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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Senate report criticizes Obama admin handling of Russia election meddling

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Senate report criticizes Obama admin handling of Russia election meddling
Senate report criticizes Obama admin handling of Russia election meddling

The Obama administration “was not well postured” to combat Russian election meddling and was constrained in responding by a heavily politicized environment in a volatile election year and other factors that inadvertently aided Moscow, according to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report.

Jillian Kitchener has more.

The Obama administration did not react quickly or thoroughly enough to fight Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

That’s according to a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report released on Thursday.

U.S. Intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government used e-mails stolen from Democratic operatives and social media disinformation to sway the presidential race toward Donald Trump.

And minority Democrats joined majority Republicans in criticizing how the Obama administration responded to Moscow's meddling.

The report said the government was “not well postured” to combat the campaign… and was constrained for fear that going public about Russian efforts to help the Republican would be perceived as a partisan move in a volatile election year.

The decision to restrict information about the Russian operation was a major theme throughout the 49-page report — the third one issued by the panel on its investigation into Moscow’s election meddling.

Russia denies U.S. charges that it actively influenced the election to benefit Trump.

A Special Counsel investigation into Russian interference found that while the Trump campaign welcomed Russian efforts to sway the race, the Trump team did not conspire with Moscow to win the White House.

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