Russians say “Nyet!” to Charges of US Election Meddling

                        by David Parmer / Tokyo

The US Justice Department on 16 February 2018 handed down an indictment against 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian organizations charging them with meddling in the 2016 election and engaging in conspiracy to defraud the United States. CNN reported on 17 February 2018 that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said that the Russians were engaged in “information warfare against the United States.” The indictment charges the Russians interfered by:

• Creating social media news
• Staging political rallies
• Stealing US identities to open accounts
• Encouraging minorities not to vote

Russians were quick to push back. Mr. Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the indictment-named Internet Research Agency was quoted by the N.Y. Times as saying ” The Americans are very impressionable people.”

On 17 February 2018, the UK’s Independent reported former Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak as saying:

“Whatever allegations are being mounted against us are simply fantasies…” And finally, on 17 February 2018, the BBC reported that Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the allegations outright calling them “blather.”

So who do you believe? The FBI or the Russians? Please log in and let us know what you think.

Photo: US Dept. of State via flickr