Twelve Russian military intelligence officers hacked into the Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic Party, releasing tens of thousands of stolen communications, in a sweeping effort by a foreign government to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election, according to a grand jury indictment announced days before President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The indictment stands as the clearest Justice Department allegation yet of Russian efforts to interfere, through illegal hacking, in the U.S. presidential election before Americans went to the polls - and the first to implicate the Russian government directly. It had been sought by special counsel Robert Mueller.

"Contrary to Putin's assertions, this indictment does allege that these 12 people actually worked for a Russian intelligence agency. So they are an arm of the Russian government," AP Reporter Eric Tucker said. "So it becomes increasingly impossible, if this is proven then in court or established by the government somehow... to say that the Kremlin, that the Russian government had no part in this."

U.S. intelligence agencies have said the meddling was aimed at helping the Trump campaign and harming the election bid of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The effort also included bogus Facebook ads and social media postings that prosecutors say were aimed at influencing public opinion and sowing discord on hot-button social issues.

The indictment lays out a sweeping effort starting in March 2016 to break into key Democratic email accounts, such as those belonging to the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Among those targeted was John Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman.

The Kremlin denied anew that it tried to sway the election. "The Russian state has never interfered and has no intention of interfering in the U.S. elections," Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Friday.

Washington - 13 July 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"Today, the Justice Department announced the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers, who are accused of hacking into Democratic email accounts, including the email account of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential election."

2. Rod Rosenstein walks out to podium

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"The indictment alleges a vast and coordinated effort to break into these email accounts, steal emails and then release them in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in what prosecutors say was an effort to criminally interfere in the 2016 presidential election and in American politics. These Russians are not in custody, but this is part of what the Justice Department describes as a 'name and shame' strategy, which is a way to effectively identify the people in foreign governments and foreign countries who have committed these acts, these cyber attacks and effectively announce to the world that they have been identified and the Justice Department for years has now seen this as a deterrent for future hacks."

4. Rod Rosenstein speaking at podium

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"Notably, this indictment does not allege any sort of contact between Trump campaign members or associates and these Russian intelligence officers. It doesn't say that anybody who was in touch with the Russian intelligence officers or any of their conduits were aware or knew that they were having communication with Russian intelligence officers. And so immediately, the White House and President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have seized on that fact to basically say, look, this is proof of no collusion. However, we don't know what we don't know. And there are certainly additional shoes that could drop going down the road. It's impossible to rule out any additional developments."

6. Rod Rosenstein speaking at podium

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"President Trump is supposed to meet with Vladimir Putin on Monday, so this indictment comes just three days before that meeting. It also comes as the president is currently in England, where he is going to be having meetings with the royal family. So this is certainly not a development that the president wants to have to deal with as he's trying to have these foreign meetings, including with Vladimir Putin. One thing he has said is that of course he's going to bring up the Russian hacking with Putin, although he has said: 'what do you expect him (Putin) to say, do you expect him to effectively admit guilt or say that he did it?'"

8. Wide of Rosenstein speaking

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"But it is important to note that, contrary to Putin's assertions, this indictment does allege that these 12 people actually worked for a Russian intelligence agency. So they are an arm of the Russian government. So it becomes increasingly impossible, if this is proven then in court or established by the government somehow, that that these are the people who responsible for the hack to say that the Kremlin, that the Russian government had no part in this - that that is belied by the allegations in this indictment."

10. Wide of Rosenstein speaking

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"Prior to today, there have been 20 criminal charges brought in Mueller's investigation. That includes 13 Russians who were accused in a very hidden, but powerful, social media effort to influence American public opinion. It also includes four Trump campaign and White House aides, former aides, three of them have pleaded guilty and have agreed to cooperate with Mueller. So this is an ongoing investigation, but we are now talking about more than 30 people who have been charged in Mueller's investigation."

12. Rosenstein leaves after speaking

Twelve Russian military intelligence officers hacked into the Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic Party, releasing tens of thousands of stolen communications, in a sweeping effort by a foreign government to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election, according to a grand jury indictment announced days before President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The indictment stands as the clearest Justice Department allegation yet of Russian efforts to interfere, through illegal hacking, in the U.S. presidential election before Americans went to the polls - and the first to implicate the Russian government directly. It had been sought by special counsel Robert Mueller.

"Contrary to Putin's assertions, this indictment does allege that these 12 people actually worked for a Russian intelligence agency. So they are an arm of the Russian government," AP Reporter Eric Tucker said. "So it becomes increasingly impossible, if this is proven then in court or established by the government somehow... to say that the Kremlin, that the Russian government had no part in this."

U.S. intelligence agencies have said the meddling was aimed at helping the Trump campaign and harming the election bid of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The effort also included bogus Facebook ads and social media postings that prosecutors say were aimed at influencing public opinion and sowing discord on hot-button social issues.

The indictment lays out a sweeping effort starting in March 2016 to break into key Democratic email accounts, such as those belonging to the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Among those targeted was John Podesta, the Clinton campaign chairman.

The Kremlin denied anew that it tried to sway the election. "The Russian state has never interfered and has no intention of interfering in the U.S. elections," Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Friday.

