- In a tweet on Friday, President Donald Trump defended himself against allegations of collusion with Russians during the 2016 presidential race.
- Trump posted the tweet in response to the Justice Department's indictments of 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities involved in sowing political discord in the US before the 2016 election.
- Trump said the indictments are further evidence that there was "no collusion."
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Trump says he did 'nothing wrong' after Mueller indicts Russians for 2016 election interference
Trump tweeted in response to the Justice Department's indictments of 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities that interfered in the 2016 presidential race.
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President Donald Trump insisted his presidential campaign had nothing to do with the Russian nationals and organizations indicted by the US Department of Justice on Friday for interfering in the 2016 election.
"Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President," Trump said in a tweet. "The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!"
Earlier on Friday, special counsel Robert Mueller's office charged three Russian entities and 13 Russian nationals with "violating US criminal laws in order to interfere with US elections and political processes."
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The White House said Trump was briefed on the matter and "was glad to see the Special Counsel's investigation further indicates—that there was NO COLLUSION between the Trump campaign and Russia and that the outcome of the election was not changed or affected."
Mueller's investigation is ongoing and has not concluded that there was no collusion between Trump officials and the Russian government. But so far, there has been little evidence to support claims of collusion.
"We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion, discord, and rancor to be successful," Trump added in a statement. "It's time we stop the outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories, which only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions."
The charges brought by the Justice Department were directed primarily at the Internet Research Agency (IRA), an infamous Russian "troll factory" that focused on sowing political discord during the 2016 race by using internet bots to spread fake news and pro-Trump propaganda on Facebook, Twitter, and other social-media platforms.
The 13 Russian nationals charged were indicted for working in "various capacities to carry out" the agency's "interference operations targeting the United States."
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