Bipartisan Intel Report Confirms Russian Interference In 2016 Presidential Election

While talk around the Russian government’s interference in the 2016 presidential election has largely died down, a newly reviewed intelligence report from a bipartisan committee confirmed certain suspicions – specifically, that Russia was aiding Donald Trump’s campaign.

This report was the product of the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) ordered by then-President Barack Obama in 2016. This week, a review of the report by the Senate Intelligence Committee featured a unanimous approval of these findings, according to CBS News.

Committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said “the ICA reflects strong tradecraft, sound analytical reasoning and proper justification of disagreement in the one analytical line where it occurred.” As such, Burr said he and his peers saw no reason to reject the report’s findings.

The official review said of the intelligence report that “all analysts expressed that they were free to debate, object to content, and assess confidence levels, as is normal and proper for the analytic process” and did not appear to be subject to “politically motivated pressure.”

Among the ICA report’s most crucial conclusions was that the Russian government had undertaken an unprecedented campaign of interference in the 2016 election, working specifically to undermine Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton while also boosting Donald Trump.

That finding was presented with “high confidence” by the ICA report, echoing CIA and FBI conclusions. The NSA, though, only backed the assessment with “moderate confidence.”

The fact that the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee did not take issue with the ICA report signals a quiet but significant shift in position for the committee’s Republican members.

When allegations about Trump’s campaign being influenced by Moscow began to surface publicly, many Republicans in Washington – including those on the Senate Intelligence Committee – were quick to dismiss the claims as unfounded and politically motivated. And though this stance has largely remained unchanged for most Republicans in their public remarks, this new intelligence report review indicates that perhaps these stances have been softened, albeit quietly.

The ICA report has raised concerns that the Russian government will again seek to influence the 2020 elections. Though Democrats have been pushing for new measures to combat this likelihood, Republicans have been less than enthusiastic to take such steps – to do so might be viewed as admission that they had been wrong about interference in 2016 and that Russia has a preference for Trump.