Charges laid over Russia’s online ‘factory’ to sway US vote
THE full scale of Russian meddling in the US election was revealed yesterday as 13 people were charged and their alleged crimes recounted in detail.
They worked for the Internet Research Agency, a pro-kremlin “troll factory” in St Petersburg, and were accused of using social media to undermine the US 2016 election.
A 37-page indictment produced by the team of Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation, gives the fullest account yet of Russian interference, describing how agents created hundreds of social media accounts to influence the election, some through US internet servers and made to look as if they were run by American political activists rather than Russians.
Posts were allegedly used to undermine Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, and support Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. So effective were the accounts that some Americans were convinced by the Russians to hold up anti-clinton signs at rallies, it was claimed.
The agency was also able to stage pro-trump rallies, promoting them on social media, offering to pay attendees and buying adverts. President Trump last night suggested the charges, which refer back to before he began his election campaign, demonstrated he was not implicated. He tweeted: “Russia started their anti-us campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for president. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!”
Rod Rosenstein, the US deputy attorney general, said yesterday the activity did not sway the election, in which Mr Trump narrowly beat Ms Clinton.
US prosecutors said accounts posted messages with hashtags Trump2016, Trump train, I wont protect hillary and Hillary4prison.
They also claim Russia organised rallies in 2016 such as March for Trump in June, Down With Hillary in July and Florida Goes Trump in August.
The Internet Research Agency, which has changed its title and address several times, had 80 employees targeting America and a monthly budget of $1.25million (£891,000) just before the vote, according to US prosecutors. Interference came to a head as the 2016 election approached.
US prosecutors said the Russians “engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton”. Some Russian trolls were allegedly disciplined when they did not post enough criticism of Ms Clinton.
Many names in the indictment are believed to be high-ranking employees of the troll factory. Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman close to Vladmir Putin, yesterday denied election tampering. “The Americans are very impressionable people. They see what they want to see,” he reportedly said.