Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
State of the Union: Trump hails ‘new American moment’
Thirteen Russians have been charged with interfering in the US 2016 election, in a major development in the FBI investigation.
Three of those named have also been accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five have been accused of aggravated identity theft.
The charges were made by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating alleged Russian meddling.
Three Russian companies are also named in the indictment.
One of them is the Internet Research Agency, based in St Petersburg, which the 37-page indictment said “had a strategic goal to sow discord in the US political system, including the 2016 US presidential election”.
Speaking at a news conference, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said there was no allegation that any American was “a knowing participant in this illegal activity” nor was it alleged that the meddling altered the election outcome.
- Seven key takeaways from the indictments
- The Trump-Russia saga in 200 words
- Full text of the Russia indictment
Mr Trump was briefed on the indictment earlier on Friday, the White House said.
The president later tweeted that his campaign had done “nothing wrong” and again denied colluding with Russia.
He also appeared to acknowledge Russian election meddling – something which he has in the past cast doubt on despite US intelligence agency assessments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top Russian officials have repeatedly denied interfering in the US presidential election.
BBC