Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team has indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for meddling in the 2016 election. In the first election interference charges to result from Mueller's probe, the federal indictment states that the defendants "conspired to obstruct the lawful functions of the United States government through fraud and deceit."
The document explains how a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency, used fake accounts on various social media platforms to sow chaos during the presidential election. In some cases, Russian agents assumed the identities of real Americans to manipulate social media. The goal was to "use any opportunity to criticize Hillary [Clinton] and the rest" of the candidates, while actively supporting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Donald Trump. The Russians also allegedly aimed to suppress the minority vote by encouraging minorities to vote for a third-party candidate or skip voting altogether.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Trump, China up trade war risks with tariff threatsSpeed Read China said it would 'fight to the end' after President Donald Trump threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports
-
Supreme Court gives Trump 2 deportation winsSpeed Read The court ruled that the Trump administration could continue to deport Venezuelan migrants
-
Judge orders US to recall deported migrantSpeed Read The Trump administration has been ordered to retrieve one of the migrants it sent to a prison in El Salvador due to an 'administrative error'
-
Trump calls tariffs 'medicine' as stocks plungeSpeed Read 'Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,' the president said of his imposed 10% tariffs on imported goods
-
Trump axes NSA head, NSC staff after Loomer adviceSpeed Read On the recommendation of Laura Loomer, Trump fired the head of the National Security Agency and several National Security Council officials
-
Trump says tariffs 'going very well' as markets fallspeed read US financial markets had their biggest one-day drop since the advent of Covid-19
-
Trump rolls out tariffs on virtually all importsSpeed Read On "Liberation Day," Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to America and higher reciprocal tariffs for some 60 other countries
-
Sen. Booker's 25-hour speech beats ThurmondSpeed Read He spoke for the longest time in recorded Senate history, protesting the Trump administration's policies
