Last week, we released the first episode of a narrative audio documentary, The Report, which tells the story Robert S. Mueller lays out in his famous 448 page document. This week, Mueller testified before the House of Representatives in what many people hoped would be hearings that brought the document to life. Whatever role Mueller’s testimony may or may not have played in that regard, we are pleased to bring you Episode 2 of our effort to bring the Mueller Report into narrative form.

Episode 2 focuses on the Russian hacking operation, the stealing of documents and emails from the DNC, DCCC and figures associated with the Clinton campaign, and the leaks of the stolen materials timed to impact the US election. The episode tells the story of the GRU operations, the Russian attempts to cover their tracks, and the involvement of Wikileaks and Julian Assange.

It features Thomas Rid, Ben Buchanan, and Laura Rosenberger.

As we scripted and edited this episode, we were worried that this part of the report might end up being too dry and technical for listeners; after all, it’s a bunch of details about technical stuff that happens on computers. We were wrong. As you’ll hear in the episode, the GRU operations were an audacious and brazen attack against the US and it was one the public witnessed in real time, without fully understanding what was happening.

We were stunned last week by the reception to this podcast series, which debuted at #1 on the iTunes chart for all podcasts. We hope people continue to engage at such a high level with the material we putting together.

We are grateful to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Democracy Fund for their support for this project. If you want to support work of this type at Lawfare, please consider becoming a monthly donor by clicking here: