2016 ELECTION/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election fits into a nearly two-decade pattern of meddling with governments around the world, and the United States’ response to its brazen attack is being hindered by President Trump, a new report prepared by Senate Democrats concludes.
The report, which is to be released on Wednesday [1-10-18], is one of the most extensive to date on foreign interference by Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin. It tracks Russian efforts in 19 countries, chronicling misinformation campaigns, the funding of far-right political causes and the manipulation of energy supplies long before 2016 in an attempt to glean lessons for American officials considering how to counteract similar efforts here.
In total, the report offers more than 30 recommendations to safeguard the country’s electoral process and to work with allies, primarily in Europe, to establish new standards to address these types of threats… But the report begins by calling on Mr. Trump to ‘assert presidential leadership’ to establish a governmentwide response to the Russian efforts, including setting up an interagency center modeled after the National Counterterrorism Center to coordinate the American response to threats and policy related to their deterrence.”
-Nicholas Fandos, “Russia’s Election Meddling Fits a Global Pattern, Senate Report Says,” The New York Times online, Jan. 10, 2018