Report On 2016 Russian Meddling Doesn’t Support Trump’s Claims

The Trump administration has recently released a series of reports intended to undercut the longstanding conclusion by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia favored Donald Trump in the 2016 election, Charlie Savage reported for The New York Times.

The assessment concluded that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin ordered a wide-ranging information campaign targeting the U.S. election.

That assessment—an unclassified version of which was published in January 2017—has long angered Trump.

In disclosing the new documents, the administration claims that President Barack Obama and his team manipulated the intelligence process to discredit Trump.

These claims have been accompanied by dramatic accusations, including Trump’s charge that Obama committed “treason,” and criminal referrals filed against former national security officials.

These moves appear aimed at distracting Trump’s supporters from his administration’s failure to release the promised Jeffrey Epstein files.

But the reports themselves do not support Trump’s latest claims. While some new details are revealed, they do not overturn the 2017 intelligence community assessment.

That assessment concluded that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin ordered a wide-ranging information campaign targeting the U.S. election, including the hacking and release of Democratic emails and a social media campaign that promoted Trump while attacking his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The report cited three motivations for Putin’s actions. Two remain largely undisputed: undermining faith in American democracy and damaging Clinton, who had been widely expected to win.

Trump and his allies have focused their criticism on the third conclusion—that Russia also wanted to help him win.