Federal prosecutors have identified more than six members of the Russian government who hacked the Democratic National Committee’s computers and pilfered emails and data during the 2016 presidential election, a report on Thursday said.
The Department of Justice has gathered evidence against the Kremlin officials and could bring a case as soon as next year, the Wall Street Journal reported.
WikiLeaks published thousands of emails – many from the account of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman – and data stolen from the DNC’s computers during the election.
The case, if filed, could present the clearest picture of the actions of Russian agents to interfere in the election, the report said.
The US intelligence community is in agreement that the Kremlin meddled in the election, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied the claim.
The DOJ probe is separate from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which brought its first charges earlier this week against President Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort.
Manafort and his longtime business associate Rick Gates were charged in a 12-count indictment with conspiracy against the United States, tax fraud and money laundering for work they did for a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician.
Another Trump campaign associate, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian officials during the election.
Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser for the campaign, met with a London-based professor who claimed he knew the Russians had “dirt” on Clinton in “thousands of emails.”