Did Russia Interfere with the Election?

According to the Washington Post, the CIA conducted secret assessments to investigate if Russia possibly interfered with the 2016 Presidential Election. ICYMI, the President-elect’s connections with Russia have been a topic of controversy throughout his campaign. He has been quoted in the past as saying that Putin is “doing a great job rebuilding Russia,” and that he “has big plans for Russia.” During the third and final debate, Trump changed his tune, saying “I don’t know Putin, this is not my best friend!” In the midst of this, Clinton remarked that he would be a “puppet” for Putin and Trump said he condemns any notions of Russia’s interference with the results.

During the summer, the Washington Post reported that Putin has “rational motives” for supporting Trump. Among them include Trump’s similar foreign policy ideas, his objection of NATO, and other isolationist policies that are in line with Putin’s. The recent CIA assessment affirms concerns that Russian officials had hacked into the Democratic National Committee’s emails as well as the Clinton administration’s emails and sent them to WikiLeaks. According to the Post, this was in an effort “to boost Trump and hurt Clinton’s chances.”

A U.S. official announced to the Senate: “It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected. That’s the consensus view.” According to the White House, Obama ordered intelligence officials to thoroughly investigate cyber-attacks and email hacks before his term ends in January.

On Friday, the Trump transition team rejected the C.I.A findings, which many have interpreted as belittling the government bureau. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. 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,’” they stated. Trump responded, “I don’t believe they interfered. It could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.”  

Democratic senator of New York, Chuck Schumer, is demanding for further investigation. “Reports of the CIA’s conclusion that Russia actively sought to help elect Donald Trump are simultaneously stunning and not surprising,” he said. “That any country could be meddling in our elections should shake both political parties to their core,” he continued. As such, even Republicans like Senator John McCain and Senator Richard Burr have pledged to work together to closely investigate possible interference by Russia.

In case you’re lost, Trump supporters are claiming “fake news” on this C.I.A. assessment that Russia spread “fake news” propaganda to denounce Hillary Clinton and help the President-elect. Mind blown? This investigation will surely be continued…

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• Putin
• Russia