Russian FM Dismisses as ‘Blabber’ US Charges of Meddling in 2016 Elections

  • 2/18/2018
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed on Saturday as “just blabber” Washington’s indictment that Moscow had meddled in the 2016 presidential election. "Until we see the facts, everything else is just blabber,” he said at the Munich Security Conference. Asked about the indictments issued in the case earlier this week, he replied: "I have no response. You can publish anything, and we see those indictments multiplying, the statements multiplying." He also argued that US officials also have said no country influenced the US election results. The federal indictment brought Friday by US special counsel Robert Mueller represents the most detailed allegations to date of illegal Russian meddling during the campaign that sent Donald Trump to the White House. The detailed document presented the most compelling public evidence to date that the Russian operation was elaborate, expensive and real. Citing emails and conversations by the perpetrators of the plot, it also demonstrated that the ongoing probe may have access to explosive intelligence material gathered on the Russian operations. Shortly after Lavrov’s remarks, US President Donald Trumps national security adviser said there was "incontrovertible" evidence of a Russian plot to disrupt the 2016 US election. The statement by H.R. McMaster at the Munich Security Conference stood in stark contrast to Trumps oft repeated claim that Russian interference in his election victory was a hoax. "As you can see with the FBI indictment, the evidence is now really incontrovertible and available in the public domain," McMaster told a Russian delegate to the conference. McMaster also noted that special counsel Robert Muellers team had shown that the US was becoming "more and more adept at tracing the origins of this espionage and subversion." Trump tweeted late Saturday that McMasters mention of Russian election meddling forgot to include that the election results were not changed by the Russians efforts. And he said McMaster should have noted the only collusion was between Russia, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. Trump frequently has tried to turn the tables on who tried to work closely with Russians.

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