The US Justice Department on Friday let out an eight - count bill of indictment charging 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities over their allege meddling in US politics , including the 2016 presidential election .
Among those indicted are a businessman with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Internet Research Agency ( IRA ) , a St. Petersburg - found “ troll farm ” love to have produce immense amounts of social medium propaganda aimed at sowing dissension among the US electorate .
The electric charge , which staunch from special counsel Robert Mueller ’s ongoing probe into Russian election encumbrance , let in conspiracy to short-change the US , confederacy to commit telegram fraud and bank faker , and aggravated identity theft .
IRA mesh with an yearly budget of millions of dollars , with a sophisticated structure that included a graphics department , a information depth psychology department , a hunt - engine optimisation section , an IT department , and a finance section , according to the DOJ . The Agency referred to its social medium campaign as the “ transcriber project ” and by July 2016 had assigned more than 80 employees to make message on platforms like Facebook , Twitter , and YouTube .
In early 2017 , US intelligence agencies value with high confidence that the Kremlin ’s objective was to seed variance among US voters and swing the election in Donald Trump ’s favor . The effectual monetary standard necessary to make the bill of indictment against the Russian nationals is notably higher than that which was gather by the intelligence community in the yield of its appraisal .
Per the indictment , the IRA team used simulated identities as well as personal identity steal from material US citizens to crusade propaganda online . At times , it say , members of the squad traveled to the US to gather intelligence .
Two IRA employees went on a multi - state tour of the US in June 2014 to gather intelligence agency , visiting Nevada , California , New Mexico , Colorado , Illinois , Michigan , Louisiana , Texas , and New York , according to the indictment . Employees also allegedly reached out to political militant online and incur advice from a grassroots governance based in Texas to focus their efforts on “ majestic states ” like Florida . The nickname for swing music state puzzle , and IRA employees often touch on to “ over-embellished states ” in their work , the DOJ says .
The IRA also used computer infrastructure ground in the US to aid hold back the extraneous origin of their post , according to the DOJ .
“ Some defendants , posing as US soul and without give away their Russian tie-up , communicated with unknowing individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activist to seek to coordinate political bodily function , ” the bill of indictment enjoin .
Accused of funneling money to the IRA through his business , Yevgeniy Prigozhin , a Russian man of affairs with ties to Vladimir Putin , was also indict .
IRA employee were aware that Prigozhin was fund their project , the bill of indictment says . In May 2016 , employees arranged for someone in the US to stand in front of the White House holding a planetary house that say , “ well-chosen 55th natal day Dear Boss , ” which the bill of indictment claims was a denotation to Prigozhin ( his natal day is in June ) .
The bill of indictment also charges richly - ranking IRA employee , including its executive director and the coach of its IT department , who , the DOJ allege , work out to pimp servers in the US .
“ This indictment serves as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the internet , ” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein suppose during a press conference Friday afternoon . “ The indictment allege that the Russian conspirators desire to promote discord in the United States and subvert public confidence in majority rule . We must not leave them to succeed . ”
Added Rosenstein : “ The Department of Justice will continue to work cooperatively with other law enforcement and intelligence agency and with the Congress to champion our nation against similar current and succeeding efforts . ”
IRA employee went to considerable sweat to cloak their geographical origins , the DOJ asserts , renting servers in the US and using them to run VPNs that would make it appear as if their accounts were active in the US rather than in Russia . They also allegedly worked in duty period so that they would be capable to station during US minute , and deal off US holiday , agree to the indictment .
IRA psychoanalyst were instructed to post negatively about 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton , and Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio while post positive message about Sen. Bernie Sanders , Clinton ’s Democratic primary competition , and Trump . “ Use any chance to criticize Hillary and the residual ( except Sanders and Trump — we confirm them ) , ” IRA employees were told in guidelines for societal media subject , concord to the US government .
In improver to attacking sure candidates , the IRA was also concerned in suppressing nonage voters , the bill of indictment says . The group is said to have go campaigns to encourage minority voters to either not vote at all or to vote for a third - party candidate .
Over the summer of 2016 , the IRA is said to have organized several rallies in the US . During one rally in Washington , DC , which would supposedly show Muslim - Americans ’ support for Clinton , the IRA obviously arrange for someone to harbor a augury with a fake Clinton inverted comma : “ I intend Sharia Law will be a knock-down new guidance of freedom . ” The IRA also organized rally supporting Trump and denounce Clinton .
The rally continued after the election , the DOJ suppose , as the IRA get up events both celebrate Trump ’s election and opposing it .
When Facebook started speaking publically about Russian propaganda activity on its political platform in the fall of 2017 , it set off a scuffle at the IRA to cover the agency ’s tracks . In an email , one analyst wrote , “ We had a slight crisis here at body of work : the FBI busted our activity ( not a joke ) . So , I got preoccupied with covering tracks together with confrere . ”
Update , 3:45pm : In a statement to the Russian state news outletSputnik , Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the accusation of meddling reflected the absurdity of the “ modernistic American political reality . ”
A Putin interpreter said the Kremlin was not yet intimate enough with the bill of indictment to remark .
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