Ex-CIA officer: Prosecution of Russians indicted for DNC hack ‘ain’t ever going to happen’

A former CIA officer said special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers this week sets the stage for more charges to come.

David Priess appeared on MSNBC Saturday to say the detailed 29-page indictment announced on Friday by the Justice Department does not mean that the individuals implicated will see a trial in the U.S.

“The very fact that Mueller put it in the indictment to show exactly what happened and to put in the language when it happened shows that he’s not just interested in setting up for a potential prosecution of these individuals and Russia because that ain’t never going to happen,” Priess said.

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Mueller’s indictment helps release more information from the U.S. intelligence communities for future cases, he said. 

“It was about setting the stage for future indictments and putting out there an air-tight case of what happened, when and with whom,” Priess said. 

“On the American side, of course —  the ‘with whom’ — we’re still waiting to hear that,” he added.

Priess served under former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush as an intelligence officer.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez on Friday called on President Trump to demand Russian President Vladimir Putin cooperate with the investigation. 

Perez said Trump “should do nothing less than hand Putin this indictment and the previous indictment, and demand the immediate extradition of all these individuals.”

Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Helsinki for a summit on Monday. 

The 12 Russian intelligence officers —  all members of the the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency — are accused of hacking the DNC during the 2016 presidential election to leak information from Democrats and the Clinton camp.

Russia has repeatedly denied meddling, however, a January assessment from the U.S. intelligence community found that the GRU was responsible for the breach.

The breach was intended to help Trump secure an election victory, officials found.