"WASHINGTON — U.S.
intelligence officials have concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin
personally “ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S.
presidential election.” [A number of Republican senators supported the U.S. Intelligence agencies' conclusions]
Those conclusions were
part of a declassified intelligence report that was released Friday.
Its main conclusions were
described to President-elect Donald Trump by intelligence officials earlier in
the day. Mr. Trump acknowledged,
for the first time, that Russia had sought to hack into the Democratic National
Committee’s computer systems. He insisted the effort
had no effect on the election and said nothing about the conclusion that Mr.
Putin, at some point last year, decided to aid the Trump candidacy. [Prior to this Trump denied that Russians were behind the hacking and, in post-truth mode, asserted that any 14-year old could have done the hacking]
The report, a detailed
account of Russia’s efforts to undermine the U.S. electoral system, went on to
assess that Mr. Putin had “aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election
chances when possible by discrediting Secretary [Hillary] Clinton and publicly
contrasting her unfavorably to him.”
The report described a
broad campaign that included covert operations, including cyberactivities and
the “trolling” on the Internet of people who were viewed as opponents of
Russia’s effort.
While it accused Russian
intelligence agencies of obtaining and maintaining “access to elements of
multiple U.S. state or local electoral boards,” it concluded — as officials
have publicly — that there was no evidence of tampering with the Nov. 8 tally.
The report, reflecting
the assessments of the CIA, the FBI, and the National Security Agency, stopped
short of backing Mr. Trump on his declaration that the hacking activity had no
effect on the election.
“We did not make an
assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016
election,” the report concluded, saying it was beyond its responsibility to
analyze U.S. “political processes” or public opinion. [We probably never will be able to determine if the leaks changed the course of the election.]
The report makes clear
that Mr. Putin favored Mr. Trump in part because he had previous success
dealing with “Western political leaders whose business interests made them more
disposed to deal with Russia” and in part because he viewed Mr. Trump as a more
likely ally in forming Russia’s version of a coalition against the Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria.
The report also stated that
Russia collected data “on some Republican-affiliated targets,” but did not
disclose the contents of whatever it harvested.
The key to the report’s
assessment is that Russia’s motives “evolved over the course of the
campaign.”
When it appeared Mrs. Clinton
was more likely to win, the report concluded, the Russian effort focused “on
undermining her future presidency.”
It noted that Mr. Putin
had a particular animus for Mrs. Clinton because he believed she had incited
protests against him in late 2011.
Yet the attacks, the
report said, began long before anyone could have known that Mr. Trump,
considered a dark horse, would win the Republican nomination.
It said the attacks began
as early as July, 2015, when Russian intelligence operatives first gained access
to the DNC’s networks."
Prior to this time, it appeared that Trump was going to buddy-up with Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Both are hard-core, right-wing authoritarian politicians. Is Trump a wannabe? The buddying up with Putin may cool.
P.S. I didn't vote for either Trump or Clinton.
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