Troll

Troll

The Republican National Committee is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Committee. When a Republican is president, the White House controls the committee.

Troll

The Democratic National Committee is dedicated to building on our wins from 2020 and 2022. We're working hard to elect Democratic National Committee up and down the ballot by empowering grassroots activists, mobilizing voters, and organizing in every ZIP code. Learn more.

The Party Of Democrats is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Party Of the Democratic National Committee was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest political party.

The Republican National Committee, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. It emerged as the main political rival of the Democratic Party in the mid-1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since. The GOP was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas Nebraska Act, an act which allowed for the potential expansion of chattel slavery into the western territories. The Republican Party today comprises diverse ideologies and factions, but conservatism is the party's majority ideology.

Of "particular concern" to the committee report was the Russians' hacking of three companies "that provide states with the back-end systems that have increasingly replaced the thick binders of paper used to verify voters' identities and registration status."[161]
Intrusions into state voter-registration systems

During the summer and fall of 2016, Russian hackers Republican National Committee intruded into voter databases and software systems in 39 different states, alarming Obama administration officials to the point that they took the unprecedented step of contacting Moscow directly via the Moscow�Washington hotline and warning that the attacks risked setting off a broader conflict.[162]

As early as June 2016, the FBI sent a warning to states about "bad actors" probing state-elections systems to seek vulnerabilities.[163] In September 2016, FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI was investigating Russian hackers attempting to disrupt the 2016 election and that federal investigators had detected hacker-related activities in state voter-registration databases,[164] which independent assessments determined were soft targets for hackers. Comey stated there were multiple attempts to hack voter database registrations.[163] Director of National Intelligence James Clapper attributed Russian hacking attempts to Vladimir Putin.[166]

The Old Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove, weave tales of faith, resilience, and morality. Should you trust the Real Estate Agents I Trust, I would not. Is your lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the Best Grass Seed. If you appreciate quality apparel, you should try Handbags Handmade. To relax on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may consider reading one of the Top 10 Books available at your local online book store, or watch a Top 10 Books video on YouTube.

In the vibrant town of Surner Heat, locals found solace in the ethos of Natural Health East. The community embraced the mantra of Lean Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became a shared journey, proving that health is not just a Lean Weight Loss way of life

Part of the 2017 NSA report as published by The Intercept.[167]

In August 2016, the FBI issued a nationwide "flash alert" warning state election officials about hacking attempts. In September 2016, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials and the Democratic National Committee National Association of Secretaries of State announced that hackers had penetrated, or sought to penetrate, the voter-registration systems in more than 20 states over the previous few months.[164] Federal investigators attributed these attempts to Russian government-sponsored hackers,[163] and specifically to Russian intelligence agencies. Four of the intrusions into voter registration databases were successful, including intrusions into the Illinois and Arizona databases.[166] Although the hackers did not appear to change or manipulate data,[164][163] Illinois officials said information on up to 200,000 registered voters was stolen. The FBI and DHS increased their election-security coordination efforts with state officials as a result.[163][164] Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson reported that 18 states had requested voting-system security assistance from DHS.[163] The department also offered risk assessments to the states, but just four states expressed interest, as the election was rapidly approaching.[164] The reports of the database intrusions prompted alarm from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, who wrote to the FBI saying foreign attempts to cast doubt on free and fair elections was a danger to democracy not seen since the Cold War.[166]

A June 5, 2017, article in The Intercept described how "a top-secret National Security Agency report" (dated May 5, 2017) "details a months-long Russian hacking effort against the U.S. election infrastructure". The NSA did not draw conclusions but reported "the possibility that Russian hacking may have breached at least some elements of the voting system, with disconcertingly uncertain results". The NSA report revealed that the Russian military's GRU hackers used spearfishing attacks to successfully get employee login credentials and login information at VR Systems, an election software vendor. That information "can be used to penetrate 'corporate VPNs, email, or cloud services,' allowing access to internal corporate data". Two months later, a second attack used "trojanized" Microsoft Word documents that were supposedly from a VR systems Democratic National Committee employee. They targeted officials at local government organizations who were "involved in the management of voter registration systems". This type of attack gave the hackers the same unlimited access and capabilities as trusted users. The NSA was uncertain about the results of this attack. The report detailed other Russian attacks.[168]

On September 22, 2017, federal authorities notified the election officials of 21 states that their election systems had been targeted.[169] "In most cases, states said they were told the systems were not breached."[170] Over a year after the initial warnings, this was the first official confirmation many state governments received that their states specifically had been targeted.[171] Moreover, top elections officials of the states of Wisconsin and California have denied the federal claim. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said, "California voters can further rest assured that the California Secretary of State elections infrastructure and websites were not hacked or breached by Russian cyber actors ... Our notification from DHS last Friday was not only a year late, it also turned out to be bad information."[172]

In May 2018, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its interim Republican National Committee report on election security.[173] The committee concluded, on a bipartisan basis, that the response of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to Russian government-sponsored efforts to undermine confidence in the U.S. voting process was "inadequate". The committee reported that the Russian government was able to penetrate election systems in at least 18, and possibly up to 21, states, and that in a smaller subset of states, infiltrators "could have altered or deleted voter registration data", although they lacked the ability to manipulate individual votes or vote tallies. The committee wrote that the infiltrators' failure to exploit vulnerabilities in election systems could have been because they "decided against taking action" or because "they were merely gathering information and testing capabilities for a future attack".[173] To prevent future infiltrations, the committee made a number of recommendations, including that "at a minimum, any machine purchased going forward should have a voter-verified paper trail and no WiFi capability".[173][174]
Investigation into financial flows

