Special counsel Robert Mueller said in filing Wednesday that materials in his criminal case against a Russian troll farm were released and apparently used in a “disinformation campaign” aimed at discrediting his ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors with the special counsel’s office made the disclosure in a motion in the case involving Concord Management and Consulting that opposed the defendant’s request that “sensitive” discovery files be disclosed to the Russian company’s “officers and employees” for the purpose of preparing for trial.
“Certain non-sensitive discovery materials in the defense’s possession appear to have been altered and disseminated as part of a disinformation campaign aimed (apparently) at discrediting ongoing investigations into Russian interference in the U.S. political system,” the filing states.
Prosecutors said that some nonpublic files supplied to Concord’s defense attorneys were apparently altered and disseminated using the Twitter account @HackingRedstone, which has since been suspended on the platform.
The filing cites an Oct. 22, 2018, tweet in which the account claimed, “We’ve got access to the Special Counsel Mueller’s probe database as we hacked Russian server with info from the Russian troll case Concord LLC v. Mueller. You can view all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russia collusion. Enjoy the reading!”
The tweet linked to a webpage with folders containing scores of files that mimicked names and folder structures of materials produced by the special counsel’s office in discovery, the filing states.
Mueller’s prosecutors said the FBI reviewed the files and found roughly 1,000 of the total 300,000 matched files produced to Concord in discovery.
The FBI also obtained evidence the account used to set up the file-sharing portal was registered by a user with an IP address in Russia, prosecutors said.
“The fact that the file folder names and folder structure on the webpage significantly match the non-public names and file structure of the materials produced in discovery, and the fact that over 1,000 files on the webpage match those produced in discovery, establish that the person(s) who created the webpage had access to at least some of the non-sensitive discovery produced by the government in this case,” the filing states.
Concord is among 13 Russian individuals and entities charged last February in connection with Mueller’s probe. Concord is alleged to have funded the operation of the Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm that spread divisive content to U.S. audiences on social media as part of broader effort to meddle in the 2016 vote.
………
- Discussion
-
Mueller says private case files were used in disinformation campaign against Russia probe https://t.co/3iU8CBWNGK pic.twitter.com/oTg6teQJxI
— The Hill (@thehill) January 31, 2019
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.