The cyberattacks and other methods the Russians used to meddle in U.S. elections are the latest weapons in their years-long campaign to sow discord.
WASHINGTON – On page after page, special counsel Robert Mueller detailed an elaborate, sophisticated Russian operation to sow division in the U.S. and interfere in the 2016 presidential election by using cyberattacks and social media as weapons.Since the Cold War, Russia has worked to create a fractious West that no longer poses an existential threat.“We’ve been focused on what has happened.
Time-tested strategyRussian efforts to influence U.S. elections are a time-tested strategy that can be traced back to at least 1964, when they sought to undermine Republican Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign. “Moscow understood under Reagan that the U.S. was deadly serious about competing in this area,” Jones said. Mueller's report notes that several advisers recalled that, after his election, Trump viewed stories about his Russian connections, investigations and the intelligence community assessment of Russian interference"as a threat to the legitimacy of his electoral victory."
The Russian aim, according to Mueller’s report, was helping elect Trump because of a belief that it would benefit Moscow's interests. The report cited an anti-Clinton ad from March 2016 with a caption that read in part, "If one day God lets this liar enter the White House as a president – that day would be a real national tragedy."
The Russians wanted to weaken the U.S. because “they view a period of significant internal discord as weakening us both at home and overseas,” Jones said.
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