Mueller Indicts 13 Russians Accused of Election Meddling

Special counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russians and three Russian organizations for allegedly interfering in the U.S. 2016 presidential elections with the intention of promoting President Donald Trump’s candidacy by posting as American activists, creating Facebook groups and organizing fake rallies.Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said at a press conference Friday that the Russians “allegedly conducted what they called ‘information warfare’ against the United States,” with the goal of “spreading distrust against candidates and the political system in general.”  Lots of Talk, Little Action in Congress After Shootings Charges listed in the 37-page indictment include conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, and they are the most direct allegation to date of illegal Russian meddling in the 2016 election.Some of the defendants communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.” Senate Rejects Immigration Bills; Young Immigrants in Limbo “There is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity,” Rosenstein said, adding there “there is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.”The indictment, brought by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on Friday, charges all of the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States, three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft. ‘Prayers Won’t Fix This’: Fla. Shooting Survivors Slam Trump Rosenstein said his team has not had communication with Russia about the indictments and would go through normal channels for the extradition of those indicted. However, the U.S. government has no extradition treaty with Russia. In the past, Russia has not cooperated with these requests.The indictment states that “from in or around 2014 to the present, defendant knowingly and intentionally conspired with each other (and with persons known and unknown to the Grand Jury) to defraud the United States by impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful functions of the government through fraud and and deceit for the purpose of interfering with the U.S. political and electoral processes, including the presidential election of 2016.”Those charged operated social media pages and groups designed to attract U.S. audiences, among them YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. They supported the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump and disparaged Hillary Clinton.”This indictment serves as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the internet,” Rosenstein told reporters. “The indictment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy. We must not allow them to succeed.”The indictment also said that those charged staged political rallies inside the United States, posing as Americans and U.S. grassroots group. The defendants allegedly staged rallies both in support of then-president-elect Trump and opposed to him in New York on the same day.In June 2016, defendants and their co-conspirators, posing online as Americans, communicated with an American affiliated with a Texas-based grassroots organization. They learned from that person that they should focus their activities on “purple states like Colorado, Virginia & Florida.”The Internet Research Agency, which registered with the Russian government as a Russian corporate entity in July 2013, obscured its conduct by operating through a number of other Russian entities. It employed hundreds of individuals, including those who created fictitious personas. More than 80 people were involved in what was at times referred to as the “translator project,” which focused on the U.S. population. The organization’s strategy by May 2014 was to interfere with the 2016 presidential election with the goal of “spread[ing] distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general.”The funding for the operation came from catering and management companies controlled by defendant Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian businessman often referred to as “Putin’s chef” in the media because his organizations had hosted dinners for Russian President Vladimir Putin and foreign leaders, the AP reported.Mueller is also investigating possible links between Russian meddling and members of Trump’s campaign. Photo Credit: Getty Images, File
Source: NBC San Diego