Facts mean something.  The recent indictment of 12 Russian GRU agents for hacking the DNC is nothing but a farce.   Mueller has no intent on prosecuting these agents, even if he could get them extradited from Russia.   Sadly,  this can be proven with simple logic and public knowledge.   Perhaps the media can be fooled by this deception as it fits their preconceived view but any IT person worth his salt would see right through this game.

My IT experience runs back almost twenty years including some forensic work with expertise in software, malware and databases.   So before you write this off as something political, it is not.  It is simply an analysis of these indictments.

Let’s start with what is known about the hacking of the DNC.   Supposedly John Podesta clicked on a phishing link that enabled malware to be put on his computer such that the hackers could upload his files.   When the FBI asked to investigate and see his computer the DNC or Podesta refused to have that computer analyzed.    According to Comey’s testimony the FBI got analytics from the computer from a third party, ClowdStrike and the FBI and CIA were never given access.   That simple act, handing the computer suspected of being used in a crime to a third party breaks the chain of evidence.  

The fact is that the third party, paid for by either Hillary’s campaign or the DNC was no longer independent and could have altered the logs or even changed the malware that was installed.  In addition to Podesta’s computer there was an email server whose activity could have been analyzed as well as router logs.  In the two years since this occurred the changes to those devices could have been massive.  It would even be possible to create a trail to any supposed hacker.

Mueller surely knows this.  Since none of the indicted conspirators are likely to face trial the lack of any valid evidence did not stop Mueller him from filing.  The forensic analysis could have been done by the FBI but was not.  This makes proving the chain of custody impossible.  So, while creating a political firestorm releasing the indictments on the eve of Trump’s meeting with Putin, Mueller knows that the whole set of indictments are nothing but smoke and mirrors.  There is no charge that could stand in court.

Many questions remain unanswered.  Why did the DNC/Podesta hide the contents of their servers/pcs and router logs from the FBI?  What was on them that was not stolen? Where are those devices currently?  What has happened to those devices in the meantime?  Are those devices still in use?  Has the FBI since been given access, and if so what was changed on them since the incident?  Was a trail of evidence constructed on those computers for some advantage?

I know enough about computer forensics to understand that there is no valid chain of custody here.  That makes this whole set of indictments nothing but political fodder.   As a tax payer I wonder why we are paying for this type of manipulation within the legal system.