Russians accused of conspiring to help

elect U.S. President Donald Trump allegedly

staged rallies in key states to support him,

including one in Florida in which someone was paid to portray Hillary Clinton in a prison uniform while standing in a cage

built on a flatbed truck.

The Russians were also accused of promoting discord after the election by

simultaneously holding New York rallies,

one in support of Trump’s victory and

another under the name “Trump is NOT my

President!” according to an indictment

released Friday by U.S. Special Counsel

Robert Mueller. There was a separate post-

election, anti-Trump rally in Charlotte,

North Carolina.

Members of the Trump campaign

unwittingly aided the Russians for some of

their pre-election events, including by

providing signs, after the defendants posed

as Americans and contacted the campaign

through bogus social-media accounts,

according to the indictment.

“To conceal the fact that they were based

in Russia, defendants and their co-

conspirators promoted these rallies while

pretending to be U.S. grassroots activists

who were located in the United States but

unable to meet or participate in person,”

according to the indictment.

Pretending to be Americans, the Russians

persuaded people in the U.S. to attend

their events, and sometimes paid their

expenses, according to the indictment.

They allegedly used social-media names

including Facebook group “Being Patriotic”

and Twitter handle @March_for_Trump.

Two such rallies were held in New York in

July 2016, under the names “March for

Trump” and “Down with Hillary,” it said.

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One Facebook group called “United Muslims

of America” was allegedly created by the

Russians to plan a rally called “Support

Hillary. Save American Muslims” in July

2016 in Washington.

The group arranged for one American to

hold a sign depicting Clinton and a fake

quote attributed to her saying, “I think

Sharia Law will be a powerful new

direction of freedom,” according to the

indictment.

Florida is a particular focus in the

indictment. The Russians are accused of

staging a series of coordinated rallies; for

example, one on Aug. 20, 2016, was held

under the banner “Florida Goes Trump.”

Members of the Trump campaign who

worked on local community outreach

unwittingly aided that effort, while the

Russians paid to advertise the rallies on

Facebook and Instagram, prosecutors said.

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Following on their successes in Florida, the

Russian campaign replicated its efforts to

produce rallies in New York and

Pennsylvania, according to the indictment.

The Russians allegedly communicated with

a Texas-based grassroots organization that

advised them to focus their efforts on

“purple states” such as Colorado, Florida

and Virginia that could be swayed to vote

for Trump.

The Russians tried to cover their tracks

after the election by deleting or destroying

data including emails and the bogus social-

media accounts they’d set up, according to

the indictment.