4 ms·

Is this tactically any different from Obama administration indicting Chinese Military Intelligence unit for hacking? No one is in custody!

FLUX-YOU 9y ago
If anyone in the Trump campaign is wittingly linked to the entities in the indictment, that would be trouble.
- notatoad 9y ago
  it's probably worth noting that this indictment goes out of its way to specify that the campaign officials these entities communicated with were "unwitting" participants, and the indicted parties were posing as americans.
  - FLUX-YOU 9y ago
    Correct, though I'm not sure if that means this represents all connections the Trump campaign may have had with Russians that the SC has found (that we didn't know about previously, e.g. Manafort in Ukraine).
  - 52-6F-62 9y ago
    The Deputy AG was questioned about this at his brief presser. He was very careful in his response saying "...this indictment makes no accusations..." He refused to comment outside of this particular indictment which is rather narrow in scope relative to the investigation, and had no comment from the special counsel.
notatoad 9y ago
i'm not quite sure what you mean by "tactically", but this is significantly different because it's not the administration. Trump has been insisting that any suggestion of russian election interference is a hoax, and now the justice department is indicting russians for interfering in the election.
- whatok 9y ago
  Trump has been insisting that they had no collaboration with Russians; not that Russians did not interfere with the election.
  - rhcom2 9y ago
    He continually undercuts and minimizes any interference. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/13/politics/trump-unconvinced-russia-meddled-election/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/13/politics/trump-unconvince...
  - NearAP 9y ago
    1) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/09/trump-is-back-to-calling-russian-election-interference-a-hoax https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/09/trump-is-back-to-cal... 2) https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/donald-trump-pursues-vladimir-putin-russian-election-hacking/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-...
  - okaram 9y ago
    Actually, he has claimed they didn't interfere many times ... for example: "President Trump said on Saturday that he believed President Vladimir V. Putin was sincere in his denials of interference in the 2016 presidential elections" https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/world/asia/trump-putin-election.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/world/asia/trump-putin-el...
  - bomb199 9y ago
    Incorrect. See the only place Trump speaks: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/843865267008655360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fpolitics%2Fwashington%2Fla-na-essential-washington-updates-comey-rejects-tweet-by-president-trump-1490037267-htmlstory.html https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/843865267008655360?ref_src=...
  - slededit 9y ago
    As he traveled to Hanoi, the second-to-last stop of his Asia trip, Mr. Trump told reporters that Putin "said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did." "Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe -- I really believe -- that when he tells me that, he means it," Mr. Trump said, calling the accusation an "artificial barrier" erected by Democrats. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-reiterates-he-believes-russia-didnt-meddle-in-2016-election/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-reiterates-he-believes-ru...
tootie 9y ago
Its to send a message and to make the case publicly. We're probably never going to get any of these guys either. We can ask Putin to hand them over and he'll say "no" and then we'll just be out in the open about where everyone stands.
kevinburke 9y ago
A lot of people in the US still don't believe Russians interfered in the election, and/or that they interfered to support Trump's candidacy. I believe this is mostly designed to show them (1) yes, they were doing a lot, and (2) it was aimed at disparaging Clinton and supporting Trump. Similarly, the US government hasn't really taken any steps to prevent future meddling in US elections. The goal may have also been to serve as a wake up call to our elected officials to take this issue seriously.
- GVIrish 9y ago
  The indictment is not about PR, it is about punishing Russian nationals who participated in this op. The long arm of US law enforcement may not be able to get these folks in Russia, but it can prevent them from traveling in many countries around the world, and can result in their assets being frozen. The other thing is that if any of the individuals involved come to fear for their safety from Putin's government, these indictments will be a strong motivator for them to rat other parts of the Russian intelligence apparatus.

FLUX-YOU 9y ago

If anyone in the Trump campaign is wittingly linked to the entities in the indictment, that would be trouble.

notatoad 9y ago
it's probably worth noting that this indictment goes out of its way to specify that the campaign officials these entities communicated with were "unwitting" participants, and the indicted parties were posing as americans.
- FLUX-YOU 9y ago
  Correct, though I'm not sure if that means this represents all connections the Trump campaign may have had with Russians that the SC has found (that we didn't know about previously, e.g. Manafort in Ukraine).
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  The Deputy AG was questioned about this at his brief presser. He was very careful in his response saying "...this indictment makes no accusations..." He refused to comment outside of this particular indictment which is rather narrow in scope relative to the investigation, and had no comment from the special counsel.

notatoad 9y ago

i'm not quite sure what you mean by "tactically", but this is significantly different because it's not the administration. Trump has been insisting that any suggestion of russian election interference is a hoax, and now the justice department is indicting russians for interfering in the election.

whatok 9y ago
Trump has been insisting that they had no collaboration with Russians; not that Russians did not interfere with the election.
- rhcom2 9y ago
  He continually undercuts and minimizes any interference. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/13/politics/trump-unconvinced-russia-meddled-election/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/13/politics/trump-unconvince...
- NearAP 9y ago
  1) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/09/trump-is-back-to-calling-russian-election-interference-a-hoax https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/09/trump-is-back-to-cal... 2) https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/donald-trump-pursues-vladimir-putin-russian-election-hacking/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-...
- okaram 9y ago
  Actually, he has claimed they didn't interfere many times ... for example: "President Trump said on Saturday that he believed President Vladimir V. Putin was sincere in his denials of interference in the 2016 presidential elections" https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/world/asia/trump-putin-election.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/world/asia/trump-putin-el...
- bomb199 9y ago
  Incorrect. See the only place Trump speaks: https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/843865267008655360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fpolitics%2Fwashington%2Fla-na-essential-washington-updates-comey-rejects-tweet-by-president-trump-1490037267-htmlstory.html https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/843865267008655360?ref_src=...
- slededit 9y ago
  As he traveled to Hanoi, the second-to-last stop of his Asia trip, Mr. Trump told reporters that Putin "said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did." "Every time he sees me, he said: 'I didn't do that.' And I believe -- I really believe -- that when he tells me that, he means it," Mr. Trump said, calling the accusation an "artificial barrier" erected by Democrats. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-reiterates-he-believes-russia-didnt-meddle-in-2016-election/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-reiterates-he-believes-ru...

tootie 9y ago

Its to send a message and to make the case publicly. We're probably never going to get any of these guys either. We can ask Putin to hand them over and he'll say "no" and then we'll just be out in the open about where everyone stands.

kevinburke 9y ago

A lot of people in the US still don't believe Russians interfered in the election, and/or that they interfered to support Trump's candidacy. I believe this is mostly designed to show them (1) yes, they were doing a lot, and (2) it was aimed at disparaging Clinton and supporting Trump. Similarly, the US government hasn't really taken any steps to prevent future meddling in US elections. The goal may have also been to serve as a wake up call to our elected officials to take this issue seriously.

GVIrish 9y ago
The indictment is not about PR, it is about punishing Russian nationals who participated in this op. The long arm of US law enforcement may not be able to get these folks in Russia, but it can prevent them from traveling in many countries around the world, and can result in their assets being frozen. The other thing is that if any of the individuals involved come to fear for their safety from Putin's government, these indictments will be a strong motivator for them to rat other parts of the Russian intelligence apparatus.