Clinton aide on Mueller indictments: Russia ‘laughing at us’ and ‘will act again’

A spokesman for Hillary Clinton on Friday warned that Russia will “act again” after the Justice Department announced indictments against Russian nationals and entities for interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The former Democratic presidential nominee has herself not yet commented on the indictments, which accuse 13 Russian nationals and three Russian groups of criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States, among other charges.

“Today’s revelations confirm what we’ve long known,” Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill tweeted. “Time will tell us more, but Russia went to great lengths to undermine our democracy, & the President won’t protect us. No matter your politics, it’s un-American. We have an adversary that is laughing at us, who will act again.”

Today’s revelations confirm what we’ve long known. Time will tell us more, but Russia went to great lengths to undermine our democracy, & the President won’t protect us. No matter your politics, it’s un-American. We have an adversary that is laughing at us, who will act again.

— Nick Merrill (@NickMerrill) February 16, 2018

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President Trump has long referred to the Russia investigation as a “hoax,” and accused Democrats of making it up as an excuse for having lost the election.

The indictments detail a widespread campaign by the Russians to steal the identities of Americans and sow discord among voters to promote Trump’s campaign and hurt Clinton’s. It also charged that some defendants, while posing as Americans, communicated with “unwitting individuals associated with the Trump Campaign and with other political activists to seek to coordinate political activities.”

Trump responded by tweeting that “The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!”

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, said that Friday’s indictments do not indicate that any Americans wittingly conspired with the Russians, or that the Russian interference affected the outcome of the election.

“The indictment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confidence in democracy,” Rosenstein said.