President Trump Donald John TrumpWhite House counsel called Trump 'King Kong' behind his back: report Trump stays out of Arizona's ugly and costly GOP fight Trump claims he instructed White House counsel to cooperate with Mueller MORE on Saturday reacted to the indictment of 12 Russian military officers “for conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election” by blaming former President Obama and the “deep state.” 
 
 “The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration,” he tweeted from Scotland. “Why didn’t they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?” 
 
 The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration. Why didn’t they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2018 
 
 Obama issued sanctions against Russia for the meddling in the election in December 2016. 
 
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 He also expelled 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. and ordered two Russian compounds to be closed. 
 
 Special counsel Robert Mueller Robert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE is now leading the investigation into Russian interference in the election, as well as possible collusion within the Trump campaign. His probe led to the 12 indictments announced on Friday by the Justice Department. They are charged with hacking Democratic National Committee (DNC) officials and dispersing the stolen documents online. 
 
 The Trump administration has emphasized that the indictments do not indicate any level of collusion by a member of the Trump campaign. Trump has repeatedly said there was no collusion. 
 
 Trump went on to question “Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t the FBI take possession of it?” 
 
 He proposed that the server could have been kept hidden by the “Deep State.” 
 
 ....Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t the FBI take possession of it? Deep State? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 14, 2018 
 
 The deep state is a conspiracy theory that claims high-level officials run a shadow government working against Trump. 
 
 Trump has suggested in the past a conspiracy around the computer servers at the DNC that Russians hacked during the election. 
 
 The FBI reportedly has not directly assessed the hacked server during the agency investigation, instead relying on information from a private security firm. 
 
 -Updated 10:32 a.m. ||||| Roger Stone: I'm 'probably' unnamed person mentioned in Robert Mueller indictment 
 
 CLOSE The indictments were announced Friday by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as part of the ongoing special counsel probe into potential coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. (July 13) AP 
 
 Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone acknowledged late Friday that he's "probably" the unnamed person mentioned in special counsel Robert Mueller's indictment against 12 Russian military intelligence officers who allegedly sought to influence the 2016 presidential election. 
 
 Mueller's indictment, unveiled days before President Donald Trump is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, asserts that the Russian suspects engaged in a far-reaching hacking scheme that targeted the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. 
 
 The indictment also referenced a U.S. person who "was in regular contact with senior members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump" and exchanging messages with the conspirators, who were posing as Guccifer 2.0. 
 
 In an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo, Stone said that he's "probably" the person named in the filing. 
 
 Roger Stone: I probably am the person in the indictment https://t.co/zOWDTXBFFy — Christopher C. Cuomo (@ChrisCuomo) July 14, 2018 
 
 Stone's admission is a reversal of sorts. Earlier Friday, the longtime Republican strategist told The Hill that his messages with Guccifer 2.0, which Stone admitted to having exchanged in the past, were "benign based on its content context and timing." But he denied he was the person named in Friday's indictment "because I wasn't in regular contact with members of the Trump campaign," The Hill reported. 
 
 Stone maintained that the exchange was benign in his interview with CNN, and acknowledged he was in contact with Trump campaign officials. 
 
 He told CNN he hadn't read the "extensive document" and "misunderstood" the reference to the messages when he denied being the unnamed person. The messages were included in the indictment, raising speculation that Stone was the unnamed person. 
 
 More: 12 Russian intelligence officers indicted for hacking into DNC, Clinton campaign 
 
 Related: Read the Russian election meddling indictment of 12 Russian nationals 
 
 Contributing: Kevin Johnson, Erin Kelly and Jessica Estepa 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2umyMK9 ||||| Special counsel Robert Mueller Robert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE’s indictment of Russian military officers in the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) appears to make reference to former informal Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone Roger Jason StoneRoger Stone challenges Dems to produce WikiLeaks evidence Google chief defends company during Capitol Hill grilling Alex Jones heckles Google CEO heading into House hearing MORE. 
 
 The longtime GOP strategist acknowledged to CNN that messages included in the latest indictments match ones that he previously released relating to the hacker Guccifer 2.0, but he denied that he is the person referred to in the indictment “because I wasn't in regular contact with members of the Trump campaign.” 
 
 Stone told The Hill in a text that his “24 word exchange with someone on Twitter claiming to be Guccifer 2.0 is benign based on its content context and timing,” adding that he said the same during his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee last year. 
 
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 “This exchange is entirely public and provides no evidence of collaboration or collusion with Guccifer 2.0 or anyone else in the alleged hacking of the DNC emails, as well as taking place many weeks after the events described in today’s indictment,” he continued. 
 
 The indictment released Friday refers to “a person who was in regular contact with senior members of the presidential campaign of Donald J. Trump” who was contacted by the Russian officers under the guise of the hacker Guccifer 2.0. 
 
 The document cites messages where Guccifer 2.0 wrote to the individual “please tell me if i can help u anyhow ... it would be a great pleasure to me” and “what do u think of the info on the turnout model for the democrats entire presidential campaign.” 
 
 The individual replied to the last message, “Pretty standard.” 
 
 Those messages match up with Twitter direct messages exchanged between Stone and Guccifer 2.0. Stone posted screenshots of the messages last year. 
 
 Stone has emerged as a person of interest in Mueller’s probe into Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election, and some of Stone's associates have recently been subpoenaed in the probe. 
 
 The former Trump campaign adviser said during an interview last month with Hill.TV’s “Rising” program that it’s possible that he’ll be indicted in Mueller’s probe. 
 
 Mueller on Friday indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking of the DNC in 2016. 
 
 Stone noted to CNN on Friday that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Rod Jay RosensteinMueller’s real challenge Graham vows to push Trump’s AG pick through Judiciary Committee House GOP set to grill Comey MORE had said "that they knew of no crime by US citizens" when he announced the indictments. 
 
 "They included my exchange with Guccifer, which is now public, in the indictment. And it's benign. So I don't know that it refers to me," Stone told the network. 
 
 "There is no allegation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged unlawful activity or knew they were communicating with Russian intelligence officers," Rosenstein said Friday while announcing the charges. 
 
 — Niall Stanage contributed to this report.
– With 12 Russians indicted Friday for allegedly hacking the 2016 US election, President Trump is blaming an unexpected figure: President Obama, the Hill reports. "The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration," Trump tweeted Saturday. "Why didn't they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?" However, Obama did punish Russia with sanctions and the expulsion of 35 diplomats. Trump's administration, meanwhile, insists the indictments show no evidence of Russia collusion—although the hacks did begin hours after then-candidate Trump called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails. For more on the hack and indictments: Key excerpts: "The conspirators covertly monitored the computers of dozens of DCCC and DNC employees, implanted hundreds of files containing malicious computer code ('malware'), and stole emails and other documents from the DCCC and DNC 5," per one of several indictment excerpts in the New York Times. The hackers are also accused of releasing stolen documents through a website dubbed "Organization 1" (apparently Wikileaks) and using "a network of computers located across the world, including the United States." Roger Stone: The Trump confidant said Friday that he's "probably" the one mentioned in the indictments who messaged with the conspirators and was regularly in contact with top Trump campaign officials, USA Today reports. It's partly a reversal, since Stone told the Hill earlier that his Twitter messages with hackers were "benign" and he denied being the one named in the indictments "because I wasn't in regular contact with members of the Trump campaign."