13 Russians charged over 2016 election
INDICTMENTS SHOW TRUMP’S ‘RUSSIA HOAX’ COULD BE VERY REAL FOR U.S.
The hackers, he suggested, may have been Chinese. Or some 400-pound guy sitting in his bed. Again and again, he insisted, Russian interference was a hoax, created by Democrats as an excuse for losing an election they should have won.
But Donald Trump’s own Justice Department has concluded otherwise. A 37-page federal indictment of 13 Russians and three Russian organizations released Friday spells out in exhaustive detail a three-year Russian plot to disrupt America’s democracy and boost Trump’s campaign. A “Russia hoax” this was not.
The indictment, signed by special counsel Robert Mueller, and announced by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein — both of whom Trump has at times mused about wanting to fire — reveals that the scope of Russia’s alleged efforts to help Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was extraordinary.
Rosenstein carefully chose his words as he stated, “There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity.” But neither he nor Mueller’s office has ruled out any potential collusion in any other plot to disrupt the election.
Trump called for the indictment to mark the end of “outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories” about the election, asserting they “only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions.”
He acknowledged Russia’s election interference while minimizing its impact. “The results of the election were not impacted,” he tweeted. "The Trump campaign did nothing wrong — no collusion!
“We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections."
According to the charges, Russian operatives spread pro-Trump and anti-Clinton propaganda. They posed as Americans to co-ordinate and infiltrate political activities. They organized grassroots rallies.
Mueller’ s indictment came three days after the nation’s top intelligence chiefs warned in Senate testimony that Russia is targeting the 2018 midterm elections in its continuing effort to disrupt the U.S. political system.
During the first 13 months of his presidency, Trump sought to discredit the case that Russia poses a threat to the U.S. White House officials have said this is partly because the president wants to forge a productive partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin to tackle problems in North Korea, Iran and other hot spots.
Trump’s doubts about Russia’s role in the election drew attention in September 2016, at his first presidential debate with Clinton. Moderator Lester Holt of NBC News asked Trump about the hacking of emails from the Democratic National Committee.
“Who’s behind it? And how do we fight it?” Holt asked Trump.
“She’s saying ‘Russia, Russia, Russia,’” Trump said, referencing Clinton. “But I don’t — maybe it was. I mean, it could be Russia. But it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, OK?”
Thus began the 400-pound couch potato theory.
It was not until January 2017 that Trump’s advisers convinced him to acknowledge that he believed Russians were behind the cyber attacks. The leaders of the nation’s intelligence agencies had travelled to New York on Jan. 6 to brief the presidentelect on their findings. In the days that followed, chief of staff Reince Priebus, son-inlaw Jared Kushner and other advisers prodded Trump to accept the findings. They argued that he could affirm the validity of the intelligence without diminishing his electoral win.
Trump scoffed at the findings, arguing they couldn’t be trusted, but finally relented. On Jan. 11, he said: “As far as hacking, I think it was Russia.”
Afterward, Trump told aides that he regretted the comments and he has since hedged his words when asked about Russian interference. Last November, during a trip to Asia, Trump met with Putin and apparently discussed the issue. Trump told reporters that he believed Putin’s denials.
“He said he didn’t meddle,” Trump told reporters. “Every time he sees me, he says, ‘I didn’t do that,’ and I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it.”
Then in November, Trump tweeted, “Since the first day I took office, all you hear is the phony Democrat excuse for losing the election, Russia, Russia, Russia.”