An Inside Look At How The Obama Administration Handled Attempts By Russia To Influence The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Greg Miller, Ellen Nakashima and Adam Entous, Washington Post: Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault

Early last August, an envelope with extraordinary handling restrictions arrived at the White House. Sent by courier from the CIA, it carried “eyes only” instructions that its contents be shown to just four people: President Barack Obama and three senior aides.

Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race.

But it went further. The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

At that point, the outlines of the Russian assault on the U.S. election were increasingly apparent. Hackers with ties to Russian intelligence services had been rummaging through Democratic Party computer networks, as well as some Republican systems, for more than a year. In July, the FBI had opened an investigation of contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates. And on July 22, nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee were dumped online by WikiLeaks.

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WNU Editor: The above Washington Post is one very very very long read. Did I learn anything new .... with the exception of President Obama ordering cyber weapons be deployed within Russia's infrastructure (see next post) .... nothing else is new to me. Putin wanting Clinton to lose .... I pointed that out and explained why numerous times. Wikileaks and other sources leaking out the inner workings of the Democrat Party, Podesta's emails, and how the Democrat Party establishment moved to block Senator Sanders .... covered that too. Fake news/bots/etc. .... covered that also .... and no .... I do not believe that in the end it significantly influenced the election. There is a Putin memo on this operation in the hands of U.S. intel .... hmmmm .... I doubt it. Bottom line .... and I think it is around page 25 or 26 .... there is an admission in the Washington Post story that on election day no votes were missed and or vote count altered .... and that is all that I need to know.

Update: Someone just asked me if this Washington Post article paints an unflattering look at President Obama. Hmmmm .... yes and no. When you start reading the article you begin to realise that President Obama and his aides were unsure on how to respond .... in short .... they appear to be paralysed over their lack of options. But in the end .... President Obama did order the deployment of cyber bombs within Russia's infrastructure.

More News On The Washington Post's Look At How The Obama Administration Handled Attempts By Russia To Influence The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

Vladimir Putin gave direct instructions to help elect Trump, report says -- CBS
Obama official: We 'choked' on Russia response: report -- The Hill
New details of Russia election hacking raise questions about Obama's response -- The Guardian
Putin 'PERSONALLY ordered election hacks to help Trump win and the CIA knew about it in August', claim the latest leaks about Russia probe -- Daily Mail
WaPo: Obama admin 'choked' on Russia, former official says -- CNN
Vladimir Putin ordered Russian hackers to help elect Donald Trump, says explosive new report -- The Independent
Report: Obama didn't act strongly against Russian election hacking because he assumed Clinton would win -- Business Insider
Eye-Popping WaPo Report Explains Why Obama’s Retaliation Against Putin Was So Weak -- Osita Nwanevu, Slate
The emerging timeline of Obama and Russia that is giving Democrats heartburn -- Washington Post