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"Both sides agree that Russian interests made attempts to meddle in the 2016 campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller wasn't able to connect any Americans to the alleged scheme, but filed a case against 13 Russians. He charged that they were instructed to write social media posts opposing Clinton and "to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump." Although it hasn’t been widely reported, Mueller also testified there were instances of Russian social media support for Hillary Clinton as well.
But there's widespread disagreement on the role Ukraine may have had in U.S. election interference in 2016.
This past week, Democrats stepped up efforts to dismiss such allegations as "debunked" and a "conspiracy theory." Republicans doubled down, stating that the alleged Ukrainian efforts may not have been a "top-down" operation - as they believe Russia's was - but could have been significant all the same and deserve serious investigation."
But there's widespread disagreement on the role Ukraine may have had in U.S. election interference in 2016.
This past week, Democrats stepped up efforts to dismiss such allegations as "debunked" and a "conspiracy theory." Republicans doubled down, stating that the alleged Ukrainian efforts may not have been a "top-down" operation - as they believe Russia's was - but could have been significant all the same and deserve serious investigation."
Timeline of Alleged Ukrainian-Democrat Meddling in 2016 Presidential Election
Some Highlights ...
"According to reporting by Politico in January 2017, efforts by Democrats and Ukraine to "sabotage" the Trump campaign in 2016 did impact the race, even though Trump won in the end."
"Both Politico and Yahoo News interviewed a key player in the controversy, Democratic National Committee (DNC) consultant Alexandra Chalupa, who previously worked under the Clinton administration.
Chalupa reportedly acknowledged in her 2017 interview with Politico that she worked as a consultant for the DNC during the 2016 campaign with the goal of publicly exposing Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort's links to pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine. Chalupa admitted coordinating with the Ukrainian Embassy, and with Ukrainian and U.S. news reporters.
In public accounts since the original news articles, Chalupa -a Ukrainian American - has claimed that her role and intentions have been misrepresented."
"2016
March 25: Chalupa reportedly met with top Ukrainian officials at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to tarnish the Trump campaign by exposing "ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia," according to Politico.
The Ukrainian embassy proceeded to work "directly with reporters researching Trump, Manafort and Russia to point them in the right directions," according to an embassy official, though other officials later denied engaging in election-related activities."
"March 30: Chalupa reportedly briefed DNC staff on alleged Russian ties to Manafort and Trump. It was the day after the Trump campaign hired Manafort to manage the July Republican convention."
"Ukrainian embassy officials and Chalupa "[coordinated] an investigation with the Hillary team" into Manafort, according to a source to Politico. This effort reportedly included working with U.S. media."
Aug. 4: The Ukrainian ambassador to the United States wrote an op-ed against Trump.
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