US charges 13 Russians with election meddling
Mueller’s inquiry details effort to sow distrust in political system
WASHINGTON – Special counsel Robert Mueller has filed his first criminal charges against Russian nationals and businesses for what he called a wide-ranging effort to undermine the 2016 presidential election, including by “supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump.”
The indictment Friday charges 13 Russian nationals and three businesses – including an internet firm tied to the Kremlin – with conspiracy, identity theft and failing to register as foreign agents.
Prosecutors said officials at that firm, the Internet Research Agency, described their work as “information warfare against the United States” and their goal as “spreading distrust toward the candidates and the political system.”
In the indictment, Mueller charged that some of the Russians, posing as
Americans, “communicated with unwitting individuals” associated with Trump’s 2016 campaign “to seek to coordinate political activities.”
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who supervises Mueller’s investigation and announced the indictments, said the charges do not allege that the operation “altered the outcome of the election.” Nor, he said, do they suggest that any Americans knew they were dealing with Russian operatives.
The charges are the government’s most detailed accounting to date of an effort by Russian operatives – some with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin – to sow distrust in the U.S. political system and to influence the outcome of the presidential election.
That operation, prosecutors said, extended from social media posts meant to pick at Americans’ political divisions to staging rallies to support Trump and disparage his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.
Among those indicted was Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian businessman dubbed “Putin’s chef ” by Russian media.
The charges reinforce a finding delivered early last year by U.S. intelligence services that Russia’s government had ordered an influence campaign targeting the presidential election, part of which included supporting Trump.
At the time, the intelligence agencies said they disagreed about how strongly they could conclude that the Russian activities were specifically meant to help Trump. But Mueller’s investigation appeared to leave little doubt about the motives of the Internet Research Agency.
In one internal memo, prosecutors said, the Internet Research Agency told its employees to “use any opportunity to criticize Hillary and the rest (except Sanders and Trump - we support them).” In another, they said it is “imperative to intensify criticizing Hillary Clinton.”
As the 2016 campaign progressed, the Internet Research Agency churned out graphics and fractious social media messages, often posing as Americans.
And they worked to discourage minority groups from voting and to promote allegations of voter fraud, a theme to which Trump returned repeatedly during the campaign.
Prosecutors said they also impersonated Americans to set up Russian bank accounts that they used to purchase online political advertisements.
Prosecutors said the Russians staged rallies backing Trump’s candidacy.
In one case, they said, the Russians had a flatbed truck outfitted with a cage and paid someone to wear a costume “portraying Clinton in a prison uniform.”
Mueller’s office also unsealed charges against another American on Friday, alleging that Richard Pinedo had set up bank accounts using stolen identities. Pinedo agreed to plead guilty to the charge and cooperate with investigators.
Prosecutors said the Russians continued picking at Americans’ political divisions even after the election concluded.
After Trump won, Rosenstein said, the Russian operatives organized competing rallies in New York on the same day both supporting and opposing him.