The Russians have some very specific stereotypes about American political culture. 
DOJ says Russian operatives told their internet trolls to brand John McCain as "an old geezer who has lost it and who long ago belonged in a home for the elderly," and Paul Ryan as a "complete and absolute nobody incapable of decisiveness."
... and to "forcefully support Michael Savage's point of view with competence and honesty." Specifically, the Russians wanted to promote the message that removing Trump from office would lead to a civil war.
And Russians ordered their operatives to brand special counsel Robert Mueller as "a puppet of the establishment" and to call for an end to his investigation of Russian election meddling.
The truly fascinating thing about the new Russian election-meddling charges is that the Russians knew in late 2016 that the FBI was on to them, but DOJ was still getting their internal communications through at least mid-2018.
Also notable: Mueller's office isn't involved in the case, even though it's currently prosecuting part of the same conspiracy in federal court in Washington. (It could be that the scope of Mueller's investigation was confined to 2016 meddling, not what came after.)
Story's here -> usatoday.com/story/news/pol…
