DOJ official outlines 2016 election interference case against indicted Russians

Russian honour guards march during the military parade at Red Square, Moscow, 2018. Photo: Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images

A Justice Department official outlined to CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday why the department believes 12 Russian agents indicted during the Russia investigation hacked the Democratic Party's computers in 2016. And a cybersecurity expert and former FBI official warns there's a real threat that Russia could interfere in the 2020 election.

Former FBI spy-hunter Robert Anderson says Russia’s goals today are the same as in the Soviet era: to sow discord in the U.S. and doubt about our democracy around the world. https://t.co/HYmM7sEJ3a pic.twitter.com/nDPbwyvYO0

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 25, 2019

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"[The hacking] really happened. And we believe that if we had to we could prove that in court tomorrow using only admissible, non-classified evidence to 12 jurors. I would be surprised [if the agents' cases go to trial]. But the purpose of the indictment [is also] to educate the public.

The U.S. says one team, working out of a building in Moscow called the 'Tower,' created a website and a provocative character to disseminate the stolen material: Guccifer 2.0. What it gives them is plausible deniability, right? They don't need for it to work 100% as long as the Russians can say: 'Wasn't us.'"

Assistant Attorney General John Demers on "60 Minutes"

What they're saying: The "60 Minutes" interview was broadcast hours after White House counselor Kellyanne Conway appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," where she was played a clip of Assistant Attorney General John Demers' comments to journalist Bill Whitaker that the evidence shows Russia was "behind the hacking and dumping of the Democratic campaign in 2016" and "we could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt."

• CBS' Margaret Brennan asked Conway why the president doesn't "believe his own Justice Department and intelligence experts" after Conway defended him for repeating on Fox News Friday a debunked conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
• "The president has said he accepts that," replied Conway before moving on to say "there are plenty of ways to interfere in elections."

"If we're doing this, we're back to Mueller, and we've already spent two and a half years and $35 million taxpayer dollars for a Mueller report that was produced in March. It was a big bomb."

Kellyanne Conway on CBS' "Face the Nation"

• Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) reiterated a debunked conspiracy theory on "Fox News Sunday" that Ukraine may have hacked the Democratic National Committee's computer servers in 2016.

Go deeper:

• Senate Intel releases 1st volume of report on 2016 Russian interference
• Senate Intel releases 2nd volume of report on 2016 Russian interference
• Security agencies warn Russia, China, Iran aim to interfere in 2020 election
• Putin addresses U.S. impeachment inquiry, 2020 interference