Rumor has it?

So... we are hearing that the FBI and other US agencies have learned the names of some of the Russians associated with the so called Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear teams, which are code names for the Russian intelligence groups known to be involved in international Russian hacking. This information supposedly comes from "Dutch intelligence". 

The specific rumors are that most of the names involved are of the supervisory nature, rather than any of the specific people who may have actually done any real hacking. That may be a distinction without a legal difference.

Of course, the intelligence and evidence that ties these groups specifically to the 2016 email server hacking is sketchy at best (similar IP addresses, similar hacking software). That being said, the thing that Mueller has going for him is that he would never actually have to prove anything in court, because nobody from Russia is going to be extradited here to face prosecution.

So it's reasonable to believe that Mueller may offer us another set of indictments similar to the one he just released against the 13 members of the trolling farm. A hand full of names, some accusations of criminal activities, an explanation as to what they felt the hackers were attempting to accomplish, all with the fairly well known understanding that nothing will ever come of it.

Now the issue at hand is that the Dutch intelligence is more generic about the organization than specific to the alleged crimes. Whether or not American intelligence has learned more specifics is the going to be the driving force behind how detailed these allegations may become. Similar to the recent indictments of members of the trolling farms, those expecting similar indictments against members of Fancy and Cozy bear are not offering that there is any evidence of American involvement. At least not at this point.

My personal opinion is that Mueller will probably hold off these indictments till he is pretty close to the end of his probe. I certainly would expect that to be the case if any sort of indictment comes down against Russian hackers that does not include any American co-conspirators. Another indictment that does not implicate the Trump campaign is a loser for the left. While they may be able to spin it as one of those "we were right, it was the Russians" deals... that would be a very shallow "kissing your sister" type of victory.

The bigger debate in all of this was always about collusion. If no collusion is alleged, then Trump will claim victory. It will be hard to argue that one away.