AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
Robert Mueller.
- The office of special counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies on Friday for illegally interfering in the US political system.
- The charges directly targeted the Internet Research Agency, a Russian organization that employed "trolls" to sow discord about the election on social media.
- Read on to find out what you need to know about the people and companies involved.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's office charged 13 Russian nationals and the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a notorious Russian "troll factory," with violating US law and interfering in the 2016 election.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the indictments during a press conference on Friday.
"The defendants allegedly conducted what they called 'information warfare against the United States' with the stated goal of spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general," Rosenstein said.
All the defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the US; the IRA and two defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud; and the IRA and four defendants were charged with aggravated identity theft.
While the indictment sheds light on the elaborate and multi-faceted nature of Russia's social-media influence operation, it does not allege that any Americans knowingly collaborated with the effort. Rosenstein also said that the underlying conduct did not affect the outcome of the election.
Here's some background on the 13 individuals and three companies that Mueller's office charged: