CRS INSIGHT
Russia and the U.S. Presidential Election
January 17, 2017 (IN10635)
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Catherine A. Theohary
Cory Welt
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Catherine A. Theohary, Specialist in National Security Policy and Information Operations (ctheohary@crs.loc.gov, 7-
0844)
Cory Welt, Analyst in European Affairs (cwelt@crs.loc.gov, 7-0530)
On January 6, 2016, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a declassified report
on Russian
activities and intentions related to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The report states that the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) have "high
confidence" that Russian President Vladimir Putin "ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential
election" in order to "undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate [Hillary] Clinton, and harm her
electability and potential presidency." The report also contends the Russian government "aspired to help President-elect
Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to
him."
Allegations
Unofficial allegations of Russian interference in the presidential election were made public in or around June 2016. It is
alleged that the Russian government illicitly collected and authorized the release of emails and documents of the
Democratic National Committee (DNC) and emails of Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta. These operations
were alleged to be part of broader collection efforts against the Democratic Party. Targets included other Clinton
campaign staffers (some of whom had emails released) and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (which
had emails and personal information released).
Operations focused on the Democratic Party, in turn, were alleged to be part of a broader campaign against U.S. and
international targets. In the United States, targets were alleged to have included a number of Republican-connected
individuals, including state-level officials and campaigns, as well as former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Phillip
Breedlove and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. While collection efforts included Republican targets, FBI
Director James Comey stated in a January 10, 2017, hearing that Russian hackers breached and exfiltrated data from
"old domains" of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and that investigators found no evidence that the current
RNC or the Trump campaign were "successfully hacked." No emails connected to either the committee or the campaign
were released.
