A secret CIA report in August, which former President Barack Obama received, debunked the claim by Russia and the Trump camp it had no hand in the U.S. election meddling in 2016. The report, cited on Friday by The Washington Post, said Russian President Vladimir Putin gave specific instructions to defeat or damage Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate.
The plan to interfere in the election aimed to help elect Republican candidate Donald Trump through hacked emails and other materials posted online by WikiLeaks. The report said the Russian hacking efforts were authorized by the most senior official of the country.
January report names Putin
The first report only pointed to the most senior official of Russia as the author of the hacking. The second report in January specifically named Putin as the person behind the election hacking. The report was based on the CIA’s sources inside the Russian government.
Since Putin is a former KGB spy, he took extraordinary steps so he would be protected from foreign surveillance. The information CIA got was raw, but compelling. Several other U.S. intelligence agencies took months to reach the consensus that it was the Russian president who ordered and directed the operations.
Putin targeted Clinton because he did not like the former secretary of state. The Russian president also suspected Clinton helped form the opposition in Russia.
Digital bombs
CBS, which claims it was aware of the CIA report that pointed to Putin as having approved the plan to meddle in the U.S. election, reported Washington has placed digital bombs that were implanted in Russian networks. The report said Obama authorized its implantation before he left office. It allegedly could be triggered as a retaliatory cyber strike move if Moscow becomes more aggressive.
Its use, unfortunately, is in the hands of Trump who is pro-Russia.
The Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election is part of the ongoing investigation spearheaded by special counsel Robert Mueller whom Trump wants to remove. Congressional investigators are also checking if the Trump campaign was able to acquire information from hacked voter databases during the election.
Amid the Mueller and congressional probes, the Trump administration allegedly undermined the effort of Obama officials to expel Russian diplomats to retaliate for the Russian meddling in the election. Washington seized in December two Russian diplomatic compounds in New York City and Maryland for interfering in the election, but in early June, State Secretary Rex Tillerson said the facilities would be returned to Russia without any conditions.
