The last two grafs of a Wall Street Journal story on page A4, "Facebook Gave Special Counsel Robert Mueller More Details on Russian Ad Buys Than Congress," could turn out to be the lead of the Mueller Report, and his indictment of the modern info consumption machine:
- "According to a January report from the U.S. intelligence community, the highest levels of the Russian government were involved in directing the electoral interference to boost Mr. Trump at the expense of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton."
- "Russia's tactics included efforts to hack state election systems; infiltrating and leaking information from party committees and political strategists; and disseminating through social media and other outlets negative stories about Mrs. Clinton and positive ones about Mr. Trump, the report said."
P.S. Wall Street Journal front-pager, "Tech Firms Face Political Pressures": "The industry's standing suffered again in the past week when lawmakers laid plans for public hearings to examine whether Facebook and other social-media platforms were used by foreign governments during the 2016 campaign."
- "Lawmakers also signaled they are considering new legislation to address online spending by foreign adversaries—a potential blow to the firms' cherished freedom from close government oversight."
- Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), about the possible need for more controls on internet companies: "This is a Wild, Wild West."