WaPo | The Justice Department’s special counsel announced the indictment
Friday of a notorious Russian troll farm — charging 13 individuals with
an audacious scheme to criminally interfere with the 2016 U.S.
presidential election.
The Internet Research Agency, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, was named in the indictment as
the hub of a massive effort to trick Americans into following
Russian-fed propaganda — a stunning accusation of criminal conspiracy
reaching halfway around the world.
Deputy Attorney General Rod J.
Rosenstein said the indictment is “a reminder that people are not
always who they appear on the Internet. The indictment alleges that the
Russian conspirators want to promote social discord in the United States
and undermine public confidence in democracy. We must not allow them to
to succeed.”
Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is
leading the probe into Russian interference in the U.S. election, did
not attend the press briefing about the indictment, but the 37 pages of
charges laid out an ambitious effort in late 2016 to push U.S. voters
toward then-candidate Donald Trump and away from Democrat Hillary
Clinton.
Prosecutors
said the group kept a list of real Americans who their employees had
contacted using false personas and had asked to assist the effort. The
list, which numbered over 100 people by late August 2016, included the
U.S. citizen's contact information, a summary of each person's political
views and the activities the Russians had asked them to undertake.
