida-based Russian Henry Oknyansky (a.k.a. "Henry Greenberg"), and Ukrainian Alexei Rasin.[26]: 61 [287] Rasin claims to have evidence showing Clinton was involved in laundering hundreds of thousands of dollars through Rasin's companies.[26]: 61  Stone turns down the offer, telling them that Trump won't pay for opposition research.[26]: 61 [287] In June 2018, after many repeated denials, Stone finally admits to knowingly meeting with a Russian national in 2016 when asked about this meeting by The Washington Post.[287] In May 2018, Caputo tells Mueller's team that he did not attend the meeting, did not know what Oknyansky was offering, and did not know payment was asked for until Stone told him later.[26]: 61  In July 2018, Oknyansky tells Mueller's team that Rasin was motivated by money, and that Caputo attended the meeting.[26]: 61  According to the Mueller Report, Mueller's team is unable to find any evidence that Clinton ever did any business with Rasin.[26]: 61 
    • A new American shell company, "Silver Valley Consulting", is set up by Russian-born accountant Ilya Bykov for Aras Agalarov.[288]
    • Patten and Kilimnik write a letter for Lyovochkin to use in lobbiying a "high-ranking member" of the State Department. In August 2018, Patten pleads guilty to failing to register as a foreign agent for this work.[125]
  • May 2:
    • A second rally is held in Buffalo, New York, protesting the death of India Cummings. Like the April 4 rally, the event is heavily promoted by the IRA's Blacktivist Facebook account, including attempted outreach to local activists.[263]
    • Graff forwards Foresman's April 30 email to Stephen Miller.[26]: 80 
  • May 4:
    • Timofeev emails Papadopoulos that his colleagues from the ministry "are open for cooperation."[143] Papadopoulos forwards the email to Lewandowski and asks whether this is "something we want to move forward with."[26]: 89 
    • Manafort meets with Kilimnik.[143]
    • Starting May 4,[289] and continuing through September, a pair of servers owned by Alfa-Bank look up the Trump Organization's mail1.trump-email.com domain on a server housed by Listrak and administered by Cendyn more than 2,000 times. Alfa-Bank performed the most lookups during this period, followed by Spectrum Health, and then Heartland Payment Systems with 76 lookups; beyond that no other visible entity made more than two.[290]
    • Trump becomes the only remaining candidate for the Republican presidential nomination when John Kasich withdraws.[291]
    • Sater texts Cohen asking when he will be traveling to Moscow. He writes that he set expectations in Russia that it would probably be after the convention. Cohen responds that he expects to travel before the convention, and that Trump will travel after he becomes the nominee.[26]: 77 [215][164]
  • May 5:
    • Papadopoulos forwards Timofeev's email to Clovis,[143][26]: 89  who replies, "[t]here are legal issues we need to mitigate, meeting with foreign officials as a private citizen."[225]
    • Sater texts Cohen that Peskov would like to invite him to the St. Petersburg Forum June 16–19 and possibly meet Putin or Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. He continues, "He said anything you want to discuss including dates and subjects are on the table to discuss."[26]: 77 [215][164]
  • May 6:
  • May 7: Kilimnik and Manafort meet for breakfast in New York City. According to Manafort, they discuss events in Ukraine, and Manafort gives Kilimnik a briefing on the Trump campaign with the expectation that Kilimnik will repeat the information to people in Ukraine and elsewhere. After the meeting, Manafort instructs Gates to begin passing internal campaign polling data and other updates to Kilimnik to share with Ukrainian oligarchs. Gates periodically sends the data using WhatsApp.[26]: 136–137 
  • May 8: Timofeev proposes connecting Papadopoulos with another Russian official.[143]
  • May 10: Dearborn receives an email about arranging a back-channel meeting between Trump and Putin with the subject line "Kremlin Connection." It is sent from a conservative operative who says Russia wants to use the NRA's convention to make "first contact."[143]
  • May 14: Papadopoulos tells Lewandowski the Russians are interested in hosting Trump.[143]
