U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help President-elect Donald Trump win the White House, and not just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.
U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that as the 2016 presidential campaign progressed, Russian government officials devoted increasing attention to assisting Trump’s effort to win the election, the U.S. official familiar with the finding told Reuters on Friday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The president-elect’s transition office released a statement that exaggerated his margin of victory and attacked the U.S. intelligence community that Trump will soon command, but did not address the analysts’ conclusion.
“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.'”
Democrats and some Republicans in Congress are calling for a full investigation into Russia’s election year activities.
“Protecting the integrity of our elections is hindered when President-elect Trump and his transition team minimize or dismiss the intelligence assessments themselves,” Representative Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said in a statement issued on Saturday.
Citing U.S. officials briefed on the matter, the Washington Post reported on Friday that intelligence agencies had identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including the chairman of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, to WikiLeaks.
U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence agencies to review cyber attacks and foreign intervention into the 2016 election and deliver a report before he leaves office on Jan. 20, the White House said on Friday.
Obama’s homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, told reporters the report’s results would be shared with lawmakers and others.
“The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process … and to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders, to include the Congress,” she said during an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
As summer turned to fall, Russian hackers turned almost all their attention to the Democrats. Virtually all the emails they released publicly were potentially damaging to Clinton and the Democrats, not Republicans, the official told Reuters.
“That was a major clue to their intent,” the official said. “If all they wanted to do was discredit our political system, why publicize the failings of just one party, especially when you have a target like Trump?”
A second official familiar with the report said the intelligence analysts’ conclusion about Russia’s motives does not mean the intelligence community believes that Moscow’s efforts altered or significantly affected the outcome of the election.
Russian officials have denied all accusations of interference in the U.S. election.
A Central Intelligence Agency spokeswoman said the agency had no comment on the matter.
The hacked emails passed to WikiLeaks were a regular source of embarrassment to the Clinton campaign during the race for the presidency.
U.S. intelligence analysts have assessed “with high confidence” that at some point in the extended presidential campaign Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government had decided to try to bolster Trump’s chances of winning.
The Russians appear to have concluded that Trump had a shot at winning and that he would be much friendlier to Russia than Clinton would be, especially on issues such as maintaining economic sanctions and imposing additional ones, the official said.
Moscow is launching a similar effort to influence the next German election, following an escalating campaign to promote far-right and nationalist political parties and individuals in Europe that began more than a decade ago, the official said.
In both cases, said the official, Putin’s campaigns in both Europe and the United States are intended to disrupt and discredit the Western concept of democracy by promoting extremist candidates, parties, and political figures.
In October, the U.S. government publicly accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. Obama has said he warned Putin about consequences for the attacks.
“I don’t believe they interfered,” Trump told Time magazine about Russia in an interview published this week. “That became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point. Any time I do something, they say, ‘Oh, Russia interfered.'”
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-cyber-russia-idUSKBN13Z05B
Democracy …. well, 6 out of 7 people enjoy gang rapes …. still like democracy?
Most Americans are mindless sheeple.
BUMMER still has until January 20th to start a shooting war with Russia. This is nothing more than beating the war drums to go attack Russia. If Russia did not have NUKEs the US army would already be in Moscow. Russia has some solid equipment, and good competent people behind them, but in the end they would not have enough people to defend a vast country with 11 time zines. Russia right now can do NOTHING right. They can do nothing at all and still catch grief, because the NWO wants Russia back under their control. They are not going to get passed the NUKE part, nor the SAMs, nor the pretty darn good tanks, and small arms.
If I were PUTIN right now I’d be contracting small arms companies in Russia to put together a distributed network of work shops to build AK74 or for public distribution on a massive scale.
*** in the end they would not have enough people to defend a vast country with 11 time zines. ***
On the other side of that, the US and its NATO stooges would never have enough people to occupy that much land. They couldn’t even successfully occupy Afghanistan, which is about the size of Texas. Also, most in the US military don’t know how to fight, being heavily reliant on technology and gear. I think the Russians would slaughter an invading US-NATO force.
And those idiots have NO idea about the environmental conditions they will be facing. I know. Have relatives who were invoked in Operation Barbarrosa. These NATO idiots have anything like an idea of the problems involved in trying to take Russia in a conventional war.
How well does the M1 tank handle fording rivers because there is no bridges that will hold 80 tones , or the MUD. One thing my relatives told me is about the MUD.
Damned straight about the environment and terrain in Russia. It would be make Afghanistan look like a stroll on the beach.
Also – Russia has a GDP about the same as Italy. Smaller than California. Russia is not a threat to the USA at all.
