Mueller Indicts Russians For 2016 Election Meddling. But It Hasn't Stopped.

Published February 20, 2018 at 9:00 AM CST

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats speaks at a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on worldwide threats, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

With Tom Gjelten.

Special counsel Robert Mueller indicts 13 Russians for their role in spreading misinformation and discord in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election — pushing then-candidate Donald Trump, critical of Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, Russian information warfare has continued and the Russians are gearing up to do it again in the 2018 midterms, according to American intelligence officials.

We’ll get the latest.

This show airs Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST.

Guests:

David Salvo, resident fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy.

Kate Brannen, deputy managing editor of the online journal Just Security and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brent Scowcroft Center at the Atlantic Council. ( @K8brannen)

Matt Masterson, Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. ( @mastersonmv)

Amber McReynolds, Director of Elections for the City and County Of Denver. ( @ambermcreynolds)

Dan Harris, correspondent for ABC News. ( @danbharris)

From The Reading List:

Just Security: The Charging Mystery In The Russia Indictments — “The special counsel’s indictment of Russian individuals and organizations brought campaign finance law for the first time into formal charges in the case. But this development came with a mystery. The indictment alleges facts that support charges of federal campaign finance law violations—such as the prohibition on foreign national contributions—but does not charge any such offenses.”

Just Security: What’s The Story Behind Flynn’s Plea Deal? — “So which is it? Will we eventually see Flynn plead guilty to other charges or is this it? And what has he shared with Mueller and what new doors of investigation did this information open?”

USA Today: ‘The United States Is Under Attack’: Intelligence Chief Dan Coats Says Putin Is Targeting 2018 Elections — “The nation’s top intelligence officials said Tuesday that Russia is targeting the 2018 elections as it seeks to undermine America’s political process and sow partisan division with cyber attacks and other digital disruption.”

A year ago, the nation’s top intelligence agencies reported that the Russian government had set out to undermine the U.S. election process, denigrate Hillary Clinton, and boost Donald Trump. Now we know at least a part of what they were talking about: 13 Russians have been indicted for a disinformation campaign. And it appears Russia is ready to interfere again this year, in the mid-term elections. Are we prepared? This hour, On Point: An attack on U.S. democracy by a foreign adversary, how serious is the threat, and what to do about it. — Tom Gjelten