WASHINGTON — Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 election. The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Putin, who had described to the CIA how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation. Trump sounded grudgingly convinced, according to several people who attended the intelligence briefing. But ever since, Trump has tried to cloud the very clear findings that he received on Jan. 6, 2017, which his own intelligence leaders have unanimously endorsed. The shifting narrative underscores the degree to which Trump regularly picks and chooses intelligence to suit his political purposes. That has never been more clear than this week. On Monday, standing next to the Russian president in Helsinki, Trump said he accepted Putin’s denial of Russian election intrusions. By Tuesday, faced with a bipartisan political outcry, Trump sought to walk back his words and sided with his intelligence agencies. On Wednesday, when a reporter asked, “Is Russia still targeting the U.S.?” Trump shot back, “No” — directly contradicting statements made only… Read full this story
- Putin Is Well on His Way to Stealing the Next Election
- Electric shocks, iron pipe beatings, clamped penises – Inside Putin’s hellish ‘torture dungeons’ in occupied Crimea
- Did Putin Direct Russian Hacking? And Other Big Questions
- Donald Trump: I trust Vladimir Putin more than US intelligence
- Pushing QAnon and Stolen Election Lies, Flynn Re-emerges
- The Lingering Mysteries of a Trump-Russia Conspiracy
- NATO hits back at President Trump's Montenegro World War III remarks
- 'Trust me' Vladimir Putin congratulates Emmanuel Macron in hope of France-Russia alliance
- Merkel ally in shocking claim Russia will seek to influence German election
- Meet the lawyers defending Trump and his associates in Russia probes
Trump told in 2017 about Putin, Russian attacks on election have 299 words, post on www.startribune.com at July 17, 2018. This is cached page on SEO. If you want remove this page, please contact us.