A defunct Twitter account masquerading as the Tennessee Republican Party is highlighted in a new federal indictment of 13 Russian nationals and a Kremlin-linked internet firm on Friday for attempting to meddle in the U.S. elections.
The @TEN_GOP, later linked to the Russians, "falsely claimed to be controlled by a U.S. state political party," the indictment reads, which notes over time the account attracted more than 100,000 followers.
The account was used in an effort in August 2016 to "promote allegations of voter fraud by the Democratic Party through their fictitious U.S. groups and personas on social media," the indictment alleges.
Twitter suspended the account after it became aware it was linked to a Russian "troll farm." Federal lawmakers last year also acknowledged the account was linked to Russian sources.
The account had long drawn criticism from the Tennessee Republican Party, which repeatedly told Twitter that the account as fake and not associated with the party.
Twitter investigated the party's report, but in September 2016 found the account was not in violation of Twitter's impersonation policy. After a later report, Twitter did not suspend the account saying, "Parody, newsfeed, commentary and fan accounts are permitted."
"What they were pushing was vile content," Tennessee Republican Party executive director Michael Sullivan said. "It was frustrating that this was a response from Twitter that this was some sort of parody account."
Special counsel Robert Mueller filed the charges for what he called a wide-ranging effort to undermine the 2016 presidential election, including by "supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump."
The charges include violations of campaign finance laws, conspiracy and identity theft and failing to register as agents of a foreign government.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Jake Lowary covers veterans and military affairs for the USA Today Network. Reach him at 931-237-1583 or follow him on Twitter @JakeLowary.