--- title: 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Charged Over 2016 Hacking description: The Justice Department charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and state election systems, as part of... canonical: https://time.com/5338172/rod-rosenstein-russian-hacking-charges/ author: Abby Vesoulis article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-13T16:13:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T18:46:01.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Charged Over 2016 Election Hacking og:description: The charges are against 12 members of the GRU, a Russian intelligence agency. og:url: https://time.com/5338172/rod-rosenstein-russian-hacking-charges/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b7b86eeca6793ba/6988d2204ee262246830dc53/gettyimages-695595202.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4759 og:image:height: 2677 og:image:alt: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Testifies To Committee On Justice Dept.'s Budget og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Charged Over 2016 Election Hacking twitter:description: The charges are against 12 members of the GRU, a Russian intelligence agency. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b7b86eeca6793ba/6988d2204ee262246830dc53/gettyimages-695595202.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Charged Over 2016 Election Hacking > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=48585fa1-cea0-47cd-a5e5-bf598013b09d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Charged Over 2016 Election Hacking [Watch (HLS stream): 12 Russian Intelligence Officers Charged Over 2016 Election Hacking](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4HEn6RxQ.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2018-07-13. The Justice Department charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and state election systems._  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:46 PM UTCPublished: Jul 13, 2018 4:13 PM UTC The Justice Department charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and state election systems.  by [Abby Vesoulis](https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:46 PM UTCPublished: Jul 13, 2018 4:13 PM UTC The Justice Department [charged](https://www.justice.gov/file/1080281/download) 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking the Democratic National Committee, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and state election systems, as part of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Speaking at a press conference, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein detailed an elaborate cyberattack coordinated by the Russian government’s military intelligence service GRU that ranged from sending “spearphishing” emails to staffers to installing malicious software and creating a fake persona called “Guccifer 2.0” to distribute the stolen information. In his remarks, Rosenstein did not focus on the victims of the attacks, arguing that the entire country was threatened by anti-democratic measures. “In my remarks, I have not identified the victims,” he said. “When we confront foreign interference in American elections, it is important for us to avoid thinking politically as Republicans or Democrats and instead to think patriotically as Americans. Our response must not depend on who was victimized.” The charges add to an already substantial list of 19 other people and three companies charged in the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Collectively, the other defendants face more than 75 criminal charges, including lying to the F.B.I., bank fraud and conspiracy against the United States government. Among those charged include former national security advisor [Michael Flynn,](http://time.com/5012230/who-is-michael-flynn/) former Trump campaign chairman [Paul Manafort,](http://time.com/5002225/robert-mueller-indictments-paul-manafort/) former deputy campaign chairman [Rick Gates](http://time.com/5002847/rick-gates-paul-manafort/) and former campaign foreign policy advisor, [George Papadopoulos](http://time.com/5002832/george-papadopoulos-guilty-plea-indictment/). Five of those charged, including Gates, Flynn and Papadopoulos, have pleaded guilty. Dutch lawyer [Alex van der Zwaan](http://time.com/5226268/who-is-alex-van-der-zwaan-russia-investigation-sentencing/) was the first defendant to be sentenced after pleading guilty for lying to investigators. Manafort awaits trial [in an Alexandria, Virginia jail cell](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/11/us/politics/manafort-trump-russia-jail-transfer.html) after his bail was revoked for alleged witness tampering. Trump, who is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he finishes a trip to Great Britain, has been critical of Mueller and Rosenstein since the probe began. He regularly calls the investigation a “Witch Hunt” and has called both Mueller and Rosenstein “conflicted.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/984053549742067712) ## Transcript The indictment charges 12 Russian military officers by name for conspiring to interfere with the 2016 Presidential election. There's no allegation in this indictment that any American citizen committed a crime. There is no allegation that the conspiracy changed the vote count. Or affected any election result. The conspirators created fictitious online personas including DC Leaks and Guccifer 2. 0. And they used those personas to release information including thousands of stolen emails and other documents beginning in June of 2016. The defendants falsely claimed the DC Leaks was a group of American hackers and that Guccifer 2. 0 was a lone Romanian hacker. In fact, both were created and controlled by the Russian GRU. And a second related conspiracy Russian GRU officers hacked the website of a state election board and stole information about 500, 000 voters. They also hacked into computers of a company that supplied software used to verify voter registration information. They targeted state and local officials responsible for administering elections. 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