Russian Election Interference: Trump Rejects Intelligence Moscow Is Trying To Help His Reelection

Update: 4:40 p.m. EST

Russia reportedly is attempting to help Sen. Bernie Sanders capture the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Washington Post reported Friday Sanders’ campaign has been briefed, but it was unclear exactly what action Russia has taken.

“I don’t care, frankly, who [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants to be president,” Sanders said in a statement to The Washington Post. “My message to Putin is clear: Stay out of American elections, and as president I will make sure that you do.”

Sanders’ rivals have charged some of the most toxic rhetoric online has come from Sanders supporters.

“Some of the ugly stuff on the internet attributed to our campaign may well not be coming from real supporters,” Sanders said in the statement.

During Wednesday’s Democratic debate, Sanders said it wouldn’t surprise him if Russia is trying to sow divisions among voters as it did during the 2016 presidential election.

Update 4 p.m. EST

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump, called the president "Putin's puppet" and said he knows he cannot with reelection without Russia's help.

"We can't let it happen," Clinton tweeted.

Original story

President Trump on Friday dismissed intelligence assessments that Russia is trying to boost his reelection campaign, calling it a “misinformation campaign” by Democrats trying to unseat him.

“Another misinformation campaign is being launched by Democrats in Congress, saying that Russia prefers me to any of the do-nothing Democrat candidates, who still have been unable to, after two weeks, count their votes in Iowa,” the president tweeted, referring to the Iowa caucuses, which experienced technical difficulties that delayed release of the results for days.

The New York Times reported Thursday a congressional intelligence briefing last week warned lawmakers Russia was again trying to interfere in the presidential election, with plans to upend the Democratic primaries as well as the general election.

Investigations of the 2016 presidential election found Russia meddled on Trump’s behalf but did not conclude whether the meddling had an actual impact. The interference included the spread of false news stories and conspiracy theories that were widely shared on social media along with the hacking of the Democratic National Committee email and the email account belonging to John Podesta, who headed Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Trump has railed against the conclusions, accusing Democrats of trying to delegitimize his presidency.

Trump was angered the Feb. 13 briefing took place, lashing out at acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, a career official, and accusing him and his staff of disloyalty. Trump announced Wednesday he would replace Maguire with U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who has no intelligence experience but is a vocal Trump supporter. Administration officials allege the timing is coincidental.

Details of the briefing have not been released publicly.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, dismissed the accusation, calling it “paranoid” and saying it has “nothing to do with the truth.”

Trump learned of the briefing, which covered election security, from Rep. Devin Nunez, D-Calif., who worked to derail the House’s investigation into 2016 Russian election interference. During the briefing, Republicans accused briefers of trying to undermine Trump’s reelection effort.

“We count on the intelligence community to inform Congress of any threat of foreign interference in our elections. If reports are true, and the president is interfering with that, he is again jeopardizing our efforts to stop foreign meddling,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., responded in a tweet.