'It had nothing to do with my campaign': President Trump lashes out at Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and the 'fake news' when asked about Russian indicted for trying to 'sow divisions' in the mid-term elections

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President Donald Trump responded to the indictment of a Russian woman who allegedly conspired to impact the 2018 elections by attacking Democratic rivals and the media.

Trump got asked about the indictment just hours after federal authorities charged Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova with conspiring to use internet posts, fake personas, and online ads to try to stoke racial and political divisions.

Asked about the alleged effort, President Trump responded that it had nothing to do with his campaign and offered no additional condemnation of Russia.

'It had nothing to do with my campaign. All of the hackers and all everybody that you see - nothing to do with my campaign,' the president said on a trip to Arizona.

President Donald Trump responded to questions about the indictment of a Russian by saying it had nothing to do with his campaign. Here Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing a presidential memorandum focused on water policy in California's Central Valley, at a conference center in Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S., on October 19, 2018

'If they're hackers - a lot of them probably liked Hillary Clinton better than me. Now they do. Now they do. But ... they go after some hacker in Russia and they say oh - it had nothing to do with my campaign,' the president said, reinforcing the point that it had nothing to do with him. 

 In a further statement about the apparent effort to try to impact the critical 2018 elections –which have enormous implications for Trump and his agenda – the president attacked Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and what he calls the 'fake news.'

Asked if he had a warning for Russia, Trump responded: 'I've already said it. And, you know I always say this ... President Obama was contacted by the FBI in September, long before the election in November. And they told him there may be meddling by the Russians. And he did nothing about it because he thought Hillary Clinton would win. He did nothing,' Trump said.

Obama warned Russia's Vladimir Putin to cease election meddling in advance of the elections.

'He didn't lift a finger,' Trump continued, bashing Obama. Senior intelligence officials launched a probe of Russian interference and any contacts between Trump associates and Russia in the summer of 2016.

'He didn't spend a dime. We've done a lot to protect the elections coming up very shortly. But President Obama - people don't want to bring it up,' Trump said.

Then the president referenced Senate Intelligence cochair Richard Burr and said there was 'no collusion.' 

'But the good news is it never affected - whatever did take place never affected the vote,' Trump said, still speaking about 2016, rather than the latest effort, which began in 2014 and continued to 2017 and beyond, according to the indictment. 

'And everybody agrees to that. It never affected the vote. The candidate affected the vote. The bad candidate. She should have gone to Wisconsin. She should have gone more to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida. She should have gone out a little bit more. She had to work a little bit harder. That affected the vote,' Trump said, faulting Clinton for her campaign travel schedule, which included neglecting some key battlegrounds.

The Justice Department on Friday charged a Russian woman with a conspiracy to 'sow division and discord' in the U.S. elections – including the upcoming miderms.

The government on Friday charged Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, a resident of St. Petersburg, Russia, with playing a key financial role in a Kremlin-backed plan to conduct 'information warfare' against the United States.

Her efforts date to 2014, according to the government. 

U.S. officials announced the indictment of another Russian engaged in efforts to interfere in U.S. politics, in an effort funded by an associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin's

The indictment describes efforts to sow divisions in American society on issues like the confederate flag

Conspirators also tried to stoke the NFL kneeling controversy, a favorite topic of President Trump's

'But the good news is it never affected - whatever did take place never affected the vote. And everybody agrees to that. It never affected the vote. Uhh, the candidate affected the vote. The bad candidate. She should have gone to Wisconsin. She should have gone more to North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida. She should have gone out a little bit more. She had to work a little bit harder. That affected the vote,' Trump said.

According to prosecutors, the goal of the conspiracy she took part in was to 'create and amplify divisive social media and political content.'

This included injecting herself into a variety of controversial topics including gun control, the women's march, and even kneeling during the National Anthem during NFL games, NBC reported.

The group also engaged in the Unite the Right rally that led to violent clashes in Charlottesville, gay rights, and other topics.

Targets included leaders of both parties, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, President Barack Obama, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. 

The criminal complaint unsealed on Friday makes her the first individual to be indicted for attempting to interfere in the 2018 U.S. elections.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has already indicted 13 Russians with an interference campaign in the 2016 presidential election.

President Donald Trump warned Putin at their Helsinki summit not to interfere in U.S. elections, saying after the meeting, 'that's the way it's going to be.'

Khusyaynova was the chief accountant for Project Lakhta, an interference campaign out of Russia targeting the U.S. and other countries. It was funded by Russian oligarch Eveny Prigozhin.

