Twelve Russian intelligence officers were indicted on charges they hacked into Democratic email accounts during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and released stolen information in the months before Americans headed to the polls, the Justice Department said Friday.
The indictment — which comes days before President Donald Trump holds a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — was the clearest allegation yet of Russian efforts to meddle in American politics. U.S. intelligence agencies have said the interference was aimed at helping the presidential campaign of Republican Donald Trump and harming the election bid of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
The indictment lays out a sweeping and coordinated effort to break into key Democratic email accounts, including those belonging to the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The charges come as special counsel Robert Mueller investigates potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign to influence the presidential election. The indictment does not allege that Trump campaign associates were involved in the hacking efforts or that any American was knowingly in contact with Russian intelligence officers.
The indictment also does not allege that any vote tallies were altered by hacking.
Still, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the internet “allows foreign adversaries to attack Americans in new and unexpected ways. Free and fair elections are hard-fought and contentious and there will always be adversaries who work to exacerbate domestic differences and try to confuse, divide and conquer us.”
Before Friday, 20 people and three companies had been charged in the Mueller investigation. That includes four former Trump campaign and White House aides, three of whom have pleaded guilty to different crimes and agreed to cooperate, as well as 13 Russians accused of participating in a hidden but powerful social media campaign to sway American public opinion in the 2016 election.
Hours before the Justice Department announcement, Trump complained anew that the special counsel’s investigation is complicating his efforts to forge a better working relationship with Russia. Trump and Putin are to hold talks Monday in Finland, a meeting largely sought by Trump.
Trump said at a news conference Friday near London with British Prime Minister Theresa May that he wasn’t going into the meeting with Putin with “high expectations.”
“We do have a — a political problem where — you know in the United States we have this stupidity going on. Pure stupidity,” he said, referring to Mueller’s probe. “But it makes it very hard to do something with Russia. Anything you do, it’s always going to be, ‘Oh, Russia, he loves Russia.'”
“I love the United States,” Trump continued. “But I love getting along with Russia and China and other countries.”
Trump also said he will be asking Putin about the meddling in elections:
(AP)
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14 Responses
There will be more indictments coming.
Delusional Donald has denied that the Russians interfered in the election.
Appears so evil?
And when America does it to others, it’s not?
And it was only this year? No other election?
And this is a Democratic Party partisan issue?
And China won’t try to bring down Trump in the next election?
The point is that this should not have been a partisan issue and the Republicans will one day also come out against foreign interference. By making it a partisan issue, and making appear as this never happened before, we lost out on real constructive dialogue on addressing the issue.
@yaakov doe – Actually, “delusional Donald” HIMSELF said this very week that he will be asking Putin to his face about meddling in the elections. You and Jim Acosta. Two fake-news trashers.
Watch for yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU6J8sKltaE
It would be nice if Israel indicted Obama and friends for meddling on the Israeli elections a few years back
After yesterdays Congressional hearing you need to be certified moron in order to believe anything that coming from DOJ or FBI.
For a witch hunt and hoax, there sure a lot of indictments, guilty pleas and the top guy sitting in jail
Fakenewsalert: Actually we will have no way of knowing what they discuss. The president refuses to have anyone in the room with him and his buddy Vlad. And lets face it, the president lies with frequency and abandon.
To Fake News Alert” After a previous meeting with Putin Trump asked about interference in the election and Putin denied it. Trump indicated he took Putin at his word.
Everybody knows that this was going on for along time…Roll the videotape and watch Hussein Obaka talk about it before Trump, was thank Hashem, elected..
Guaranteed they tried the RNC but couldn’t get in..
Hey Jim Acosta, maybe get another hobby…… KAG
FNA, do you actually expect Trump to challenge Putin? Trump’s ego won’t let him believe that he’s president because of anything other than his tremendous genius and popularity. He has shown that he’d rather believe Putin’s denials than the certainty of every U.S. intelligence agency.
@Amil Zola – What a bold-faced LIE.
CUt the garbage,
Trump doesn’t speak Russian, and Putin doesn’t speak English. There are interpreters in the room by EVERY SINGLE president. There is a staff in the room every single time. So get real and grow up and stop the pack of lies and trash.
Calm down FNA, I do apologize for not clarifying the part about interpreters, a reasonable person would assume they would be present. Actually FNA, I was referring to an official record of the subjects of discussion and any resolution. It’s pretty much common sense that there will be interpreters, and they will be bound to secrecy and confidentiality. The president and Valds representatives have both stressed that there will be no official note taking and no other officials in the room to memorialize the conversation or any agreements. Now I’m a realist and recognize that Vlad as the former head of the KGB will likely have a means of taping the content of that meeting. No one is going to pat him down for a wire.
Are these more individuals that were not in business at the time, like the last set? Are they more cafeteria workers like the last set?
Are we ever going to get a follow-up from that one Ukrainian company that actually did respond and tell Mueller he was full of it, to his and the media’s surprise?