August 24, 2017
George Moore
The following is an excerpt from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
As Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller III continues his inquiries into potential Russian interference in the 2016 elections, conspiracy theorists are coming up with wild claims to undermine his credibility. Since any theory, no matter how bizarre, appears to be fair game, it is perhaps not surprising that a 10-year-old FBI counter-nuclear smuggling operation involving Mueller’s former work as FBI Director has been cast as collusion with the Russians, or accuses him of being a bagman in a Clinton-inspired plot to sell America’s uranium assets to Russia, undermining national security.
Conspiracy theorists claim that then-FBI Director Mueller provided radioactive material, originally seized in Tiblisi, Georgia, to the Russians in some sort of criminal exchange. They are basing their claims on a State Department cable posted by WikiLeaks. The cable indicates that Mueller planned to deliver a 10-gram sample of highly enriched uranium (HEU) to a Russian intelligence agency. This, of course, caused these same people to claim this as evidence of collusion with the Russians, similar to what Mueller is investigating in his new role as special prosecutor.
As one Twitter user put it: “Need an investigator for the investigator. Mueller is a crook too. Just like @HillaryClinton and @BarackObama”
But Mueller’s actions were not only legitimate, but necessary international cooperation to fight against nuclear smugglers who might attempt to sell stolen nuclear material to terrorists.
Here’s what really happened.
Read the full article at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
