The Justice officials:

Robert Mueller

The former FBI director was appointed to oversee the probe into Russian election interference and whether there was any collusion with Donald Trump or his campaign. Mueller kept a low-profile, secured multiple indictments and guilty pleas, but failed to secure an in-person interview with the president. He submitted a 400-page report to Attorney General William Barr.

Rod Rosenstein

As deputy attorney general, Rosenstein assumed authority over the Russia probe with the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Rosenstein tapped Mueller to lead the probe – a fateful decision that drew the ire of President Trump, who went after him publicly. He remained on the job with oversight of the probe as Trump launched repeated attacks on the Justice Department. He relinquished formal authority when Trump named Matthew Whitaker acting AG and the Senate later confirmed William Barr to run the agency.

Jeff Sessions

Attorney General Jeff Sessions drew the unending scorn of President Trump by recusing himself from the Russia probe, allowing for Mueller's appointment. He had been a Trump campaign advisor, and had failed to initially disclose his own campaign contacts with Russians.

Matthew Whitaker

Trump installed Matthew Whitaker after asking Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign. The move put a Trump loyalist in charge of the Mueller probe he had blasted publicly during a critical period. Nevertheless, Whitaker allowed Rosenstein to maintain day-to-day oversight of the probe, and it was allowed to go forward.

William Barr

Trump secured the resignation of Sessions and named Matthew Whitaker acting attorney general. Then, he nominated Barr, who had blasted the obstruction of justice basis for the probe in his writings, and who has taken a view of strong executive power. He was confirmed by the Senate on a 54-45 vote with just three Democrats voting for him. Barr infuriated Democrats by releasing a four-page summary of the Mueller report just 48-hours after he got it.

The campaign advisors

Jared Kushner

The president's son-in-law, a senior White House advisor, was interviewed extensively by Mueller's team. Kushner's White House portfolio, his contacts with Russians and inaccurate disclosures, and his efforts to secure overseas financing for a Manhattan skyscraper all became areas for inquiry.

Mike Flynn

Former Trump National Security Advisor Mike Flynn pleaded guilty to lying about his conversations with Russians about sanctions during the transition, and to lying about his lobbying for Turkey. His early cooperation sent a message to other witnesses.

Paul Manafort

Trump's former campaign chair got a seven-year prison sentence after being convicted on one set of money laundering and corruption charges, and pleading guilty to other charges. Prosecutors say he lied despite an agreement to cooperate. President Trump praised his loyalty, but claimed he had not thought about a pardon for his former top advisor.

Rick Gates

Manafort's deputy on the campaign, Gates had been Manafort's business partner, and testified about Manafort's efforts set up offshore companies, failure to pay taxes, and avoid disclosure laws. His participation helped the government untangle extremely complex business arrangements dealing with millions the pair earned for their Ukrainian work.

Carter Page

Page was a Trump foreign policy advisor when there were just a handful of them. His Russia contacts – he gave a speech in Moscow in the midst of the campaign – drew immediate scrutiny. The FBI got a judge's approval for a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Warrant to monitor Page – leading to Trump's claim there was 'spying' on his campaign.

George Papadopoulos

Papadopoulos met with a Maltese professor in London who said he had information about Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton, a key development in the beginning of the FBI's counter-intelligence probe on Trump. He pleaded guilty to lying to investigators and served 12 days in jail.

Donald Trump Jr.

The president's son attended an infamous meeting in Trump Tower in June 2016. When word got out, he released a statement saying the meeting was about Russian adoptions. When the New York Times was about to report on the contents of his emails, he tweeted out the entire email chain of contacts with British publicist Rob Goldstone about the promise of dirt on Hillary Clinton. Goldstone was representing pop singer Emin Agalarov, whose father is a major Moscow real estate developer.

Roger Stone

Trump's longtime advisor Stone is an infamous political dirty trickster on the scene since the Nixon administration. Prosecutors charged him with seven counts including obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and lying to Congress about his communications with WikiLeaks in January 2019.

Hope Hicks

Trump's long-time press secretary and top White House communications aide met with investigators, and was involved when Trump dictated an initial misleading statement about the Trump Tower meeting with Russians. Having been with Trump since his campaign operated with a skeleton crew, she was a potential font of information. But unlike many Trump aides, she left in good standing, and secured a lucrative job with Fox, where Trump is deeply connected.





The diggers

Christopher Steele

The ex-British intelligence officer compiled information based on his Russia contacts for what became the golden showers dossier, which contained salacious unverified claims about Trump's conduct in Moscow. It also said the Russians had compromising financial leverage over Trump. The FBI obtained the document in 2016, and former FBI Director James Comey briefed Trump about it during the transition.

Glenn Simpson

Simpson's firm, Fusion GPS, conducted the investigation that resulted in the 'dirty dossier.' Fusion began the 2016 campaign under contract from the conservative Washington Free Beacon news outlet, whose leaders hoped to damage Donald Trump enough to drive him out of the Republican primary season. Later, however, the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign paid Fusion roughly a combined $9 million to continue the work, using a law firm to move the money. Fusion hired Christopher Steele to do the ground work, using his contacts in Russia as sources.