Washington - 13 July 2018

1. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"Today, the Justice Department announced the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers, who are accused of hacking into Democratic email accounts, including the email account of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 presidential election."

2. Rod Rosenstein walks out to podium

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"The indictment alleges a vast and coordinated effort to break into these email accounts, steal emails and then release them in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election in what prosecutors say was an effort to criminally interfere in the 2016 presidential election and in American politics. These Russians are not in custody, but this is part of what the Justice Department describes as a 'name and shame' strategy, which is a way to effectively identify the people in foreign governments and foreign countries who have committed these acts, these cyber attacks and effectively announce to the world that they have been identified and the Justice Department for years has now seen this as a deterrent for future hacks."

4. Rod Rosenstein speaking at podium

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"Notably, this indictment does not allege any sort of contact between Trump campaign members or associates and these Russian intelligence officers. It doesn't say that anybody who was in touch with the Russian intelligence officers or any of their conduits were aware or knew that they were having communication with Russian intelligence officers. And so immediately, the White House and President Donald Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have seized on that fact to basically say, look, this is proof of no collusion. However, we don't know what we don't know. And there are certainly additional shoes that could drop going down the road. It's impossible to rule out any additional developments."

6. Rod Rosenstein speaking at podium

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"President Trump is supposed to meet with Vladimir Putin on Monday, so this indictment comes just three days before that meeting. It also comes as the president is currently in England, where he is going to be having meetings with the royal family. So this is certainly not a development that the president wants to have to deal with as he's trying to have these foreign meetings, including with Vladimir Putin. One thing he has said is that of course he's going to bring up the Russian hacking with Putin, although he has said: 'what do you expect him (Putin) to say, do you expect him to effectively admit guilt or say that he did it?'"

8. Wide of Rosenstein speaking

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"But it is important to note that, contrary to Putin's assertions, this indictment does allege that these 12 people actually worked for a Russian intelligence agency. So they are an arm of the Russian government. So it becomes increasingly impossible, if this is proven then in court or established by the government somehow, that that these are the people who responsible for the hack to say that the Kremlin, that the Russian government had no part in this - that that is belied by the allegations in this indictment."

10. Wide of Rosenstein speaking

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Eric Tucker, AP Reporter:

"Prior to today, there have been 20 criminal charges brought in Mueller's investigation. That includes 13 Russians who were accused in a very hidden, but powerful, social media effort to influence American public opinion. It also includes four Trump campaign and White House aides, former aides, three of them have pleaded guilty and have agreed to cooperate with Mueller. So this is an ongoing investigation, but we are now talking about more than 30 people who have been charged in Mueller's investigation."

12. Rosenstein leaves after speaking

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus100664

The Justice Department has announced charges against 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking offenses during the 2016 presidential election.

The indictments were announced Friday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as part of the ongoing special counsel probe into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The Russians are accused of hacking into the computer networks of the Democratic National Committee and the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

Before Friday, 20 people and three companies had been charged in the Mueller investigation. That includes four former Trump campaign and White House aides and 13 Russians accused of participating in a hidden but powerful social media campaign to sway American public opinion in the 2016 election.

Washington - 13 July 2018

1. Rod Rosenstein walks out to podium

2. SOUNDBITE (English): Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"Good afternoon. Today a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment presented by the special counsel's office. The indictment charges 12 Russian military officers by name for conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Eleven of the defendants are charged with conspiring to hack into computers steal documents and release those documents with the intent to interfere in the election. One of those defendants and a 12th Russian military officer are charged with conspiring to infiltrate computers of organizations involved in administering elections including state boards of election, secretaries of state and companies that supply software used to administer elections. According to the allegations in the indictment the defendants worked for two units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff known as the GRU. Units engaged in active cyber operations to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. There was one unit that engaged an active cyber operations by stealing information and a different unit that was responsible for disseminating the stolen information. The defendants used two techniques to steal information. First, they use a scheme known as spear phishing which involves sending misleading e-mail messages and tricking the users into disclosing their passwords and security information. Second, the defendants hacked into computer networks and installed malicious software that allow them to spy on users and capture keystrokes, take screenshots and exfiltrate or remove data from those computers. The defendants accessed email accounts of volunteers and employees of a U.S. presidential campaign, including the campaign chairman starting in March of 2016. They also hacked into the computer networks of a congressional campaign committee and a national political committee. The defendants covertly monitored the computers and planted hundreds of files containing malicious computer code and stole e-mails and other documents. The conspirators created fictitious online personas including DC Leaks and Guccifer 2.0 and they used those personas to release information, including thousands of stolen e-mails and other documents, beginning in June of 2016. The defendants falsely claimed that DC Leaks was a group of American hackers and the Guccifer 2.0 was a lone Romanian hacker. In fact, both were created and controlled by the Russians. In addition to releasing documents directly to the public, the defendants transferred stolen documents to another organization that is not identified by name in the indictment and they used that organization as a pass-through to release the documents. They discussed the timing of the release in an attempt to enhance the impact on the election. In an effort to conceal their connections to Russia, the defendants used a network of computers around the world and they paid for it using crypto currencies."

