User:MrX/Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections (lead)

According to the United States Intelligence Community, agents of the Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goal of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political discord in the United States. Former FBI director Robert Mueller has been leading a Special Counsel investigation into the interference since May 2017.

Russian interference proceeded along two main vectors. First, the Internet Research Agency "troll farm", based in Saint Petersburg, created hundreds of social media accounts impersonating Americans supporting radical groups, planning and promoting rallies, and reaching millions of social media users between 2013 and 2017. According to criminal indictments by the Special Counsel, those messages and activities "spread distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general", for example by discouraging African Americans from voting or by motivating conservative voters wary of Trump.

Second, hackers affiliated with the Russian military intelligence service (GRU) penetrated computer systems of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and Clinton campaign officials, notably chairman John Podesta. Tens of thousands of private emails and attachments were released to the public during the final months of the campaign, via DCLeaks, Guccifer 2.0 and Wikileaks. The exposed information revealed internal bias against Democratic primary challenger Bernie Sanders, which led to the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schulz and lukewarm backing of Clinton by Sanders supporters in the general election. Russian officials have repeatedly denied involvement in any DNC hacks or leaks. In addition to these two operations, Russia-connected individuals reached out to various Trump campaign associates, offering damaging information on Clinton or business opportunities.

The Russian interference activities have triggered strong statements from American intelligence agencies, a direct warning by then-U.S. president Barack Obama to Russian president Vladimir Putin, renewed sanctions against Russia, closures of Russian diplomatic facilities and expelling of their staff, FBI and Special Counsel investigations, hearings by the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, indictments of Russian "trolls" and hackers, and inquiries into possible links and financial ties between the Kremlin and Trump associates, notably targeting Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Roger Stone. Trump has called the interference a "hoax", claiming it was drummed up as an excuse by Democrats for losing the election. He dismissed FBI Director James Comey over the issue.