Russian charged in election case
WASHINGTON — The U.S. accused a Russian accountant Friday of conspiring in a sweeping effort to sway American public opinion through social media in the first federal case alleging foreign interference in the 2018 midterm elections.
The criminal complaint alleges that Russians are using some of the same techniques to influence U.S. politics as they relied on ahead of the 2016 presidential election, methods laid bare by an investigation from special counsel Robert Mueller into possible coordination between Russia and Donald Trump’s campaign.
The Justice Department unsealed the criminal complaint on the same day that U.S. intelligence agencies, in a rare public statement, asserted that Russia, China, Iran and other countries are engaged in continuous efforts to influence American policy and voters in the upcoming elections and beyond.
National security adviser John Bolton heads to Russia on Saturday.
The U.S. is concerned about the foreign campaigns “to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and influence public sentiment and government policies,” said the statement from national security officials. The statement, which provided no details about any such efforts, said, “These activities also may seek to influence voter perceptions and decision-making in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections.”
The separate Justice Department prosecution targets Elena
Alekseevna Khusyaynova, a St. Petersburg woman who prosecutors say helped manage the finances of a hidden but powerful Russian social media effort aimed at spreading distrust for American political candidates and causing divisions on hot-button social issues like immigration and gun control.
Prosecutors say Khusyaynova, 44, worked for the same social media troll farm that was indicted earlier this year by Mueller. The social media effort outlined by prosecutors Friday largely mirrors Mueller’s criminal case against three Russian companies, including the Internet Research Agency, and 13 Russians, including
one is a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Prosecutors say the conduct singled out Friday runs afoul of criminal laws that bar foreign nationals from attempting to influence U.S. elections, or from engaging in political activities without first registering with the attorney general.
Asked about the new accusation against the Russians at an appearance in Arizona, President Donald Trump responded that it had “nothing to do with me.”
Since at least 2015, the group created thousands of false social media profiles and email accounts that appeared to be from people inside the U.S. and were aimed to “create and amplify divisive social and political content,” including on current events, such as deadly shootings
in South Carolina and Las Vegas, prosecutors said in court papers.
One fake persona, registered to “Bertha Malone,” made over 400 Facebook posts containing inflammatory content. Another fake Facebook account, in the name of “Rachell Edison,” made more than 700 posts focused on gun control and the Second Amendment.
The Russian organizers of the conspiracy advised that the posts should reflect various viewpoints, and it gave specific instructions to only share articles from certain news websites to correspond to specific political views, prosecutors said.
After one news article appeared online with the headline, “McCain Says Thinking a Wall Will Stop Illegal Immigration is ‘Crazy,’ ” members of the group were told
to brand the senator as “an old geezer who has lost it and who long ago belonged in a home for the elderly.” They were also told to say that McCain, R-Ariz., had a “pathological hatred toward Donald Trump and toward all his initiatives.” McCain died in August. The new prosecution was brought by the Justice Department’s national security division and prosecutors from the Eastern District of Virginia. There is no allegation in the complaint of coordination with the Trump campaign.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said recently that Russia has no intention to interfere in the midterm elections in the U.S. or meddle elsewhere.
Separately, a top cybersecurity official, Christopher Krebs, who is undersecretary
at DHS for the National Protection and Programs Directorate, noted that administration cyber officials have not seen “anything anywhere remotely close to ’16,” when the Russian campaign was in full swing.
But Krebs issued a cautionary note: “We’re looking for those things that can pop up at the last minute.”
Friday’s separate statement about foreign influence in U.S. elections was issued weeks before the Nov. 6 elections by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Justice Department, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
Given the breadth of alleged interference by Russia, which includes the hacking of Democratic email accounts ahead of the 2016 presidential election, it was notable that the intelligence community identified two other nations in the same statement that did not provide specific examples of foreign meddling.
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence blasted China in a speech saying Russia’s influence efforts in America pale in comparison with the covert and overt activities of the Chinese to interfere in the midterms and counter Trump’s tough trade policies against Beijing.
But top administration officials have provided little evidence that China’s activities are comparable to Russia’s massive covert measures that were spelled out in previous indictments obtained by Mueller.