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US intelligence report says Russia used Trump allies to influence 2020 election with goal of 'denigrating' Biden
The US intelligence community said in a landmark report Tuesday that the Russian government meddled in the 2020 election with an influence campaign "denigrating" President Joe Biden and "supporting" former President Donald Trump, detailing a massive disinformation push that successfully...
www.cnn.com
3/16/21
The US intelligence community said in a landmark report Tuesday that the Russian government meddled in the 2020 election with an influence campaign "denigrating" President Joe Biden and "supporting" former President Donald Trump, detailing a massive disinformation push that successfully targeted, and was openly embraced, by Trump's allies. Russia's objectives were not limited to hurting Biden's candidacy and aiding Trump's reelection bid, the report says, as US intelligence found that Moscow also sought to undermine "public confidence in the electoral process and exacerbate sociopolitical divisions in the US." Overall, the report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence provides the most comprehensive assessment of foreign threats to the 2020 elections to date, detailing extensive influence operations by US adversaries, including Russia and Iran, that sought to undermine confidence in the democratic process, in addition to targeting specific presidential candidates. It also confirms what was largely assumed, and barely hidden, last year: Trump and his closest allies publicly embraced Russia's disinformation campaign against Biden, met with Kremlin-linked figures who were part of the effort, and promoted their conspiracy theories.
The Biden administration is expected to announce sanctions related to election interference as soon as next week, three US State Department officials told CNN. The officials did not disclose any details related to the expected sanctions but said that they will target multiple countries including Russia, China and Iran. The report concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "aware of and probably directed" the operation to hurt Biden -- and give Trump a boost, much like he did in the 2016 election. For example, the US intelligence agencies assessed that Putin "had purview over the activities of Andriy Derkach," the Ukrainian lawmaker who met with Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and repeatedly promoted anti-Biden disinformation. CNN has previously reported that Giuliani and other allies of the former President publicly aligned with Kremlin-linked figures like Derkach and others, even as the US government warned that they were spreading lies. Giuliani did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment Tuesday. The report was a wholesale repudiation of many false narratives that were pushed by right-wing news outlets, including claims about Biden's dealings in Ukraine and widespread voter fraud. The report said Russia tried to "launder influence narratives ... through US media organizations," but didn't name the specific outlets that were involved.
Trump personal attorney Rudy Giuliani met numerous times in Ukraine with known Russian agents Andriy Derkach, Konstantin Kilimnik, and Andriy Telizhenko to acquire fabricated dirt in Joe Biden.
Donald Trump's claim of Chinese 2020 election meddling were dismissed by the US intelligence agencies.
DNI - Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal Elections
Spy Agencies Reject Trump Claim of China Election Meddling