12 Russians indicted in hacking of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign
WASHINGTON — Twelve Russian intelligence officers have been indicted in the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and Democratic Party computers, the Justice Department announced on Friday.
The indictment, which was obtained by special counsel Robert S. Mueller and revealed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at a news conference, is the first series of criminal charges against Russian government officials.
It’s also the first time anyone has been charged with the theft and public release of private emails that embarrassed Democratic officials and Clinton’s campaign — events that dominated news coverage during key moments of the presidential race.
“When we confront foreign interference in American elections, it’s important for us to avoid thinking politically, as Republicans or Democrats, and instead to think patriotically as Americans,” Rosenstein told reporters. “Our response must not depend on which side is victimized.”
The indictment could hardly have come at a less opportune time for U.S. President Donald Trump, three days before he’s scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.
Trump repeatedly has denounced the Mueller investigation as a “rigged witch hunt,” using that term as recently as Friday morning. Putin has denied Moscow’s meddling in the election. Rosenstein said he had briefed Trump this week about the indictment.
Democrats quickly called on Trump to cancel the summit.
“Glad-handing with Vladimir Putin on the heels of these indictments would be an insult to our democracy,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in a statement.
The White House responded to the indictment with a statement that did not condemn Moscow’s actions during the campaign. Instead, deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters highlighted that no U.S. citizens were charged.
The indictment did not accuse anyone from Trump’s campaign of conspiring with Russians, a key issue that Mueller has been examining.
Trump’s lawyer, former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, described Friday’s announcement as “good news.”
“The Russians are nailed. No Americans are involved,” he said. “Time for Mueller to end this pursuit of the president and say President Trump is completely innocent.”
One of the accusations in the indictment does overlap with a controversial statement that Trump made during the campaign. On July 27, 2016, at a news conference in Florida, Trump said: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”
According to the indictment, “on or about July 27, 2016,” the Russians attempted “for the first time” to hack emails located on Clinton’s private email server.
Sean Spicer, when he was White House press secretary, once described Trump’s statement as a joke.
Friday’s announcement means Mueller’s investigation has now produced criminal charges against 32 people. The total includes 13 other Russians who allegedly spread false information on social media to disrupt the U.S. presidential race. Those Russians were not identified as government employees, but they worked for an organization with Kremlin ties.
The indictment includes 11 criminal charges, including conspiracy, identity theft and money laundering to fund the Russian operations.
The Russian operation described in the indictment is complex and widespread, involving multiple servers, specially developed malware and fake online identities.
One of those identities, according to prosecutors, is “Guccifer 2.0,” who claimed to be a lone Romanian hacker, but was actually the creation of Russian intelligence.
The Russians allegedly used Guccifer 2.0 to pass hacked documents to WikiLeaks, which released emails from Democratic officials and John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman.
WikiLeaks is not identified by name in the indictment, and the organization is not accused of knowing that it was communicating with Russian intelligence.