[ABC] A federal grand jury on Friday returned a new indictment against a dozen Russians as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into alleged Russian meddling during the 2016 presidential campaign.The charges come just days before President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and on the same day that Trump, on a trip to the United Kingdom, again called the investigation a "witch hunt."
The indictment targets 12 Russian intelligence officers for engaging in a sustained effort to hack networks of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee, and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. All 12 are members of the GRU, Russia's intelligence service, according to the court filing.
In announcing the indictment Friday, Deputy Attorney General described how the Russian GRU officials began a "spearphishing" campaign in 2016 against volunteers and employees of Clinton’s campaign, including her campaign chairman. Russians’ spearphishing techniques also earned them access to networks of the DCCC and DNC, where they were able to steal emails and documents, covertly monitor the computer activity of dozens of employees, and implant hundreds of malicious files to steal passwords and maintain access to the networks.
Rosenstein described how "One GRU unit worked to steal information, while another unit worked to disseminate stolen information."
"Free and fair elections are hard-fought and contentious. There will always be adversaries who work to exacerbate domestic differences and try to confuse, divide, and conquer us," Rosenstein said. "The blame for election interference belongs to the criminals who committed election interference."