Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced today that the government has indicted 12 Russian nationals – senior military and intelligence officials – for a variety of charges, including hacking and releasing emails of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign during the 2016 election. The indictment also alleges that they stole personal data — including names, addresses, driver license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — on 500,000 voters by hacking a state elections board website.
Rosenstein said the indictment does not name any American citizens, and there is no evidence that the alleged hacking changed any vote counts or directly affected the election. He did say, however, that their intent was to affect the election.
The prosecution of these 12 Russians will now be handed over to the Department of Justice’s National Security Division.
Rosenstein said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the indictments. Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Rosenstein is supervising the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election after Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself. The investigation, led by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, has now led to 31 indictments on nearly 100 charges. Additionally five people have pleaded guilty to federal crimes. Trump has said repeatedly that the investigation is a “witch hunt.”
