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Special counsel Robert Mueller announced that 12 military intelligence officers from Russia hacked into the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton presidential campaign computers. They released thousands of private emails with the goal interfering in the 2016 U.S. election. This announcement came only a few days before President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Accusations

The accusations form Mueller’s first charges against officials from the Russian government. It is illegal for foreign governments to meddle in U.S. politics. The accusations state that Russian operatives aimed their efforts at harming Clinton’s campaign and helping Trump win the election. The case also includes a separate accusation: that Russians used social media to sow conflict among U.S. voters.

The indictment consists of 29 pages. It lays out how Russians broke into some of the main Democratic officials’ email accounts. One of these accounts belongs to John Podesta. Others included those for the Democratic National Committee. These emails were very politically damaging for Clinton. Russian operatives released the emails on WikiLeaks near the end of her campaign.

What do These Charges Say?

The online persona that the Russian defendants used is named Guccifer 2.0. This persona contacted one of Trump’s close allies in August 2016 and offered to help Trump win the election. The charges also say that Trump spoke with them the same day and that Trump wanted the Russian operatives to find his opponent’s missing emails. This was when Russian hackers broke into the email accounts of Clinton’s personal office for the first time.

However, Mueller didn’t allege that associates in the Trump campaign were involved in hacking. He did state that Americans were in touch with Russian officers knowingly. However, the White House denied all accusations that it cooperated with Russia to win the election.

Next Steps?

It’s important to note that Mueller has only charged the 12 Russian operatives at this time. He has not formally charged the president or any more of his current or former staff. More charges might come later.

Trump himself denies any knowledge of Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign. He promised to speak to Putin about the matter next week.