Grand Jury Charges 13 Russian Nationals with Election 'Discord' in Mueller Investigation
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
"Russian conspirators wanted to undermine public confidence in our democracy," said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
The indictment reveals that conspirators posed as politically and socially active Americans for and against candidates in hopes of sowing "discord" in the US political system.
"The defendants allegedly conducted what they called information warfare against the United States, with the stated goal of spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general," Rosenstein said.
The indictment adds that "defendants' operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton" and around the same time "organized a rally in New York called 'Trump is NOT my President.' "
The conspirators are charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The indictment reveals that no Americans participated in the illegal activity.
It also shows that the conduct did not alter the outcome of the election.
After being briefed on Friday's announcement, President Trump weighed in saying the revelations served as proof his campaign “did nothing wrong” and that there was “no collusion” with Russia.
“Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for president,” the president tweeted. “The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong — no collusion!”
Here's a link to the actual indictment