Enlarge / US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (C) holds a news conference at the Department of Justice July 13, 2018 in Washington, DC. Rosenstein announced indictments against 12 Russian intelligence agents for hacking computers used by the Democratic National Committee, the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other organizations. (credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
On Friday, the Office of the Special Counsel handed down an indictment of several Russian intelligence officers that federal authorities say were critical in the operation to sway the 2016 presidential election.
Given that the United States lacks an extradition treaty with Russia and that the defendants are unlikely to have many Stateside assets, what meaningful effect does going through the motions of a prosecution have?
Experts say that there are a few primary objectives to this type of indictment: first and foremost, the indictment is likely to make the defendants’ lives harder if they ever want to leave Russia. Countries that do have an extradition treaty with the United States will now be on notice in case any of these guys show up. A secondary objective is to alert both the American public and the Russian government just how much the Special Counsel knows.
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