The Justice Department has announced charges against 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking offenses during the 2016 presidential election.

The indictments were announced Friday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as part of the ongoing special counsel probe into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The Russians are accused of hacking into the computer networks of the Democratic National Committee and the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

Before Friday, 20 people and three companies had been charged in the Mueller investigation. That includes four former Trump campaign and White House aides and 13 Russians accused of participating in a hidden but powerful social media campaign to sway American public opinion in the 2016 election.

Washington - 13 July 2018

1. Rod Rosenstein walks out to podium

2. SOUNDBITE (English): Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"Good afternoon. Today a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment presented by the special counsel's office. The indictment charges 12 Russian military officers by name for conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Eleven of the defendants are charged with conspiring to hack into computers steal documents and release those documents with the intent to interfere in the election. One of those defendants and a 12th Russian military officer are charged with conspiring to infiltrate computers of organizations involved in administering elections including state boards of election, secretaries of state and companies that supply software used to administer elections. According to the allegations in the indictment the defendants worked for two units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff known as the GRU. Units engaged in active cyber operations to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. There was one unit that engaged an active cyber operations by stealing information and a different unit that was responsible for disseminating the stolen information. The defendants used two techniques to steal information. First, they use a scheme known as spear phishing which involves sending misleading e-mail messages and tricking the users into disclosing their passwords and security information. Second, the defendants hacked into computer networks and installed malicious software that allow them to spy on users and capture keystrokes, take screenshots and exfiltrate or remove data from those computers. The defendants accessed email accounts of volunteers and employees of a US presidential campaign, including the campaign chairman starting in March of 2016. They also hacked into the computer networks of a congressional campaign committee and a national political committee. The defendants covertly monitored the computers and planted hundreds of files containing malicious computer code and stole e-mails and other documents. The conspirators created fictitious online personas including DC Leaks and Guccifer 2.0 and they used those personas to release information, including thousands of stolen e-mails and other documents, beginning in June of 2016. The defendants falsely claimed that DC Leaks was a group of American hackers and the Guccifer 2.0 was a lone Romanian hacker. In fact, both were created and controlled by the Russians ERU. In addition to releasing documents directly to the public, the defendants transferred stolen documents to another organization that is not identified by name in the indictment and they used that organization as a pass-through to release the documents. They discussed the timing of the release in an attempt to enhance the impact on the election. In an effort to conceal their connections to Russia, the defendants used a network of computers around the world and they paid for it using crypto currencies."

3. Wide of news conference

The Justice Department has announced charges against 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking offenses during the 2016 presidential election.

The indictments were announced Friday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as part of the ongoing special counsel probe into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The Russians are accused of hacking into the computer networks of the Democratic National Committee and the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton.

Before Friday, 20 people and three companies had been charged in the Mueller investigation. That includes four former Trump campaign and White House aides and 13 Russians accused of participating in a hidden but powerful social media campaign to sway American public opinion in the 2016 election.

Washington - 13 July 2018

1. Rod Rosenstein walks out to podium

2. SOUNDBITE (English): Rod Rosenstein, Deputy Attorney General:

"Good afternoon. Today a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment presented by the special counsel's office. The indictment charges 12 Russian military officers by name for conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. Eleven of the defendants are charged with conspiring to hack into computers steal documents and release those documents with the intent to interfere in the election. One of those defendants and a 12th Russian military officer are charged with conspiring to infiltrate computers of organizations involved in administering elections including state boards of election, secretaries of state and companies that supply software used to administer elections. According to the allegations in the indictment the defendants worked for two units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff known as the GRU. Units engaged in active cyber operations to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. There was one unit that engaged an active cyber operations by stealing information and a different unit that was responsible for disseminating the stolen information. The defendants used two techniques to steal information. First, they use a scheme known as spear phishing which involves sending misleading e-mail messages and tricking the users into disclosing their passwords and security information. Second, the defendants hacked into computer networks and installed malicious software that allow them to spy on users and capture keystrokes, take screenshots and exfiltrate or remove data from those computers. The defendants accessed email accounts of volunteers and employees of a US presidential campaign, including the campaign chairman starting in March of 2016. They also hacked into the computer networks of a congressional campaign committee and a national political committee. The defendants covertly monitored the computers and planted hundreds of files containing malicious computer code and stole e-mails and other documents. The conspirators created fictitious online personas including DC Leaks and Guccifer 2.0 and they used those personas to release information, including thousands of stolen e-mails and other documents, beginning in June of 2016. The defendants falsely claimed that DC Leaks was a group of American hackers and the Guccifer 2.0 was a lone Romanian hacker. In fact, both were created and controlled by the Russians ERU. In addition to releasing documents directly to the public, the defendants transferred stolen documents to another organization that is not identified by name in the indictment and they used that organization as a pass-through to release the documents. They discussed the timing of the release in an attempt to enhance the impact on the election. In an effort to conceal their connections to Russia, the defendants used a network of computers around the world and they paid for it using crypto currencies."

3. Wide of news conference