Russian Diplomats Have Nothing to Do With 2016 US Election Campaign - Moscow

Russian diplomats in the United States had nothing to do with the 2016 presidential campaign in that country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian officials have repeatedly denied the allegations of meddling in the US election, calling them an absurd and an attempt to deflect public opinion from revealed instances of corruption and other pressing domestic concerns.

"I would like to note once again that neither Mikhail Kalugin nor any other member of Russian diplomatic missions in the US, or other Russian representatives, had anything to do with the last US election campaign," Zakharova said.

The January US Intelligence Community released a report saying it has "high confidence" on Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. The report does not provide any evidence that the alleged propaganda campaign had an effect on US voters or specific election results.

Earlier this month, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey and NSA Director Admiral Michael Rogers testified in front of the House Intelligence Committee on the alleged Russian interference in the US presidential election.

During the hearing, both Comey and Rogers repeated the conclusions writted in the US intelligence report released in January, which was mostly based on media publications and social media. They also confirmed that Russia in any way did not affect the vote tallies in the US.