It's long been established that Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. presidential election in favor of Donald Trump—an effort that would culminate with Trump taking the oath of office in 2017.
Though Trump has routinely dismissed concerns over his ties to Russia as products of a "witch hunt," his constant deference to the rival nation and its President, Vladimir Putin, was unprecedented for a U.S. President. Trump sided with Putin over his own intelligence officials in a disastrous 2018 joint press conference in Helsinki. The Mueller Report—falsely described by Trump and others as a "complete and total exoneration"—found disturbing contacts between Trump's campaign and Russian actors.
Now, a lengthy report from Luke Harding, Julian Borger and Dan Sabbagh of The Guardian is shedding more light on Russia's efforts to ensure a Trump presidency.
The report states that, as Trump emerged as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Putin personally signed off on a secret operation to boost the "mentally unstable" candidate's campaign. The Guardian goes on to report that Russia possessed kompromat—or compromising material—on Trump from "non-official visits to Russian Federation territory".
So what was the Russian government's goal? According to The Guardian:
"They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow's strategic objectives, among them 'social turmoil' in the US and a weakening of the American president's negotiating position."
Trump's presidency saw two impeachments, the exacerbation of an already deadly pandemic, a failed insurrection, and the cultivation of the most harshly divided nation in recent history.
People agreed the goal of social turmoil was achieved.
I'm old enough to remember when the @GOP would've been incensed over the prospect that Russia attacked our country with an operation like this. Now they help it along. That whole "social turmoil" thing is going swimmingly. The "mentally unstable" part was UNDERESTIMATED.https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— Bruce Kelly (@Bruce Kelly) 1626359240
Moscow's strategic objectives, among them “social turmoil"
Seems like it worked?
— matt (@Mattie_G_ME) July 15, 2021
Putin succeeded and all the @GOP guzzled the Russian Kool-Aidhttps://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— GulfVet65 #Resistor (@GulfVet65 #Resistor) 1626366357
So anyway, they've won.https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— KevinlyFather \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfc\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddff (@KevinlyFather \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfc\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddff) 1626358430
It worked.https://twitter.com/drdenagrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— StayFocused (@StayFocused) 1626358180
They succeededhttps://twitter.com/drdenagrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— Bill Whelan (@Bill Whelan) 1626358257
Others encouraged skepticism of any information "leaked" from the Russian government.
Former intel person here. Caution is warranted here. It may be real. It may not be real. Always be wary of information that neatly corroborates.https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— Steven Cash @thesteadystate3, #HESFINISHED (@Steven Cash @thesteadystate3, #HESFINISHED) 1626362337
It was said a lot of things would probably come out once the new administration took over and went through everything.\nWell.........literally the thing everyone with sense already knew is brought to light.\nOf course, this could just be further misinfo if leaked by the Kremlin.?https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— Will Froeber (@Will Froeber) 1626365682
Yes, "appear to show". But WHO is leaking this and WHY now? How to determine if it's genuine? (You can be damn sure Pootie does not have your interests at heart, if indeed he has a heart.)https://twitter.com/DrDenaGrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026— Lew Jacobson (@Lew Jacobson) 1626358363
Wonder who \u201cleaked\u201d this and why, but regardless https://twitter.com/drdenagrayson/status/1415674476906246146\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/6Nf3LvJneM— \u0299\u1d0f\u028f\u1d22 \u026a\u026a \u1d0d\u1d07\u0274\u0262 (@\u0299\u1d0f\u028f\u1d22 \u026a\u026a \u1d0d\u1d07\u0274\u0262) 1626359169
Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington decried the report on Twitter.
'It's fiction': Trump tears into 'disgusting, fake news' report from left-wing UK newspaper\n\nThey'll always go back to the Fake News RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA watering well\n\nIt's disgusting!https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9791337/Putin-ordered-spy-plot-mentally-unstable-Donald-Trump-2016-election-documents-show.html\u00a0\u2026— Liz Harrington (@Liz Harrington) 1626369777
Further information of how the documents came to be leaked has yet to materialize.
