2016 ELECTION/CYBERWAR/FBI/LEGAL/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA: “Three Russian companies and 13 Russian nationals were indicted Friday [2-16-18] on charges of engaging in a widespread effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, providing the most comprehensive official account to date of a sweeping, multimillion-dollar effort by Moscow to upend U.S. politics and set Americans against each other.
The indictment, secured by special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign, alleged that Russians wielded social-media messages, invented fake American personas and staged rallies with the ‘strategic goal to sow discord in the U.S. political system.’
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mr. Mueller’s investigation, said the indictment didn’t accuse any Americans of knowingly taking part in the scheme, and that it didn’t allege the Russian effort altered the outcome of the 2016 election.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Donald Trump was ‘glad to see the special counsel’s investigation further indicates—that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump campaign and Russia and that the outcome of the election was not changed or affected.’
These are the first charges lodged against Russians in Mr. Mueller’s probe. The people and entities involved are unlikely to face trial, since they are based in Russia, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S. Russia has denied interfering in the U.S. election, and its Washington embassy didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.”
-Del Quentin Wilber and Aruna Viswanatha, “Russians Charged With Interfering in U.S. Election,” The Wall Street Journal online, Feb. 16, 2018 04:00pm