First charges filed in Mueller's Russia investigation
A US federal grand jury has approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller into alleged Russian interference in last year’s US presidential election.
The filing of charges by the grand jury on Friday in Washington was first reported by CNN, which cited sources briefed on the matter.
The indictment was sealed under orders from a federal judge so it was not clear what the charges were or who the target was, the sources said. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday.
American intelligence agencies claimed in January that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election to try to help then Republican candidate Donald Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The intelligence agencies said Moscow’s interference included a campaign of hacking and releasing embarrassing emails, and disseminating propaganda via social media to discredit her campaign.
Mueller, a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is investigating whether Trump election officials cooperated with those Russian efforts.
Sources familiar with Mueller’s investigation said he has used his broad authority to investigate links between Trump associates and foreign governments, as well as to determine whether the president or any of his aides tried to obstruct justice.
Trump has repeatedly denied allegations that his campaign colluded with Russians and has condemned the investigations. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also denied the allegations.
Mueller was appointed by the US Justice Department to lead the probe a week after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was leading a federal investigation into possible Russia collusion.
Trump initially said he fired Comey because his leadership of the FBI was inadequate and hurt morale, but in a later interview with NBC he cited “this Russia thing” as his reason.
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