Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told a Senate committee on Tuesday that Facebook is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office and that his company may have received subpoenas as part of the investigation into any ties between the Trump presidential campaign and Russian election interference.
“I assume Facebook’s been served with subpoenas from the Special Counsel Mueller’s office,” Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Zuckerberg. “Is that correct?”
“Yes,” Zuckerberg responded before later clarifying that he wasn’t exactly sure, and that Facebook only might have received subpoenas.
Leahy then asked if anyone at Facebook had been interviewed by the Special Counsel’s office, and Zuckerberg responded affirmatively, although he said he was not one of them.
“I want to be careful here. Our work with the Special Counsel is confidential and I want to make sure that in an open session I’m not revealing something that’s confidential,” Zuckerberg said. “But I know we’re working with them.”
The Special Counsel’s office indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies in February for committing federal crimes while trying to sow discord in the U.S political system, including during the 2016 election. Prosecutors alleged that those indicted attempted to interfere through social media by buying political ads on Facebook, along with YouTube and Twitter, to spread disinformation. Evidence cited in the indictment included the suspects creating accounts on Facebook and Twitter like “March for Trump” Clinton FRAUDation” and “Trumpsters United.”