U.S. Officials Allege Russian Think Tank Created Plans to Swing Election in Favor of Trump

The presidential election of 2016 was historic in many ways, all of which have been hashed over continually ever since the shocking results of election night. No doubt this one will still be studied 100 years from now.

One aspect of this controversial election is the set of claims that Russia was fed up with Obama, saw Hillary as a continuation of policies they abhorred, and thus intervened in the election to help Donald Trump win. That’s the crude, but accurate way of framing the theory and related allegations. The obvious question is whether there is anything to it.

Reuters has added to the debate with a recent story.

A Russian government think tank controlled by Vladimir Putin developed a plan to swing the 2016 U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump and undermine voters’ faith in the American electoral system, three current and four former U.S. officials told Reuters.

They described two confidential documents from the think tank as providing the framework and rationale for what U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded was an intensive effort by Russia to interfere with the Nov. 8 election. U.S. intelligence officials acquired the documents, which were prepared by the Moscow-based Russian Institute for Strategic Studies [en.riss.ru/], after the election.

The institute is run by retired senior Russian foreign intelligence officials appointed by Putin’s office.

We are confronted with the familiar problem of nameless individuals making claims. Hence one cannot determine the validity of these claims. One simply has to trust that Reuters is reporting the story accurately. But if true, even that doesn’t solve the problem, as we don’t know if these nameless folks are telling the truth to Reuters.

The inability to independently verify the accuracy of these individuals’ statements is exacerbated by the fact that we do not know who appointed them to their positions. At the risk of sounding impolite, if they were appointed by Mr. Obama, well, you can finish the thought.

Here are the alleged contents of one of these Russian documents.

The first Russian institute document was a strategy paper written last June that circulated at the highest levels of the Russian government but was not addressed to any specific individuals.

It recommended the Kremlin launch a propaganda campaign on social media and Russian state-backed global news outlets to encourage U.S. voters to elect a president who would take a softer line toward Russia than the administration of then-President Barack Obama, the seven officials said.

It all sounds very official, doesn’t it? And there was no question that Mr. Obama and Mr. Putin had no use for each other. Plus the idea that a nation would prefer that other nations “take a softer line” in relations is reasonable to expect. But the questions remain as to whether this document actually exists, and if so, were the plans implemented?

One thing we can be sure, anonymity and denials loom large over this story.

The current and former U.S. officials spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the Russian documents’ classified status. They declined to discuss how the United States obtained them. U.S. intelligence agencies also declined to comment on them.

Putin has denied interfering in the U.S. election. Putin’s spokesman and the Russian institute did not respond to requests for comment.

Of course Putin would deny involvement. Then again, maybe it’s because he’s telling the truth.

Four of the officials said the approach outlined in the June strategy paper was a broadening of an effort the Putin administration launched in March 2016. That month the Kremlin instructed state-backed media outlets, including international platforms Russia Today and Sputnik news agency, to start producing positive reports on Trump’s quest for the U.S. presidency, the officials said.

Russia Today did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Sputnik dismissed the assertions by the U.S. officials that it participated in a Kremlin campaign as an “absolute pack of lies.” “And by the way, it’s not the first pack of lies we’re hearing from ‘sources in U.S. official circles’,” the spokesperson said in an email.

This would not be the first time the media in one country editorialized on the qualifications of candidates for public office in other nations. That’s freedom of the press, open for all to see and evaluate, not some nefarious subterfuge employed to intervene and change the results of another nation’s elections. It’s the latter accusation that is the concern.

This is all very interesting to contemplate, but pursuing it is unlikely to lead to any provable conclusions unless something extraordinary happens. The U.S. officials allegedly furnishing this information cannot be identified and questioned, and the documents that are alleged to exist remain classified.

The truth or “fake news” designed to create doubt about the legitimacy of President Trump’s election? You decide.

Source: Reuters

Image: Russian Institute for Strategic Studies