Sen. Brian Schatz Brian Emanuel SchatzVideo of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral Democrat on Graham video urging people to 'use my words against me': 'Done' Polls show trust in scientific, political institutions eroding MORE (D-Hawaii) on Friday mocked President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE's claims that the investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 election is "hoax" following the indictments of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian organizations.

This is a VERY well done hoax. — Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) February 16, 2018

Schatz is a frequent Trump critic, apologizing last month to immigrant communities for the president's dismissal of Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as "shithole countries."

The charges announced Friday were the first brought by special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE directly related to meddling in the election.

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Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort Paul John ManafortOur Constitution is under attack by Attorney General William Barr Bannon trial date set in alleged border wall scam Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE and his associate Richard Gates were indicted in October on charges related to their work for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine, including money laundering, tax evasion and failing to register as foreign agents.

Two other former Trump campaign members, George PapadopoulosGeorge Demetrios PapadopoulosTale of two FBI cases: Clinton got warned, Trump got investigated Trump says he would consider pardons for those implicated in Mueller investigation New FBI document confirms the Trump campaign was investigated without justification MORE and Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, have pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about their contacts with Russians.

But those indictments and guilty pleas were not actually related to the U.S. intelligence community's assessment that the Kremlin sought to disrupt and influence the presidential race in Trump's favor.

Trump has repeatedly questioned the intelligence behind that assessment and has called Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt."

Mueller is also investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, which Trump has denied.