Like Iraq was no threat, like Libya was not a threat, Afghanistan was no threat and so on and so on..
You hit the keywords.
“no threat” = Safe war.
This ain’t Sparta. IF it ain’t a shooting gallery. It won’t happen.
““Protecting the integrity of our elections is hindered when President-elect Trump and his transition team minimize or dismiss the intelligence assessments themselves,” Representative Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said in a statement issued on Saturday.’
SOUNDS LIKE MORE FOMMUNIST FAKE NEWS….RIGHT FROM THE NINISTRY OF TRUTH
This is not an endorsement of Trump, but I call absolute BS on anything the US intelligence community says. Their credibility could not possibly be less than it is.
yeah, yeah, yeah… Russia’s the new scapegoat for everything that happens.
The babies Hillary sacrificed to Satan? That was actually a Russian woman that looks like Hillary.
Congressmen raping young boys? The Russians again.
Fake news that’s real and real news that’s fake? The Russians of course.
The C.I.A. is in the deception business, and you’d have to be an idiot to believe a word of it.
The only comment I will make about this that is the most apparent and obvious conclusion as to why the mad hatter Hilary lost is because of her own personal recorded history.
Although there are many stupid and dumbned down people, survival tends to awaken people when they see their lives going down the drain.
In spite of the double speak these turds like Hilary speak, her lies and puppet like face smile even reached the brains of the many stupid people whereby they decided to just say NO to her and her blatant obvious lack of honesty.
Only people like her who are dishonest, disingenuous, selfish and arrogant psychopaths could ever relate to and vote for such a thing as her.
But, they are out there and they live among us.
Too many people realized that she was a vampiress witch.
Y’all can birch and moan about Russia and what your ancestors “told” you. Russians should be our friends and allies.most of y’all would agree save you weren’t brain washe by Sean Connery and the like. USA USA USA. THE USA IS A TOOL FOR THE JEWS TO MINIPULATE AS THEY PLEASE UNTIL WE STAND TALL AND CONFRONT THE REAL ENEMY. No matter if we are blamed as “anti Semitic” it’s bs trigger words just like Russia is. Thanks fake news. Thanks. I’ll fight against the real enemy whom most of us know of.
See Oliver Stones Documentary about the untold History of the USA. You will see Russia doesn’t break its word. IT is the US Government that constantly does… Be it Indians, Russians, Kurds or whatever population needs to be screvved over.
Government issued propaganda will do the rest.
One thing for sure, If trump is a realist, then he knows Russia won’t be a problem unless forced to follow the road, that according to the propaganda the US constantly follows… Freedom, self determination as a population, and holding true to its word… Can’t have that in a world where a few determine life and death of billions according to the advancement of their own goals.
Will check it out. Thanks.
FBI Director Comey to Congress – “We have found no Russian involvement in the hacking of DNC e-mail files”. I guess Putin only had a limited number of hackers that he dedicated to voting machines that were NOT connected to the internet. This ‘Fake News’ tempest-in-a-teapot is a shiny object diversion away from real criminal activity.
“Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is suggesting that the Electoral College has the “right” to consider the CIA information of possible Russian hacking into the Election before they vote. Wow, they are trying every possible way to deny President-elect Trump the actual Presidency. It is really troubling that the Dems do not respect our Democracy and our Country. The people have spoken, but the Dems have no respect for us. Have they gotten so used to exploiting the laws in this Country that they cannot abide by the actual rule of law? It seems there is one rule of law for the people, and another for the Democrats. They have divided this Country into such a place our votes seem to mean nothing. It is either the Dems way or no way at all. End of my commentary. –Pamela Williams”
investmentwatchblog.com/it-is-either-the-dems-way-or-no-way-at-all/
“… the intelligence analysts’ conclusion about Russia’s motives does not mean the intelligence community believes that Moscow’s efforts altered or significantly affected the outcome of the election.”
That being the case… then there’s no reason to overturn the results, right?
Obviously another ploy designed to further implement their ‘fake news’ agenda.
This article is a crock of shit. Everyone knows the elite “selected” Trump. No one can interfere with the “selection” process. Not even Russia. And if they ever did, and it went against the elites plans, then they would make sure he had an “accident” before winning. That’s how it goes.
Is this the same “intelligence” community that was caught with its pants down on 9/11? That claimed Saddam had WMD’s? That has somehow be able to miss every single major security development worldwide for the last twenty plus years? That can only manage to “catch” mentally challenged people it entrapped? The same “intelligence” community that has an unlimited budget and still manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Are those the incompetent morons we are talking here? I wouldn’t believe them if they told me it snows in Chicago in January.