  • May 15: David Klein, a distant relative of Trump Organization lawyer Jason Greenblatt, emails Clovis about a possible campaign meeting with Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar. Klein writes that he contacted Lazar in February about a possible meeting between Trump and Putin and that Lazar was "a very close confidante of Putin." Later Klein and Greenblatt meet with Lazar at Trump Tower.[26]: 90 
  • May 16:
    • Page floats with Clovis, Gordon, and Phares the idea of Trump going to Russia in his place to give the commencement speech at the New Economic School "to raise the temperature a little bit."[143][26]: 99 
    • Dearborn receives a similar second proposal, which he forwards to Kushner, Manafort and Rick Gates. Both efforts (to arrange a back-channel meeting between Trump and Putin) appear to involve Alexander Torshin, who was instructed to make contact with the Trump campaign.[143] Kushner rebuffs the proposal.[143]
  • May 19:
    • Manafort becomes Trump’s campaign chairman and chief strategist.[292] Gates is appointed deputy campaign chairman.[26]: 134 
    • Mother Jones reports that before Trump launched his campaign in 2015, Lewandowski and other political advisors suggested to Trump that they follow standard practice and hire someone to perform opposition research on him. Trump refused.[293]
  • May 19–22: The NRA annual conference is held in Louisville, Kentucky. Trump and Trump Jr. attend.[294][295][296][297] Trump Jr. meets briefly with Torshin and Butina on May 20.[143]
  • May 21:
    • Papadopoulos forwards Timofeev's May 4 email to Manafort stressing the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)'s desire to meet with Trump, writing, "Russia has been eager to meet Mr. Trump for quite sometime and have been reaching out to me to discuss."[26]: 89–90  Manafort shoots down the idea in an email to Rick Gates,[147][225] with a note: "Let[']s discuss. We need someone to communicate that DT is not doing these trips. It should be someone low level in the Campaign so as not to send any signal."[143][26]: 90 
    • Two competing rallies are held in Houston to alternately protest against and defend the recently opened Library of Islamic Knowledge at the Islamic Da'wah Center. The "Stop Islamization of Texas" rally is organized by the Facebook group "Heart of Texas". The Facebook posting for the event encourages participants to bring guns. A spokesman for the group converses with the Houston Press via email but declines to give a name. The other rally, "Save Islamic Knowledge", is organized by the Facebook group "United Muslims of America" for the same time and location. Both Facebook groups are later revealed to be IRA accounts.[298][299]
  • May 22: Politico reports on Trump's past associations and dealings with the American Mafia and other criminal figures, including Sater.[300][164]
  • May 23: Sessions attends the CNI's Distinguished Service Award dinner at the Washington, D.C., Four Seasons Hotel. Kislyak is a confirmed guest with a reserved seat next to Sessions. In 2018, Sessions tells Mueller's team that he doesn't remember Kislyak being there, and other participants interviewed by Mueller's team disagree with each other about whether Kislyak was present.[26]: 107 
  • May 25:
    • The Westboro Baptist Church holds its annual protest of Lawrence High School graduation ceremonies in Lawrence, Kansas. The "LGBT United" Facebook group organizes counterprotesters to confront the Westboro protest, including by placing an ad on Facebook and contacting local people. About a dozen people show up. Lawrence High School students do not participate because they are "skeptical" of the counterprotest organizers. LGBT United is a Russian operatives account that appears to have been created specifically for this event.[301]
    • Thousands of DNC emails are stolen.[143]
  • May 26: The Associated Press reports that Trump has secured enough delegates to become the presumptive Republican nominee.[150]
  • May 27: At a rally, Trump calls Putin "a strong leader."[143]
  • May 27–28: Putin makes an official visit to Greece and meets with government leaders. His visit overlaps with a trip to Greece by Papadopoulos.[286][302]
  • May 29: The IRA hires an American to pose in front of the White House holding a sign that says, "Happy 55th Birthday, Dear Boss." "Boss" is a reference to Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.[106][107]
  • May 30: The IRA creates the @march_for_trump Twitter account to promote IRA-organized rallies in support of the Trump campaign.[26]: 27 

