Every Presidential election in the United States has witnessed disquieting reports and official statements by the US accusing Russia of meddling in its internal affairs. The evidence and statements on the extent of interference, widely reported to be instrumental in the 2016 final electoral outcome, continue to come out in bits and pieces as the years go by.
In one of the first reports to be made public on the issue, in 2017 the US government issued its assessment on election interference and blamed Russia for the hacks in the US voter database. The CIA and other agencies produced the assessment during the final weeks of the Obama administration. A version of the assessment was made public on January 6, of the same year.
The report said that a Russian covert operation was designed to undermine American democracy and also help Trump win. In July 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller backed up the US intelligence that 12 Russian nationals hacked into the US election systems.
A couple of years later, in 2020, a bipartisan investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee validated the January 2017 US intelligence assessment on Russian interference. The nearly 1000-page report from the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee detailed how Russia launched an aggressive effort to interfere. It also said that Trump and his associates were eager to exploit Kremlin’s aid.
As per the US intelligence assessments made public and widely reported, a wide-ranging group of Russians probed state voter databases for insecurities, hacked the Hillary Clinton campaign, spread propaganda on social media, released politically damaging information on the internet, staged rallies in Florida and Pennsylvania and it did not stop there.
Reportedly, Russia also had meetings with members of the Trump campaign and its associates; and floated a business proposition to the Trump Organisation for skyscrapers in Moscow. The aim, according to the information revealed by a memo from the U.S. intelligence community and court documents filed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, was to sow seeds of distrust in American democracy and damage Hillary Clinton’s campaign in a way that Trump’s chances would be boosted.
The 2020 Presidential election
A few weeks short of the 2020 Presidential election, in September 2020, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress at a hearing that Russia had made “active efforts” to influence the 2020 election. Further, he said that Russia had been relying on social media, state media proxies, and online journals to denigrate former Vice President Joe Biden. While testifying before the House Homeland Security, Wray said, “Yes, I think the intelligence communities’ consensus is that Russia continues to try to influence our elections.” he was responding to the question, “Can you tell me as of this date you have information that Russia is trying to influence the election for 2020?” He further said in his testimony how the foreign election interference efforts differed slightly from that of 2016.
“When there was an effort to target election infrastructure, we have not seen that second part yet this year, but we certainly have seen very very active efforts by the Russians to influence our election 2020.” Wray further stated in his testimony that Russia relied on social media to push their vested agendas and try to influence the outcome.
As per the testimony, Russia had been using proxies, state media, and online journals to hurt Joe Biden’s campaign. Wray further appealed to the voters to get their voting information from official websites and not social media.
The Russian officials and the Putin administration have time and again denied any interference in the 2016 or 2020 US Presidential election.
Is Moscow meddling?
Long before the Presidential election becomes due in November later this year, reports and statements of Russian interference have again been surfacing intermittently in mainstream US media. In February this year, Biden’s national security advisor said on record that, “there’s plenty of reason to be concerned” about Russia trying to interfere in the 2024 election. Sullivan, however, said that he couldn’t discuss evidence related to it.
Last month during a press briefing, an official from the Director of National Intelligence, said that Russia was once again trying to influence the election results and weaken public confidence in the electoral process through information warfare. The intel officials also said that Russia plans to target swing states in 2024 with influence operations.
Trump's stance on Russia
Russia has always been a complicated subject for Donald Trump. While his statements have differed but never been anti-Kremlin; from saying he can end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day to criticising Biden for failing to bring back wrongfully detained Americans in Russia.
In 2018, after face-to-face talks with Putin at the Helsinki Summit, he even defended Russia over claims of interference in the 2016 election and contradicted US intelligence agencies, saying there had been no reason for Russia to meddle in the vote.
With the former US President back on the campaign trail, the subject of Russia is not likely to die down anytime soon in US domestic politics.
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