He is known as 'Putin's chef,' for hosting lavish dinners for top Kremlin officials where Putin was present.

The complaint said Khusyaynova was the chief accountant for Project Lakhta, which it said was funded by Prigozhin and two companies he controls, Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering.

Jess Sessions' Justice Department on Friday charged a Russian national with playing a key financial role in a Kremlin-backed plan to conduct 'information warfare' against the United States, including to influence next month's congressional elections

Concord Management and Concord Catering were among the three entities and 13 Russian individuals who were indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller´s office in February in an alleged criminal and espionage conspiracy to tamper with the 2016 U.S. presidential race, boost Trump and disparage his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The case against Khusyaynova was unsealed in Alexandria, Virginia, and is not being handled by Mueller because it includes activities related to the 2018 elections, which are not part of his remit, the official familiar with the matter said.

Using social media and other avenues, the conspiracy participants waged 'information warfare against the United States,' attempting to sow distrust of candidates for U.S. political office and the U.S. political system, according to the complaint.

Khusyaynova was the chief accountant for Project Lakhta, funded by Russian oligarch Evgeny Prigozhin, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and known as 'Putin's chef'

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has charged a number of Russians with interfering in the 2016 elections. Friday's indictment is the first related to 2018

Prigozhin, who was among those personally charged by Mueller, has been dubbed 'Putin's cook' by Russian media because his catering business has organized banquets for Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior political figures. He has been hit with sanctions by the U.S. government.

According to a joint statement by the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security: 'We are concerned about ongoing campaigns by Russia, China and other foreign actors, including Iran, to undermine confidence in democratic institutions and influence public sentiment and government policies. These activities also may seek to influence voter perceptions and decision making in the 2018 and 2020 U.S. elections.' 

"Currently, we do not have any evidence of a compromise or disruption of infrastructure that would enable adversaries to prevent voting, change vote counts or disrupt our ability to tally votes in the midterm elections,' they said. 

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies said on Friday they remain concerned about attempts by Russia, China, Iran and other foreign groups to interfere with the Nov. 6 congressional elections, as well as the presidential election in 2020.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security said they do not have any evidence that anyone went far enough to prevent voting or change vote counts. Some state and local governments, which run polling sites, have reported attempts to access their networks, but officials were able to 'prevent access or quickly mitigate these attempts,' the agencies said in a joint statement.

In July, Mueller's office also indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers who were accused of hacking Democratic computer networks as part of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

Members of the conspiracy operated fictitious social media pages and groups.

They falsely claimed to be activists, when in fact they were part of the conspiracy out of St. Petersburg.

The group had a graphics department, an IT department, and a search engine department, as well as a finance department. 

Payments for Project Lakhta were misleadingly labeled as being for software development. According to the indictment, as many as 14 bank accounts were used to steer funds to it. 

Khusyaynova kept detailed financial budgets, however, which the government was able to obtain.

The budget she submitted for 2017 was about $1 million, though it was in rubles. It listed such expenses as 'advertisement on Instagram' and 'advertisement on Facebook.'

The 2018 budget jumped to $1.7 million.

Conspirators ‘took advantage’ of U.S. news events to tout their themes, including the horrific shootings of congregants in a mostly black church in Charleston, South Carolina and the Las Vegas shooting. 

Police shootings of African American men also were exploited.

They were directed to create ‘political intensity through supporting radical groups’ and ‘oppositional social movements.’

According to one conspirator, it sought to ‘effectively aggravate the conflict between minorities and the rest of the population.’

But they didn’t adopt a single ideology and sometimes put out opposing viewpoints.

Translated internal messages instruct participants when is the most opportune time to release postings, noting that posting can be 'problematic' due to the time difference with St. Petersburg.

It posits that LGBT groups are active at night, while conservatives can view a repost when they wake up in the morning.

A member of the conspiracy provided directions for how to handle an article about the late Arizona Sen. John McCain.

'Brand McCain as an old geezer who has lost it and who long ago belonged in a home for the elderly,' the person advises, adding to emphasize McCain's 'pathological hatred toward Donald Trump.'

The group also advises attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller, who it wants described as a 'puppet of the establishment.'

Posters were encouraged to list 'scandals' while he ran the FBI and to call his investigation 'damaaging to the country.'

The conspirators wanted to expose Sen. Marco Rubio, like McCain a Russia critic, as a 'fake conservative.'