June 2016

  • June:
    • Around this time, the conspirators charged in the July 2018 indictment stage and release tens of thousands of stolen emails and documents using fictitious online personas, including "DCLeaks" and "Guccifer 2.0".[303]
    • The FBI sends a warning to states about "bad actors" probing state voter-registration databases and systems to seek vulnerabilities; investigators believe Russia is responsible.[304]
    • Fusion GPS hires Steele to research Trump's activities in Russia. A resultant 35-page document, later known as the Trump–Russia dossier or Steele dossier, is published on January 10, 2017, by BuzzFeed News.[305]
    • A former GRU officer arranges for Felix Sater and Michael Cohen to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which Putin regularly attends. Sater wants to use the trip to push forward the Moscow Trump Tower deal. Cohen cancels at the last minute. Sater does not attend the forum.[306]
  • Early June:
    • At a closed-door gathering of foreign policy experts visiting with the Prime Minister of India, Page hails Putin as stronger and more reliable than Obama and touts the positive effect a Trump presidency would have on U.S.–Russia relations.[307]
    • Before traveling to New York to translate at the June 9 Trump Tower meeting, Kaveladze contacts Roman Beniaminov, a close associate of Emin Agalarov, to find out why Kushner, Manafort, and Trump Jr. were invited to a meeting ostensibly about the Magnitsky Act. Beniaminov tells Kaveladze that he heard Goldstone and Agalarov discuss "dirt" on Clinton. In November 2017, Kaveladze's lawyer tells The Daily Beast that Beniaminov was Kaveladze's only source of information about the meeting.[308]
  • June 1:
    • Papadopoulos emails Lewandowski asking whether he wants to have a call about a Russia visit and whether "we were following up with it."[26]: 90  Lewandowski refers him to Clovis.[143][26]: 90  Papadopoulos emails Clovis about more interest from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to set up a Trump meeting in Russia.[143][26]: 90  He writes, "I have the Russian MFA asking me if Mr. Trump is interested in visiting Russia at some point."[309][310] He continues that he "[w]anted to pass this info along to you for you to decide what's best to do with it and what message I should send (or to ignore)."[26]: 90 
    • The IRA plans a Manhattan rally called "March for Trump" and buys Facebook ads promoting the event.[106][107]
  • June 1–2: Deripaska and Anton Inyutsyn, the Russian Deputy Minister of Energy, attend the Clean Energy Ministerial in San Francisco, California. Deripaska also visits UC Berkeley. The trip coincides with nearby Trump rallies in Sacramento and San Jose.[311]
  • June 3:
    • Aras Agalarov is told that the Russian government wants to give the Trump campaign damaging information about Clinton.[143]
    • Goldstone emails Trump Jr. offering, on behalf of Emin Agalarov, to meet an alleged Russian government official who "would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father", as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." Trump Jr. responded 17 minutes later:[312][313] "If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer," and schedules the meeting. Goldstone also offers to relay the information to Trump through his assistant.[314] This is the second time a Trump campaign official was told of "dirt" on Clinton.[143]
    • $3.3 million began moving between Aras Agalarov and Kaveladze, a longtime Agalarov employee once investigated for money laundering.[312]
  • June 4: The IRA email account [email protected] sends news releases about the "March for Trump" rally to New York City media outlets.[106][107]
  • June 5: The IRA contacts a Trump campaign volunteer to provide signs for the "March for Trump" rally.[106][107]
  • June 6:
    • Hillary Clinton becomes the presumptive Democratic nominee.
    • Trump Jr. calls two blocked numbers at Trump Tower.[315] According to CNN, the two people Trump Jr. called were Nascar CEO Brian France and businessman Howard Lorber.[316]
    • At a primary night rally in New York, Trump promises a speech discussing information about Clinton. Trump says "I am going to give a major speech on probably Monday of next week [June 13], and we are going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons".[317]
