The Report (44/448): Notes on Surreality
Yes, I’m reading it. The whole thing. Carving out a bit of time every evening to make my way through it, to understand it.
44 pages in, so far mostly dealing with summaries and the details of both the Internet Research Agency’s (IRA) and Russian government’s “active measures” to interfere with the election, I can report my understanding thusly: though, in hewing strictly and specfically to their formational mandate, “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities,” nor did they find any signs of “collusion” since there is no such thing – “collusion is not a specific offense or theory of liability found in the United States Code, nor is it a term of art in federal criminal law” – there was, nevertheless, some weird, shady shit going down (also not a “term of art in federal criminal law”), shady shit that the Campaign clearly felt would benefit them politically and electorally, two instances of which – surely, just the tip of the malignant iceberg awaiting me in the 404 pages that lie ahead – cross the rubicon into the land of the terrifying, the absurd, and the surreal.
Page 19:
“In May 2016, IRA employees, claiming to be U.S. social activists and administrators of Facebook groups, recruited U.S. persons to hold signs (including one in front of The White House) that read “Happy 55th Birthday Dear Boss,” as an homage to [“wealthy Russian businessman”] Prigozhin (whose 55th birthday was on June 1, 2016).”
And, page 32:
“The IRA also recruited moderators of conservative social media groups to promote IRA-generated content, as well as recruited individuals to perform politcal acts (such as walking around New York City dressed up as Santa Claus with a Trump mask.)”
That these “active measures” succeeded beyond their instigators’ wildest dreams in sowing discord and upending the U.S. political system owes much – if not all – of that success to the unique blend of American media illiteracy running ripshod across the country and manifesting itself in a culture of celebrity, resentment, and commoditized vitriol – the main lesson, then, 44 pages in: Media literacy is a national security imperative and MUST be treated as such. Period.
Recommended further reading: LIKEWAR, by P.W. Singer and Emerson T. Brooking.
404 pages to go…
P.S.: I found this passage, from page 13, to be a particularly remarkable statement of the investigative rigor of the Special Counsel’s office:
“During its investigation, the Office issued more than 2,800 subpoenas under the auspices of a grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia; executed nearly 500 search-and-seizure warrants; obtained more than 230 orders for communications records…; obtained almost 50 orders authorizing use of pen registers; made 13 requests to foreign governments pursuant to Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties; and interviewed approximately 500 witnesses, including almost 80 before a grand jury.”
