Russians target Mueller probe

WASHINGTON—Russians have published confidential information online from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in a campaign to discredit the probe, according to a Wednesday court filing. The FBI determined the leakers obtained the information through Concord Management and Consulting LLC, a Russian-owned company that Mueller has charged with conspiring to spread misinformation in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Mueller’s office shared the documents with Concord Management attorneys so they could review it as part of their defense. The company is one of three entities, along with 13 Russians, the special counsel has charged in a conspiracy to influence the election.

Concord is accused of funding the Internet Research Agency (IRA), a Russian organization that aims to spread misinformation and activate trolls on social media. Prosecutors said the Twitter account @HackingRedstone tweeted last year, “We’ve got access to the Special Counsel Mueller’s probe database as we hacked Russian server with info from the Russian troll case Concord LLC v. Mueller. You can view all the files Mueller had about the IRA and Russian collusion. Enjoy the reading!” Twitter has since suspended the account. Most of the leaked information was “junk material that has nothing to do with the case,” prosecutors said, but it did include authentic—though not sensitive—documents. An FBI analysis found approximately 1,000 of the 300,000 files were real documents provided to Concord by Mueller’s team.