James Comey

Comey led the FBI when it opened a counter-intelligence probe of Trump campaign aides, and when agents obtained judicial approval for a surveillance warrant on Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page. Trump cited Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe, and his sudden exoneration of her in the middle of the presidential campaign, when he fired him just four months into his presidency. It became one element in the examination of possible obstruction of justice. Comey famously orchestrated press leaks of information from memos he wrote following his private meetings with President Trump, hoping they would lead to a special counsel probe. He delivered riveting testimony after his firing about Trump's request for loyalty and cryptic comments about the investigation of Michael Flynn.

Peter Strzok and Lisa Page

Peter Strzok and Lisa Page

The FBI lawyers became known as 'FBI lovers' after their anti-Trump texts were exposed. Both shared deep concerns about Trump's Russia connections as they unfolded. They became regular features of Trump's Twitter attacks on the Mueller investigation.

The Trump lawyers

Ty Cobb

Cobb joined the Trump White House to aide in his legal defense. He counseled the staff to be in 'full cooperation mode.' Even as the president attacked the Russia probe, Cobb shared his personal admiration for Robert Mueller.

John Dowd

Trump's outside lawyer John Dowd provided some back-channel communications with Mueller's team amid the president's attacks. He disputed journalist Bob Woodward's claim that he called his client a 'f****** liar' and saw the 'nightmare' of possibilities of what would happen if Trump were allowed to meet with investigators after staging a mock interview.

Don McGahn

The White House counsel met with Mueller's investigators for a total of 30 hours. McGahn, who previously served as a member of the Federal Elections Commission and who advised Trump during the 2016, threatened to quit after Trump ordered Mueller's firing, according to a New York Times report.

Rudy Giuliani

Amid a wave of turnover in Trump's legal team, the president brought on former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani stumbled several times in interviews and at one point confirmed Trump paid reimbursements to Michael Cohen after he paid porn star Stormy Daniels. He also steered Trump's public response as he managed to avoid having to sit for an interview for the Russia probe despite saying he would love to do so.

The Russians

Vladimir Putin

The Russian president bristled at U.S.-led sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine, seeks to challenge U.S. influence around the globe, and maintained unrivaled control in Moscow as military intelligence undertook an election hacking campaign. Trump drew criticism for repeatedly praising Putin during the campaign and asking Russia to find Hillary Clinton's emails.

Sergei Kislyak

The former Russian ambassador to the U.S. was revealed to have had contacts with a series of Trump-connected figures during the campaign. His Oval Office meeting with President Trump drew attention when the Kremlin, rather than the White House, put out a photo.

Natalia Veselnitskaya

The Kremlin-linked lawyer attended the Trump Tower meeting after the offer of dirt on Hillary Clinton, then frustrated participants by pitching a sanctions-related issue. She was revealed to have worked with the Russian prosecutor general. She was later charged with obstruction of justice in a different money laundering case involving Russia.

Oleg Deripaska

The Russian oligarch was Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort's benefactor – and Manafort also owed him millions during the campaign. Manafort offered to provide campaign updates to the aluminum magnate through an intermediary.

Felix Sater

The Russia-born Sater tried to broker a deal through Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and Russians to build a Trump tower in Moscow, though the project fell through.

Julian Assange

The WikiLeaks founder published damaging Democratic emails during the campaign. He was arrested on April 11 on charges of conspiracy to hack U.S. government computers in 2010. The initial charge does not mention Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections.

Emin Agalarov

Pops singer Emin Agalarov, an Azerbeijani-Russian entertainer who once cut a music video featuring a cameo by Trump, became an unusual link in the infamous Trump Tower meeting. The son of oligarch Aras Agalarov, it was Emin who put in motion the Trump Tower meeting with Russians by having his associate Rob Goldstone reach out to Donald Trump Jr. about information being promised by Moscow.

Rob Goldstone

Goldstone's email to Donald Trump Jr. became a key piece of evidence of a direct connection between Russians and the Trump campaign. The British PR figure reached out to the president's eldest son, mentioning 'Russia and its government's support' for the Trump campaign and conveyed the offer of dirt on Clinton. He mentioned Emin's father and the 'Crown prosecutor' of Russia, lending legitimacy to what was being conveyed. Long after being swept up in the probe and testifying about the unusual way the meeting came together, he told NPR he had 'no idea what I was talking about.'

The Overseers

Jerold Nadler

The House Judiciary Chair obtained a subpoena for the unredacted Mueller report, and has emerged as the most prominent figure trying to force its release. He demanded Congress get the full report, called on Mueller to testify, and bashed Bill Barr's four-page letter summarizing the probe's conclusions.

Devin Nunes

The House Intelligence chairman steered his committee's own Russia probe to put the focus on FBI investigators, the origins of the probe, and misconduct. He had to step back from running the inquiry after his White House visits were revealed, including one shortly before he said intelligence agencies may have monitored President Trump incidentally.