Shepard Smith: New Mueller indictments prove Russia probe is ‘opposite of a hoax’

Fox News host Shepard Smith said the latest indictments in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election interference prove the probe is not the “hoax” its critics claim.

“If there was ever any question, even a single question, there is no more,” Smith said on “Shepard Smith Reporting” on Friday. “Russia attacked the United States of America.”

“The Russians infiltrated our system, manipulated us on behalf of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, and they did it online and in person, on our soil,” Smith continued.

{mosads}Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced a slew of indictments at a press briefing Friday. Thirteen Russian nationals and three Russian groups were charged with multiple counts for their alleged attempts to interfere in the 2016 election.

The indictment alleges the goal of the Russians was to support then-candidate Donald Trump and hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Some of the Russians allegedly posed as Americans and communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.”

Rosenstein noted that there is no allegation in the indictment that Americans had any knowledge of the operation.

President Trump has repeatedly labeled the investigation into Russian meddling a “hoax.” Smith fired back at those denials.

“The Russia investigation is the opposite of a hoax,” he said, later labeling the Russians’ alleged actions as “information warfare.”

Smith also referred back to a controversial memo authored by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, which alleges abuse of surveillance powers at the Department of Justice.

Smith called the document a “distraction memo from Devin Nunes” and brought up Trump’s tweet upon its release, in which the president said the memo “totally vindicates” him in the Russia investigation while referring to the probe “an American disgrace.”

“No, this is an American investigation. And this is not a hoax,” Smith said Friday. “The Russians interfered, the Russians were given sanctions by Congress, the President has not put those sanctions into place, and the question is why.”

In a tweet following the release of the indictments, Trump claimed the indictment showed his campaign “did nothing wrong” and that there was “no collusion” with Russia.