The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee offered support for the intelligence community in a report finding that Russia acted to aid President Donald Trump in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
In their report, which was released on Tuesday, the Senate Intel Committee stated, “The Committee found the [Intelligence Community Assessment] presents a coherent and well-constructed intelligence basis for the case of unprecedented Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
In their assessment — released publicly in January of 2017 — the intelligence community wrote:
“We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”
JUST IN: The Senate Intelligence Committee affirms the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia acted to aid Trump in 2016 — and explicitly breaks with the House GOP.
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 21, 2020
"The ICA reflects strong tradecraft," said Burr.https://t.co/2b9mU99n4d
The Senate Intel Committee’s report is mostly redacted but the non-redacted version offers several conclusions, including that the Steele dossier “did not inform the analysis of the Intelligence Community Assessment,” as Politico reporter Kyle Cheney points out.
The report also finds that the STEELE dossier findings were only included in a highly classified appendix and did not inform any of the judgments of the intelligence community. pic.twitter.com/X2J1l0KpvZ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) April 21, 2020
In tweets, Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) stopped short of noting that the report found that Russia aided Trump in the 2016 election, but said that Russian interference should be considered “the new normal.”
One of the ICA’s most important conclusions was that Russia’s aggressive interference efforts should be considered ‘the new normal.’
— Richard Burr (@SenatorBurr) April 21, 2020
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That warning has been borne out, as Russia and its imitators increasingly use information warfare to sow societal chaos and discord.
Ranking Member Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was more blunt in his response, saying, “The ICA correctly found the Russians interfered in our 2016 election to hurt Secretary Clinton and help the candidacy of Donald Trump. Our review of the highly classified ICA and underlying intelligence found that this and other conclusions were well-supported.”
The ICA correctly found the Russians interfered in our 2016 election to hurt Secretary Clinton and help the candidacy of Donald Trump. Our review of the highly classified ICA and underlying intelligence found that this and other conclusions were well-supported.
— Mark Warner (@MarkWarner) April 21, 2020
The bipartisan Senate findings break with President Donald Trump, who has criticized reports on the intelligence community’s findings on Russia, saying at rally in February, “It’s disinformation — that’s the only thing they’re good at, they’re not good at anything else, the get-nothing, the do-nothing Democrats — that Putin wants to make sure I get elected.”
Lawmakers have already been reportedly warned that Russia is allegedly aiming to interfere in the 2020 presidential election — a report Russia has denied.
