ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 identifies three main “portals” to the RussiaGate hall of mirrors through which entry can be most safely established: allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US election by means of manipulation of social media; allegations of Russian hacking of the servers and computers of the Democratic National Campaign, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and the campaign manager John Podesta; and the inquires of Special Counsel Robert Mueller particularly with respect to a number of leading members of the Republican campaign. The chapter proceeds to an examination of the role in initiating investigations into possible illegalities committed during the campaign of a dossier compiled by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele and which alleged a variety of ways in which the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia, and the Intelligence Community Assessment report of a small group hand-picked from several of the US intelligence agencies which appeared to corroborate concerns of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
