Mueller indicts 13 Russian nationals over 2016 election interference ...
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/16/politics/...russia-indictments...interference/index.htm...
Mueller indicts 13 Russian nationals over 2016 election interference
(CNN)Special
counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 13 Russian nationals and three
Russian entities for allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential
election, charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States,
the Department of Justice announced Friday.
In
addition, three defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire
fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity
theft.
"The defendants
allegedly conducted what they called information warfare against the
United States, with the stated goal of spreading distrust towards the
candidates and the political system in general," Deputy Attorney General
Rod Rosenstein said.
Mueller had
convened the grand jury as part of his investigation into Russian
interference in the 2016 election as well as any possible connections
between Russia and Trump campaign associates.
The
sweeping indictment describes in detail an unprecedented campaign by
Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, affirming the
longstanding conclusions of the US intelligence community. It is at odds
with President Donald Trump's repeated questioning of those
conclusions, which has continued throughout his first year in office.
CNN reported this week that Trump is still not convinced that Russia meddled in the election.
Trump emphasized the lack of allegations of any impact on the presidential election.
"Russia
started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I
would run for President," he tweeted. "The results of the election were
not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!"
In
a statement, the White House said Trump was fully briefed on the
indictments and "is glad to see the Special Counsel's investigation
further indicates— that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump
campaign and Russia and that the outcome of the election was not changed
or affected."
"(I)t is more
important than ever before to come together as Americans," Trump said in
the statement. "We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion,
discord, and rancor to be successful. It's time we stop the outlandish
partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories,
which only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and
do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions. We must unite
as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our
elections."
FBI Director Chris Wray
and Rosenstein briefed the President on the indictments at the White
House on Friday morning, a White House official said.
Beginning
as early as 2014, the Russian organization Internet Research Agency
began operations to interfere with the US political system, including
the 2016 elections, according to the indictment.
The
defendants allegedly posed as US persons, created false US personas and
operated social media pages and groups designed to attract US
audiences, the indictment reads.
The
Internet Research Agency had a "strategic goal to sow discord in the US
political system" including the election, according to the indictment.
Russians
posted "derogatory information about a number of candidates," and by
mid-2016 they supported Trump and disparaged Democratic candidate
Hillary Clinton. They bought ads and communicated with "unwitting"
people tied to Trump campaign and others to coordinate political
activities.
Rosenstein said Friday
that the indictment does not contain any allegations that any Americans
knowingly participated in the activity.
"There
is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing
participant in this illegal activity," he said. "There is no allegation
in the indictment that the charge conduct altered the outcome of the
2016 election."
Rosenstein added that the special counsel's investigation is ongoing.
Social media tactics
According
to the indictment, the Russians created an email address,
allforusa@yahoo.com, to purport to be a US person in order to send out
press releases in June 2016 for a "March for Trump" rally to New York
media outlets.
The defendants
allegedly used a Facebook account belonging to a fictitious person named
Matt Skiber, posing as an American to contact a real US citizen to act
as a recruiter for the rally, even offering money to print posters and
buy a megaphone.
The advertisements
weren't limited to Trump. They also allegedly purchased ads on Facebook
to promote "Support Hillary. Save American Muslims" rally to allege
Clinton was supporting Islamic law. They also allegedly bought ads to
promote a "Down with Hillary" rally.
The
defendants focused on key purple states during the election. The Skiber
account allegedly sent a private message to a real Facebook account,
"Florida for Trump," to offer support. They also allegedly used a stolen
identity of a real US citizen to email grassroots groups in Florida.
The
defendants allegedly attempted to cover their tracks after social media
companies, including Facebook, publicly disclosed in September 2017
that they had identified Russians purchasing political and social
advertisements on its platform and after media reports noted the company
was cooperating with the special counsel's investigation.
"We have a slight crisis here at work: the FBI busted our activity (not
a joke). So, I got preoccupied with covering tracks together with
colleagues," one of the defendants wrote, according to the indictment.
Russian response
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova described the indictments Friday as "absurd."
"(Thirteen)
people intervened in the elections in the US?" she wrote on her
Facebook page. "13 against billion-dollar budgets of special services?
Against intelligence and counterintelligence, against the latest
developments and technologies? ... Absurd? Yes."
"This is modern American political reality," she added in the post.
Congressional reaction
House
Speaker Paul Ryan called the Russians' alleged actions "a conspiracy to
subvert the process, and take aim at democracy itself."
"We
have known that Russians meddled in the election, but these indictments
detail the extent of the subterfuge," Ryan said in a statement. "These
Russians engaged in a sinister and systematic attack on our political
system. It was a conspiracy to subvert the process, and take aim at
democracy itself. Today's announcement underscores why we need to follow
the facts and work to protect the integrity of future elections."
House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that the indictments
"make absolutely clear" that Russians tried to influence the
presidential election to support Trump's campaign and continue to try to
interfere with our elections.
"We
are on the eve of the 2018 midterm elections," the statement added.
"There is no time to waste to defend the integrity of our elections and
our democracy."
The ranking
Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also
investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, said in a
statement that he is "glad" to see the committee's work "vindicated" by
the indictments.
"With this
indictment, the Special Counsel and his team have taken an important
step to hold Russia accountable," Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia said
Friday.
Clinton, through her
spokesman, Nick Merrill, declined to comment on the indictments, but her
campaign spokespeople and aides are responding.
Robby
Mook, Clinton's former campaign manager, tweeted: "The intelligence
community has repeatedly told us Russia meddled. Now criminal
indictments from DOJ. We were attacked by a foreign adversary. Will our
Congress and President stand strong and take action? Or let it happen
again?"
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