    • Goldstone follows up with Trump Jr. about when Jr. can "talk with Emin by phone about this Hillary info." Trump Jr. calls Emin.[143] Phone records show Trump Jr. called a blocked number before and after calls to Emin.[143]
    • According to Gates, Trump Jr. informs the participants in a regular senior campaign staff meeting that he has a lead on damaging information about the Clinton Foundation. Gates is under the impression that the information is coming from a group in Kyrgyzstan. The other meeting participants include Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Kushner, Manafort, and Hicks. Manafort, according to Gates, warns the group to be careful. In April 2018, Kushner tells Mueller's team that he doesn't remember the information being discussed before the June 9 meeting.[26]: 115 
  • June 6–7: Trump Jr. and Emin Agalarov discuss setting up their June 9 meeting in three phone calls.[318]
  • June 8: The DCLeaks website comes online.[235]
  • June 9:
    • Veselnitskaya, Akhmetshin, Kaveladze, and Anatoli Samochornov meet for lunch and discuss what to say at the upcoming Trump Tower meeting.[26]: 116–117 
    • Kushner, Manafort and Trump Jr. meet at Trump Tower with Goldstone, Veselnitskaya,[319] Akhmetshin,[320] Kaveladze,[321] and translator Samochornov.[322][323] Veselnitskaya is best known for lobbying against the Magnitsky Act, an American law that blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers.[324] Trump Jr. later says that he asked Veselnitskaya for damaging information about the Clinton Foundation and that she had none.[325] Samochornov, Kaveladze, and Akhmetshin later tell the Senate Judiciary Committee that Trump Jr. told Veselnitskaya to come back after they won the election.[326][323] The meeting lasts approximately 20 minutes, and Manafort takes notes on his phone.[26]: 117–118  Trump Jr. calls a blocked number before (June 6) and after the meeting. Trump spends the day at Trump Tower, where the private residence has a blocked number, and holds no public events.[315]
  • June 9–14: Sater repeatedly tries to get Cohen to confirm his trip to Russia.[164]
  • June 11–12: The DNC expels Russian hackers from its servers. Some of the hackers had been accessing the DNC network for over a year.[327]
  • June 12: On ITV, Assange tells Robert Peston' on his television show Peston on Sunday that emails related to Clinton are "pending publication" and says, "WikiLeaks has a very good year ahead."[328][329][26]: 52 
  • June 14:
    • The DNC publicly alleges that they have been hacked by Russian state-backed hackers.[328][327] Following this news, a small group of politically diverse prominent computer scientists scattered across the US, including a member Dexter Filkins calls "Max" in his October 2018 New Yorker article, begin combing the Domain Name System (DNS).[290]
    • Sater meets Cohen in the Trump Tower lobby. Cohen tells him he will not be traveling to Russia (two days before planned departure).[164][330]
    • The GRU uses its @dcleaks_ persona to reach out to WikiLeaks and offer to coordinate the release of sensitive information about Clinton, including financial documents.[331][26]: 45 
  • Mid June:
    • Shortly after the DNC announced that it had been hacked, the RNC informs the FBI that some Republican campaign email accounts hosted by Smartech have been hacked. Compromised accounts include the campaign committees of "Senator John McCain, Senator Lindsey Graham, [...] Representative Robert Hurt[,] [s]everal state GOP organizations, Republican PACs, and campaign consultants." Approximately 300 emails from May through October 2015 are eventually posted on DCLeaks.com.[332][26]: 41 
    • Someone breaks into and ransacks two of Chalupa's cars, but valuables and cash are left in the vehicles. A few days later, a woman "wearing white flowers in her hair" tries to break into Chalupa's home. Aide to the Ukrainian ambassador Oksana Shulyar tells her the incidents are similar to Russian intimidation campaigns against foreigners.[237]
  • June 15:
    • "Guccifer 2.0" (GRU) claims credit for the DNC hacking and posts some of the stolen material to a website. CrowdStrike stands by its "findings identifying two separate Russian intelligence-affiliated adversaries present in the DNC network in May 2016."[333]
    • Gawker publishes an opposition research document on Trump that was stolen from the DNC. "Guccifer 2.0" sent the file to Gawker.[235][334]
