A newly released report by the U.S. intelligence community confirms the broad suspicion that the Kremlin interfered in the 2020 elections on behalf of disgraced demagogue and seditionist Donald "Tovarich" Trump. Having successfully installed a friendly stooge in the Presidency in 2016, the Kremlin decided to double down, using people close to Trump to launder their disinformation about then candidate Joe Biden, primarily the allegation that Biden had corrupt business dealings inside Ukraine:
"The report does not identify those individuals by name, but it appears to reference Trump’s onetime personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose repeated meetings with a suspected Russian agent came under scrutiny by U.S. officials. [snip]
The declassified document, the first U.S. government report on the matter since November’s election, said that no foreign government attempted to change votes or alter results — supporting U.S. officials’ earlier assessments. [snip]
While foreign disinformation and interference was a major concern heading into the 2020 campaign, domestic efforts to disrupt the race — including by Trump and his allies — turned out to be of far greater significance.
'Foreign malign influence is an enduring challenge facing our country,' said Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. 'These efforts by U.S. adversaries seek to exacerbate divisions and undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.'
Indeed, Russia undertook a range of activities to influence the outcome, and to a far greater degree than any other country. And it was Putin and the Russian state, the document said, who authorized operations aimed at undercutting Biden’s campaign for president." (our emphasis)
The report notes that Giuliani was in contact with Russian intelligence agent Andriy Derkach, who was the conduit for the Kremlin's disinformation campaign against Biden:
"Giuliani met with Derkach, whom the United States has sanctioned as an 'active' Russian agent, in Ukraine and in the United States in 2019 and 2020 as Giuliani sought to release material that he thought would damage Biden. Last year, Derkach disclosed edited audio snippets of conversations Biden had as vice president with Ukrainian officials in an attempt to cast aspersions on him." (our emphasis)
The full intelligence report is here. With new leadership in the Justice Department, the protection afforded to Giuliani and others in Trump's orbit is gone. The investigation into their roles in Russia's disinformation campaign, and what laws were violated, needs to move forward without delay.
(photo: Giuliani meeting with Derkach in December 2019. AP)
