Rubio: Mueller Indictment Is ‘A Positive First Step’ To Prevent Future Meddling

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on Friday said that special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities was “a positive first step toward deterring future Russian meddling in our elections.”

“Today’s indictments clearly demonstrates that Vladimir Putin is neither a Democrat nor a Republican — this is not a partisan issue, and we cannot allow a foreign country to actively interfere in our political dialogue and divide us as a nation against each other,” Rubio said in a statement.

According to the indictment, the individuals and entities named as defendants “engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton” but also worked “to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.”

Read Rubio’s full statement:

“Today’s indictments of 13 Russian nationals by the Department of Justice Special Counsel is a positive first step toward deterring future Russian meddling in our elections. Russian active measures against the U.S. are not new, and their principal purpose is to sow discord in our society. As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I have joined my colleagues in demonstrating through open hearings Russian efforts to use social media and other mechanisms to orchestrate chaos in our political discourse. Today’s indictments clearly demonstrates that Vladimir Putin is neither a Democrat nor a Republican – this is not a partisan issue, and we cannot allow a foreign country to actively interfere in our political dialogue and divide us as a nation against each other.”