    • House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Speaker Paul Ryan meet separately with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman at the Capitol. Groysman describes to them how the Kremlin is financing populist politicians in Eastern Europe to damage democratic institutions. McCarthy and Ryan have a private meeting afterwards with GOP leaders that is secretly recorded. Toward the end of their conversation, after laughing at the DNC hacking, McCarthy says, "there's two people, I think, Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump...[laughter]...swear to God." Ryan then tells everyone to keep this conversation secret. A transcript of the recording becomes public a year later.[335][336]
  • June 17: ThreatConnect publishes its analysis of the CrowdStrike report on the DNC hack. The new report[337] provides additional data implicating Fancy Bear.[278]
  • Late June: According to Gates, Trump and Stone discuss by phone the recent release of stolen DNC material while Trump and Gates are being driven from Trump Tower to La Guardia airport. After the call, Trump tells Gates that there will be more releases of damaging information.[338][26]: 54 
  • June 19:
    • After communicating with the MFA via email and Skype, Papadopoulos tells Lewandowski by email that the MFA is interested in meeting with a "campaign rep" if Trump can't meet with them. Papadopoulos offers to go in an unofficial capacity.[309][310][26]: 90 
    • Page again requests permission from the campaign to speak at the New Economic School commencement in Moscow, and reiterates that the school "would love to have Mr. Trump speak at this annual celebration." Lewandowski responds that Page can attend in his personal capacity but "Mr. Trump will not be able to attend."[26]: 99 
    • Assange asks the London Ecuadorian Embassy for a faster Internet connection. Embassy staff help Assange install new equipment.[339]
  • June 20:
    • Aras Agalarov wires more than $19.5 million to his account at a bank in New York.[326]
    • Trump fires Lewandowski.[340] Manafort becomes campaign manager.[341]
  • June 22: WikiLeaks reaches out to "Guccifer 2.0" via Twitter. They ask "Guccifer 2.0" to send them material because it will have a bigger impact if they publish it. They also specifically ask for material on Clinton they can publish before the convention.[235]
  • June 23:
  • June 24: The IRA group "United Muslims of America" buys Facebook ads for the "Support Hillary, Save American Muslims" rally.[106][107]
  • June 25:
    • The IRA's "March for Trump" rally occurs.[106][107]
    • The IRA Facebook group LGBT United organizes a candlelight vigil for the Pulse nightclub shooting victims in Orlando, Florida.[345][346]
  • June 29: Goldstone emails Trump campaign social media director Dan Scavino about promoting Trump on VKontakte. He says the email is a follow-up to his recent conversation with Trump Jr. and Manafort.[214]
  • Summer:
    • IRA employees use the stolen identities of four Americans to open PayPal and bank accounts to act as conduits for funding their activities in the United States.[106][107]
    • The FBI applies for a FISA warrant to monitor communications of four Trump campaign officials. The FISA Court rejects the application, asking the FBI to narrow its scope.[347] A warrant on Carter Page alone is granted in October 2016.[67]
    • Lawyer and Trump campaign foreign policy advisor Joseph E. Schmitz receives a cache of emails from a client that is purported to be Clinton's deleted 30,000 emails, acquired from a dark web forum. Schmitz meets with officials at the FBI, the State Department, and the Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) in an effort to get the emails reviewed. The State Department and ICIG decline to review the emails. Schmitz's efforts are independent of the investigation by Peter Smith's team.[348]

Post-election transition

Main article: Timeline of post-election transition following Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

Investigations' continuing timelines

Related continuing interference

See also

References

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Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Russian interference in 2016 United States elections.
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