February 21-The U.S. Justice Department filed an indictment on Feb. 16 against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for conducting an “information warfare against the United States.”
The indictment comes as a result of an ongoing Special Counsel investigation led by Robert Mueller. None of the individuals or companies charged are currently in the United States and are unlikely to be extradited from Russia for trial.
The 37-page indictment is significant in that it may indicate the methods in which Russian intelligence officers use tools of democracy against its rivals.
It also begins to establish some clarity about Russia’s activities in the U.S. political system after more than a year of widespread speculation on the issue, focused mainly on possible collusion with the Trump administration.
Disrupt, Demean & Divide
The Russians’ goal, according to DOJ, was to “sow discord in the U.S. political system” in general and disrupt the 2016 presidential elections.
The details of the indictment date back to 2014, when Russian “defendants and their co-conspirators began to track and study groups on U.S. social media sites dedicated to U.S. politics and social issues.” They also traveled to various U.S. states, including Nevada, Michigan, Louisiana, Texas, New York and Georgia, to collect intelligence, according to the indictment.
Specifically, the indictment says the defendants interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections by:
- Purchasing political advertisements and posing as U.S. citizens on social media to create “political intensity through supporting radical groups.” Channels used include YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
- Staging multiple political rallies while posing as U.S. activists.
- Communicating with “unwitting individuals” — people who unaware — associated with the Trump Campaign.
Russia’s Response
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the charges, saying there was “no substantial evidence” of Russian meddling. CNN reported that the spokesman said the indictment “mentions Russian citizens, but we heard the accusations against the Russian state — that the Russian state, the Kremlin and the Russian government were involved.”
The Legal Case
The underlying legal issues relate to U.S. law requiring foreign agents influencing U.S. politics to register with the Justice Department and requiring political activists to report campaign expenditures to the Federal Election Commission.
The charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and six counts of aggravated identity theft.
Russia’s U.S. Political Preferences
So who did the Russians pull for in the 2016 presidential elections? According to the indictment, they supported the Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. And they opposed Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio by spreading disparaging information about them, primarily on social media.
To view examples of Russian troll tweets on Twitter, go to this Google Spreadsheet.
Rallies, For and Against Trump
What’s interesting in the indictment is that it suggests the Russians are more interested in disrupting U.S. politics than in supporting President Trump. Prior to the November 2016 election, they lent a great deal of support to Trump through rallies, fake social media pages and advertising. However, after the election, the defendants posed as U.S. activists and organized rallies for and against Trump.
Companies Named
The companies include a St. Petersburg-based company called the Internet Research Agency. The indictment says the company has a budget worth millions of dollars a month. Its purpose is to produce disinformation.
Two firms, Concord Management and Consulting and Concord Catering, were in charge of operations and financing. It runs a team called Project Lakhta with a monthly budget of $1.25 million that targets information to a Russian domestic audience and foreigners.
The U.S. Special Counsel’s investigation is ongoing.
***
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Patti Mohr