Donald Trump acknowledges Russia's 'anti-US campaign' in unprecedented statement
President Donald Trump has acknowledged that Russia conducted an "anti-US campaign" in the wake of an indictment accusing 13 nationals of meddling in the US presidential election.
The indictment, issued by the US Department of Justice, claimed the Russians had conducted a years-long campaign to sow discord in US politics in advance of the 2016 election. In a tweet, the President said the indictment was further proof that his campaign had not colluded with Russia.
"Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President," he wrote. "The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!"
The tweet was a groundbreaking admission for Mr Trump, who has previously expressed hesitance in accepting the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
The President has previously called the "Russia story" a hoax started by Democrats, and suggested that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin when he denied any election interference. As recently as this week, multiple sources close to Mr Trump told CNN he still wasn't convinced of Russian meddling.
Mr Trump issued a formal statement on the indictment as well, urging the country to "come together as Americans".
"We cannot allow those seeking to sow confusion, discord, and rancour to be successful," he said. "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. We must unite as Americans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections.”
Friday's indictment from special counsel Robert Mueller accuses the Russian nationals and three Russian entities of staging a physical and virtual misinformation campaign to sway the election in Mr Trump's favour.
The indictment claims Russian operatives created fake social media accounts to spread misinformation about Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and even went as far as to stage physical pro-Trump rallies. It contains no specific allegations of collusion by the Trump team, saying at one point: "There is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity."
Mr Mueller is said to still be investigating possible Trump team collusion with Russia, as well as allegations of obstruction of justice by Mr Trump himself. The President has repeatedly denied colluding with Russia or interfering with any federal investigations..
