Russian accused of conspiring to interfere in US congressional elections

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The US government on Friday accused a Russian national of playing a key financial role in a Kremlin-funded plan to wage an "information war" against the United States, including attempts to crack down on the US. to influence the parliamentary elections next month.

Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, became the first person accused of a crime for attempting to interfere in the mid-term elections of 2018 in the United States, according to a government official familiar with the situation. # 39; investigation.

Khusyaynova was the chief accountant of the Lakhta project, an operation launched in 2014 and funded by a Russian oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and two companies he controls, according to a criminal complaint.

The oligarch Evgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin and his two companies were indicted in February by special advocate Robert Mueller, charged with conducting a separate investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential election to strengthen the winner eventual Donald Trump on his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

The case against Khusyaynova was revealed the same day that US law enforcement agencies and US intelligence agencies issued a warning about the attempts of Russia, China, Iran and other foreign entities to interfere in the legislative elections of 6 November, during which Trump Republicans are trying to maintain the majority power in Congress and national elections in 2020.

The complaint contained new examples of Russians using fake characters on social media to stir up divisions over race, gun rights, electoral fraud and other contentious issues. Some messages targeted next month's elections, indicating that the operation had not been deterred by Mueller's indictments earlier this year.

"This one shows that the Russian threat is not over," said Barbara McQuade, a former US Michigan lawyer. "It's a real propaganda war."

Read the complaint

Using social media and other means, the Russians are conducting an "information war against the United States" to sow suspicion in the political system, according to the complaint that charged Khusyaynova with conspiracy to defraud United States.

The complaint included Facebook and Twitter posts that both criticized Republicans and favored President Donald Trump. For example, in a March message, Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on denuclearization.

Trump, who at a press conference in Helsinki in July with Putin, questioned the findings of his own intelligence agencies that Russia had mingled with the election of 2016 , dismissed the latest charge against him.

"It has nothing to do with my campaign," Trump told reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona. "They're hackers, many of them probably like Hillary Clinton better than me."

NOT THE CASE OF MUELLER

The Khusyaynova case is being prosecuted by US deputy attorneys in the Eastern District of Virginia. Mueller is not responsible for this case because it concerns the 2018 elections, which are not part of his remit, said the government official.

Khusyaynova oversaw the financial operations of the project, with a proposed budget of $ 35 million for the period from January 2016 to June 2018, and used these funds to conduct similar campaigns in the European Union and in Ukraine, in addition to the United States.

"This is a global campaign for a regime that sees democracy as an existential threat," said John Carlin, former US Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

Khusyaynova, who lives in St. Petersburg in Russia and is not in US custody, accused Prigozhin and his companies of paying Facebook ads, bloggers and "development accounts" on Twitter, according to the report. complaint.

Prigozhin was nicknamed "Putin's cook" by the Russian media because his catering company organized banquets for the Russian leader and other political figures. He was hit by sanctions by the US government.

The criminal complaint indicated that there was no evidence that Khusyaynova or other conspirators were able to influence the outcome of any US election.

In their joint statement Friday, the office of the National Intelligence Director, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security also stated that they had no evidence that anyone went far enough to prevent voting or change the count of votes. Some state and local governments, which run polling stations, have reported attempts to access their networks, but officials have been able "to prevent access or re-entry. Quickly mitigate these attempts, "the statement said.

Mueller's office has not announced any new indictments since July, when it charged 12 Russian intelligence officers accused of hacking democratic computer networks as part of Russia's interference in of the 2016 US election.

Mueller is generally expected to remain silent in the run-up to the November elections in order to avoid actions that could influence the vote.

But the decision to unlock the Khusyaynova affair now seems to reflect the changes to the Justice Department's guidelines last month asking US lawyers to rely on disclosure of foreign-influenced transactions as a deterrent, Carlin said.

The Khusyaynova case shows "in detail that when we talk about Russian interference, it is not something in history, but now," said Carlin. "Making it public is an important way to neutralize them."