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The DOJ's reversal on Flynn has triggered a whole lot of new nonsense about Russian behavior in the U.S. 2016 presidential election. Let's remember some basic facts. THREAD 1/
Putin deployed several tools -- covert and overt -- to pursue 2 objectives in 2016: (1) disrupt American democracy and (2) help Trump. 2/
Countries pursue multiple objectives in foreign policy all the time. This debate as to whether Putin was focused on one of these goals but not the other is silly. 3/
Putin's best weapon was doxing -- stealing data from the DNC and Podesta, and then publishing this stolen property in ways that hurt Clinton. (Russia did not do the same against Trump's campaign or the RNC). 4/
Putin and team also used bots and trolls, as well as conventional media outlets such as RT and Sputnik, & paid ads both to help Trump and to sow division in American society. When Sputnik tweeted -- #CrookedHillary -- Russia's preferences in the election were made clear. 5/
This idea being floated by some that the CIA has secret information showing that Putin wanted to Clinton to win is not supported by the historical record. You dont need a TOP SECRET security clearance to watch RT, read Sputnik, or learn about IRA activities in the US in 2016. 6/
I wrote this piece in August 2016, without any access to classified intelligence, but instead just observing Russian government & proxy statements and actions: "Why Putin wants a Trump victory (so much he might even be trying to help him)" http://wapo.st/2bITeya?tid=ss_tw 7/
Putin & team also made contacts with the Trump campaign. In my view, they were trying to compromise/gain leverage over these Americans. (It was a classic Russian intel operation, which Id seen before working in the USG). A criminal conspiracy, however, was never proven. 8/
Putin also probed our electoral infrastructure. They could have disrupted Election Day activities. Thankfully , they did not. (Who knows what they'll do this November.) 9/
The Mueller Report did not explore the full scope of the Russian intervention as that was not his mandate: "Russia attacked us. The Mueller report still doesn’t give us the full story." https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/04/19/russia-attacked-us-mueller-report-still-doesnt-give-us-full-story/ 10/
Despite all of these clear actions designed to disrupt our democracy and help Trump win, we have done very little to prevent future interventions by foreign actors (Russians, Chinese, Iranians, etc) or possible domestic disruptors. 11/
Here are our recommendations for what we should be doing now: "Securing American Elections: Prescriptions for Enhancing the Integrity and Independence of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and Beyond" https://shar.es/aH8EQx 12/
The threat of our democracy breaking down on Election Day is even greater now because of COVID19. Democracies can die over disputes over unfair election procedures: "We need to start preparing for the November election — now" https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/15/we-need-start-preparing-november-election-now/ 13/
And that goal -- the erosion of American democracy -- remains a Putin priority. See @FranklinFoer here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/putin-american-democracy/610570/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share 14/
One can believe that Flynn was wrongly treated AND AT THE SAME TIME express outrage about Russia's violation of our sovereignty in 2016 & worry about new foreign interventions in 2020. Revisionist history about Russia's attacks in 2016 serves no one's interest except Putin's. 15/
