Some of the characters are household names, thanks to the Russia scandal: James ComeyJames Brien ComeyHow Comey intervened to kill WikiLeaks' immunity dealGrassley wants to subpoena Comey, Lynch after critical IG reportThe media just can't stop lying about TrumpMORE, fired FBI director. Sen. Mark WarnerMark Robert WarnerTrump blasts Warner joke about Mueller probeHow Comey intervened to kill WikiLeaks' immunity dealTop Dem: 'Buckle up' for 'wild' months ahead in Mueller probeMORE (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Department of Justice (DOJ) official Bruce Ohr. Julian Assange, grand master of WikiLeaks. And American attorney Adam Waldman, who has a Forrest Gump-like penchant for showing up in major cases of intrigue.

Each played a role in the early days of the Trump administration to try to get Assange to agree to "risk mitigation" — essentially, limiting some classified CIA information he might release in the future.

The effort resulted in the drafting of a limited immunity deal that might have temporarily freed the WikiLeaks founder from a London embassy where he has been exiled for years, according to interviews and a trove of internal DOJ documents turned over to Senate investigators. Read the draft immunity deal proffer that the Justice Department was considering for Assange here.