Thirteen Russian nationals are being indicted for election-related fraud in the 2016 presidential campaign.
In a Justice Department news briefing today, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the defendants waged "information warfare" in the U.S. Three Russian companies have also been indicted.
Rosenstein said the Russians violated U.S. laws to interfere with the American political process. He noted that the Russians recruited Americans to stage rallies but said the Americans were not aware of the Moscow connection.
Rosenstein also said the indictments do not allege that the activities had any impact on the outcome of the U.S. election.
Rosenstein briefed President Trump about the indictments before the news conference. Trump has often called the Russia investigation a hoax and a witchhunt.
The indictments were returned by a grand jury empaneled by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It is unlikely that the Russians would ever be tried in the U.S. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied interfering in the U.S. election.