THE Trump administration is imposing sanctions on 19 Russians for alleged interference in the 2016 US election, including 13 indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller.
The penalties also include the first use of new powers that Congress passed last year to punish Moscow for election meddling. Those targets include officials working for the Russian military intelligence agency, GRU.
The government has also accused Russia of a deliberate operation to penetrate the US energy grid which is still continuing.
The Treasury Department said the GRU and Russia’s military both interfered in the American election and were “directly responsible” for the NotPetya cyberattack that hit businesses across Europe in June 2017.
Those named in the Mueller indictment include Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has become known as the ‘chef’ to Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
The administration is also targeting the Internet Research Agency that Mueller said orchestrated much of the cybermeddling in the presidential election.
National security officials said the FBI, the Homeland Security Department and intelligence agencies have determined that Russian intelligence and others are behind attacks on the US energy sector.
The officials said the Russians obtained access to the energy system and “conducted network reconnaissance” of industrial control systems that run US factories and the electricity grid.
The officials have also helped companies kick the Russians out of all systems currently known to have been penetrated.
The US is sending an alert to energy companies to raise threat awareness.
Meanwhile, new documents show a second lawyer with ties to president Trump was involved in legal efforts to keep adult film star Stormy Daniels from talking about her alleged affair with the president.
Jill A Martin signed the documents, which were filed on February 22 as part of confidential arbitration proceedings.
She is referenced in the filing as counsel for “EC LLC”, yet the address she lists is that of the Trump’s Los Angeles golf club.
Trump has denied the affair took place.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here