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https://www.ft.com/content/91422010-134f-11e8-940e-08320fc2a277
Special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s office indicted more than a dozen Russian people and entities for allegedly interfering in the 2016 presidential election.
Below are excerpts from the 37-page indictment, accusing the Internet Research Agency and people associated with it of defrauding the US by interfering with the lawful functions of government.
The conspiracy
From in or around 2014 to the present . . . defendants posing as US persons and creating false US personas, operated social media pages and groups designed to attract US audiences . . . Defendants also used the stolen identities of real US persons to post on organization-controlled social media accounts . . . [and] staged political rallies inside the United States.
Pages addressed a range of issues, including: immigration (with group names including “Secured Borders”); the Black Lives Matter movement (with group names including “Blacktivist”); religion (with groups including “United Muslims of America” and “Army of Jesus”); and certain geographic regions within the United States (with group names including “South United” and “Heart of Texas”).
The @TEN_GOP account falsely claimed to be controlled by a US state political party [of Tennessee]. Over time, the @TEN_GOP account attracted more than 100,000 online followers.
Support for Trump
Defendants’ operations included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J Trump and disparaging Hillary Clinton. Defendants made various expenditures to carry out those activities, including buying political advertisements on social media in the names of US persons.
Source : ft
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