Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was not aware of a plot within his own government to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and that allegations of meddling are “not my problems.”
“Why have you decided the Russian authorities, myself included, gave anybody permission to do this?” Putin told NBC anchor Megyn Kelly in an interview that aired Friday morning.
“You’re telling me they’re Russians. So what? Maybe being Russian, they’re actually working for some kind of American company. Perhaps one of them used to work for one of the candidates. I have no idea,” he added.
After he insisted that he was in the dark about a social media campaign to sway Americans, Kelly asked Putin if his citizens should be concerned that he had no idea his government was spending $1.25 million monthly to manipulate U.S. voters.
“These are not my problems,” Putin said.
In February, the Justice Department announced indictments against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities.
Special counsel Robert Mueller said the indictments were against people employed by the Internet Research Agency, which he described as a Saint Petersburg-based entity that posed as a front for the Russian government to meddle in the U.S. election on social media.
“The indictment charges all of the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States, three defendants with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft,” Mueller’s office said in a statement.
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said while the Russian front groups created posts, ads, and organized events that were mostly against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, they also opposed President Trump’s campaign at times and pushed for Bernie Sanders at times.
The announcement comes in the midst of Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.
