Special Counsel Robert Mueller has released a federal grand jury indictment against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for meddling in the 2016 election.
Read the indictment here.
According to the agency, "the indictment charges all of the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States, three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft."
The indictment says that some defendants "communicated with unwitting individuals associated with the Trump campaign" without revealing their association with Russia. The indictment also says the defendants posted negative information about a number of candidates during the last general election.
"Defendants operations included supporting the presidential campaign on then-candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton" his Democratic rival, according to the indictment.
CNN:
Beginning as early as 2014, the Russian organization Internet Research Agency began operations to interfere with the US political system, including the 2016 elections, according to the indictment, which was released by Mueller's office Friday.
The defendants allegedly posed as US persons, created false US personas, and operated social media pages and groups designed to attract US audiences ...
President Trump reportedly found out about the indictment just this morning.
FBI Director Chris Wray and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein briefed the President at the White House this morning on the 13 indictments, a senior WH official tells me
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) February 16, 2018
From the DOJ press release announcing the indictment:
Two of the defendants allegedly traveled to the United States in 2014 to collect intelligence for their American political influence operations.
To hide the Russian origin of their activities, the defendants allegedly purchased space on computer servers located within the United States in order to set up a virtual private network. The defendants allegedly used that infrastructure to establish hundreds of accounts on social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, making it appear that the accounts were controlled by persons within the United States. They used stolen or fictitious American identities, fraudulent bank accounts, and false identification documents. The defendants posed as politically and socially active Americans, advocating for and against particular political candidates. They established social media pages and groups to communicate with unwitting Americans. They also purchased political advertisements on social media.
The Russians also recruited and paid real Americans to engage in political activities, promote political campaigns, and stage political rallies. The defendants and their co-conspirators pretended to be grassroots activists. According to the indictment, the Americans did not know that they were communicating with Russians.
After the election, the defendants allegedly staged rallies to support the President-elect while simultaneously staging rallies to protest his election. For example, the defendants organized one rally to support the President-elect and another rally to oppose him—both in New York, on the same day.
(...)
There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity. There is no allegation in the indictment that the charged conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.
The 37-page indictment is packed with important details.
Read more: What Mueller's Russia Indictment Reveals
Grand Jury Indicts Thirteen Russian Individuals and Three Russian Companies for Scheme to Interfere in the United States Political System (DOJ press release)
Special counsel indicts 13 Russian nationals in Russia investigation (ABC News)
Special counsel issues indictment against 13 Russian nationals over 2016 election interference (CNN)
Russians indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe (CNBC)
Special counsel indicts Russian nationals for interfering with U.S. elections and political processes (USA Today)