Twitter has suspended two accounts linked to 12 Russian spies indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The social media network said on July 14 that it had suspended the accounts of @DCLeaks_ and @Guccifer_2 -- which were named in the indictment revealed on July 13 by the U.S. Justice Department.
A U.S. grand jury charged the 12 Russian intelligence officers for their roles in hacking into the U.S. Democratic Party and leaking stolen emails and other information during the 2016 presidential campaign.
According to the indictment, the officers "in their official capacities engaged in a sustained effort to hack into the computer networks of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic National Committee and the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton."
The Justice Department said the officers then "released that information on the Internet under the names DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0” -- referring to a suspicious website and persona claiming to be a hacker that appeared during the 2016 campaign.
The indictment charged the Russian intelligence agents with registering the DCLeaks website and starting a Facebook page and Twitter feed while claiming they were "American hacktivists."
The Kremlin denies it interfered in the U.S. election.
A Twitter spokesman said that "the accounts have been suspended for being connected to a network of accounts previously suspended for operating in violation of our rules."
Based on reporting by Reuters and CNN
