Report On Russian Hacking Released By Intelligence Community

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence assesses that Russian President Vladimir Putin “ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election,” according to its newly released report on Russian hacking.

The goals, the report says, “were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency.” 

The report also says Putin and his government “aspired” to help Donald Trump’s election chances “by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably with him.” The CIA and FBI, the report says, have “high confidence” in this part of the judgment, while the NSA has “moderate confidence.”

CBS News

The 15-page long document, called “Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections” is a version of the classified assessment provided to the president, senior lawmakers and President-elect Donald Trump.

Its judgments on the Kremlin’s intent are drawn from the behavior of “Kremlin-loyal political figures, state media, and pro-Kremlin social media actors, all of whom the Kremlin either directly uses to convey messages or who are answerable to the Kremlin.”

However, the report makes no judgment on the impact of the hacking on the presidential election.

Top intelligence officials briefed President-elect Donald Trump Friday on the classified report Friday afternoon. 

Following the briefing at Trump Tower in New York, Mr. Trump released a statement on what he called a “constructive meeting and conversation” saying that the cyberattacks had “no effect on the outcome of the election.” 

“While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines,” Mr. Trump said. 

Earlier Friday, the intelligence chiefs briefed senior lawmakers Friday morning, and they briefed President Obama on Thursday.

At her weekly press conference, Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the intelligence officials had given a “very interesting presentation.”

“It was really quite a stunning disclosure,” Pelosi said. “When you see this report, you will see with confidence how the intelligence community has identified what we have seen.” 

But Mr. Trump has been deeply skeptical of allegations that Russia was involved.