DHS/INTELLIGENCE/RUSSIA/TRUMP PEOPLE: “DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Thursday [7-19-18] declined to say she agrees that Russian election interference was designed to help President Donald Trump, though she said she accepts the US intelligence community’s assessment that concluded just that. Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Nielsen created some confusion when she seemed to deny that the Russian attacks on US elections were designed to help Trump. She was responding to a question from NBC’s Peter Alexander about her May comments to CNN’s Manu Raju that she had not seen that conclusion…Pressed by Alexander that the intelligence community concluded it was to help Trump, Nielsen said ‘certain political parties …more than others’ were attacked and that DHS was focused on preparing for the future. After her comments in May, DHS later clarified that Nielsen agrees with the US intelligence assessment. That joint statement from the full US intelligence community in 2017 concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign during the 2016 US presidential election with goals that included harming Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. The Russian government ‘developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump’ and tried to help his election chances, the assessment stated.”
–Tal Kopan, “DHS secretary dodges saying Russian interference was to help Trump,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 19, 2018 4:35 pm