DAG Rosenstein announced indictments of 12 Russian GRU members for various activities related to the 2016 Presidential Election.
The 12 were members of Russian military intelligence, known as the GRU, and are accused of engaging in a sustained effort to hack the computer networks of Democratic organizations and the Hillary Clinton campaign.
Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein planned to detail the new charges at a mid-day press conference. Mueller, as has been his practice, was not expected to attend the announcement. Court records show a grand jury Mueller has been using returned an indictment Friday morning.
Mueller and a team of prosecutors have been working since May 2017 to determine if any Trump associates conspired with Russia to interfere in the election. His work had already led to charges against 20 people on crimes ranging from money laundering to lying to the FBI. Fourteen of those charged earlier are Russians who are unlikely to ever be put on trial in the United States.
“There is no allegation in this indictment that Americans knew they were corresponding with Russian intelligence officers,” Rosenstein said in his announcement.
The charges come just days before President Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland. Rosenstein said he briefed Mr. Trump on the indictment earlier this week.
The charges come after Mueller’s investigation has already led to the indictment of 12 Russian nationals earlier this year.
The indictment charges 11 of the defendants with conspiracy to commit computer crimes, eight counts of aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to launder money, according to the special counsel’s office. Two of the defendants are charged with a separate conspiracy to commit computer crimes.
In the face of alleged foreign interference, Rosenstein urged unity and patriotism against foreign interference.
“The partisan warfare fueled by modern technology does not fairly reflect the grace, dignity and unity of the American people,” Rosenstein said.
Let’s all hope that last statement hold ups. Full indictment can be read here.
People seem to be combing the document on the Twitters as we speak.
This made me raise an eyebrow.Report
Yeah Roger Stone is royally sporked.
“partisan warfare”. Lets see how well that holds up. This just in, House “Freedom Caucus” Chairman Republican Meadows moves to impeach Rosenstien. So yeah.
It’s old news, assuming they are talking about same doofus traitor, that a repub congressman sought out stolen docs. That has been around, and admitted to, for about a year i think. Which i’m sure everybody has heard all about.Report
I haven’t heard about the Congressman. Is it Rohrerbacher?
Also, the impeachment thing seems like a downright horrible plan.Report
Said “US Congress candidate” so to me that infers someone who ran but lost. Might be wrongReport
What’s funny is i’m whipping out my google fu to find the details and everything comes up Rohrbacher. It’s like Rohrbacher is so tied to the russians it swamps any other searches.
But here is this. A long time Repub activist admits to getting stolen materials and giving them out though he is coy about who.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-reg-russia-hacker-guccifer-connection-20170525-story.htmlReport
Yeah that’s the lobbyist then.
Cool.Report
The “journalist” is former Breitbartian Lee Stranahan.Report
Yeah, Roger Stone is clearly up to his eyeballs in this via both his own mouth and a ton of uncovered evidence. And yet he hasn’t been interviewed by the FBI.
There’s really only one reason the FBI doesn’t talk to someone deeply involved in whatever they’re investigating, and it’s not good news for the guy they’re not talking to.Report
Obviously, as I’ve learned on Twitter and this site, this is obviously bad news for Democrats as real Americans don’t care about Russians trying to hack us.Report
It’s more than coincidental that this is being released prior to POTUS meeting with Putin!! Part of the “swamp” culture.Report
Ell. Oh. Ell.Report