Stop Letting the Russians Get Away With It, Mr. Trump<br />On Friday, Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election, filed criminal charges of fraud<br />and identity theft against 13 Russian citizens and three Russian organizations, all alleged to have operated a sophisticated influence campaign intended to “sow discord in the U. S. political system.”<br />One organization, the Internet Research Agency — which the indictment says is funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the “go-to<br />oligarch” of Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin — began its efforts as early as 2014, according to the indictment.<br />So, I got preoccupied with covering tracks together with the colleagues.” Ms. Kaverzina continued, “I created all these pictures<br />and posts, and the Americans believed that it was written by their people.”<br />Mr. Trump’s defenders, desperate to exculpate him, seized on a single word — “unwitting” —<br />that the indictment used to describe certain “members, volunteers and supporters of the Trump campaign involved in local community outreach” who had interacted with the Russians.<br />Staffers bought ads with messages like “Hillary is a Satan,” “Ohio Wants Hillary 4 Prison”<br />and “Vote Republican, Vote Trump, and support the Second Amendment!”<br />They staged rallies while pretending to be American grass-roots organizations.<br />Save American Muslims,” along with a fabricated quote attributed to Mrs. Clinton: “I think Sharia Law will be a powerful new direction of freedom.”<br />Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, the Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world.
