A mountain of evidence points in one direction: Russia sought to sway the 2016 US election

WASHINGTON – For two years, cybersecurity researchers, spies and federal prosecutors have laid out a stunningly thorough chain of evidence to support one simple conclusion: The Russian government sought to sway the 2016 presidential election.

Federal agents have traced data and currency trails across continents, revealed inside knowledge of Russian spies’ computer network, and quoted the private emails of employees at a Russian internet firm working to influence voters. Cybersecurity researchers analyzed malware and followed clues buried in the details of stolen emails.

Those disclosures have left an unusually detailed public view of Russians' wide-ranging campaign to persuade and divide voters in the months before the presidential election. While the government sometimes shares its conclusions about national security threats, rarely does it take the risk of revealing so much of its evidence to the world.

“It’s unprecedented, both the activity that’s outlined and the fact that we’re privy to so much information,” said John Carlin, a former chief of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

And it remains widely disbelieved.

As recently as July, about a quarter of voters said they thought there was “no Russian interference in the 2016 election,” according to an NPR/Marist poll.

President Donald Trump has long equivocated on the question. Last month, standing beside Vladimir Putin, he said the Russian president had been "extremely strong and powerful" in his denial of election interference and cast doubt on the work of U.S. intelligence agencies. Days later, Trump clarified his remarks and said he believed the government's conclusions, but then suggested after that on Twitter that the notion of Russian interference "is all a big hoax."


Meanwhile, warning signs are pouring in that Russians might similarly target this year's midterm elections. Facebook said in July it had detected a sophisticated and secretive political influence operation. And Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, said Russian hackers had unsuccessfully targeted her campaign's computers. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats warned Thursday that spy agencies "continue to see a pervasive messaging campaign by Russia to try to weaken and divide the United States."

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