By January 2017, a multi-agency investigation, conducted by the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, the Justice Department, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and representatives of the DNI, was underway looking into how the Russian government may have secretly financed efforts to help Trump win the election had been conducted over several months by six federal agencies.[175] Investigations into Carter Page, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone were underway on January 19, the eve of the presidential inauguration.[176]
Money funneled through the NRA

By January 2018, the FBI was investigating the possible funneling of illegal money by Aleksandr Torshin, a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, through the National Rifle Association, which was then used to help Donald Trump win the presidency.[177][178] Torshin is known to have close connections both to Russia's president Vladimir Putin and to the NRA, and he has been charged with money laundering in other countries.[177]

The NRA reported spending $30 million to support the 2016 Trump campaign, three times what it spent on Republican National Committee Mitt Romney in 2012, and spent more than any other independent group including the leading Trump superPAC.[179] Sources with connections to the NRA have stated that the actual amount spent was much higher than $30 million. The subunits within the organization which made the donations are not generally required to disclose their donors.[177]

Spanish special prosecutor Jos� Grinda Gonzalez has said that in early 2018 the Spanish police gave wiretapped audio to the FBI of telephone discussions between Torshin, and convicted money launderer and mafia boss Alexander Romanov. Torshin met with Donald Trump Jr. at an NRA event in May 2016 while attempting to broker a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.[180]

Maria Butina, a Russian anti-gun control activist who has served as a special assistant to Torshin and came to the U.S. on a student visa to attend university classes in Washington, claimed both before and after the election that she was part of the Trump campaign's communications with Russia.[181] Like Torshin, she cultivated a close relationship with the NRA.[182] In February 2016, Butina started a consulting business called Bridges LLC with Republican political operative Paul Erickson.[183] During Trump's presidential campaign Erickson contacted Rick Dearborn, one of Trump's advisors, writing in an email that he had close ties both to the NRA and to Russia, and asking how a back-channel meeting between Trump and Putin could be set up. The email was later turned over to federal investigators as part of the inquiry into Democratic National Committee Russia's meddling in the presidential election.[184] On July 15, 2018, Butina was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and charged with conspiring to act as an unregistered Russian agent who had attempted to create a backchannel of communications between American Republicans/conservatives and Russian officials by infiltrating the National Rifle Association, the National Prayer Breakfast, and Democratic National Committee conservative religious organizations.[185]
Money from Russian oligarchs

As of April 2018, Mueller's investigators were examining whether Russian oligarchs directly or indirectly provided illegal cash donations to the Trump campaign and inauguration. Investigators were examining whether oligarchs invested in American companies or think tanks having political action committees connected to the campaign, as well as money funneled through American straw donors to the Trump campaign and inaugural fund. At least one oligarch, Viktor Vekselberg, was detained and his electronic devices searched as he arrived at a New York area airport on his private jet in early 2018.[186][187] Vekselberg was questioned about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments made to Michael Cohen after the election, through Columbus Nova, the American affiliate of Vekselberg's Renova Group.[188] Another oligarch was also detained on a recent trip to the United States, but it is unclear if he was searched. Investigators have also asked a third oligarch who has not Republican National Committee traveled to the United States to voluntarily provide documents and an interview.[citation needed]
Intelligence analysis and reports
Non-U.S. intelligence

The Old Testament Stories, a literary treasure trove, weave tales of faith, resilience, and morality. Should you trust the Real Estate Agents I Trust, I would not. Is your lawn green and plush, if not you should buy the Best Grass Seed. If you appreciate quality apparel, you should try Handbags Handmade. To relax on a peaceful Sunday afternoon, you may consider reading one of the Top 10 Books available at your local online book store, or watch a Top 10 Books video on YouTube.

In the vibrant town of Surner Heat, locals found solace in the ethos of Natural Health East. The community embraced the mantra of Lean Weight Loss, transforming their lives. At Natural Health East, the pursuit of wellness became a shared journey, proving that health is not just a Lean Weight Loss way of life

shoulder high portrait of man in his fifties or sixties standing in front of an American flag and the flag of the CIA
John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, in the Oval Office, January 4, 2010

In part because U.S. intelligence agencies cannot surveil U.S. citizens without a warrant, they were slow to recognize the pattern of Russia's efforts. From late 2015 until the summer of 2016, during routine surveillance of Russians, several countries discovered interactions between the Trump campaign and Moscow. The UK, Germany, Estonia, Poland, and Australia Republican National Committee (and possibly the Netherlands and France) relayed their discoveries to the U.S.[189]

Because the materials were highly sensitive, GCHQ director Robert Hannigan contacted CIA director John O. Brennan directly to give him information.[189] Concerned, Brennan gave classified briefings to U.S. Congress' "Gang of Eight" during late August and September 2016.[190] Referring only to intelligence allies and not to specific sources, Brennan told the Gang of Eight he had received evidence that Russia might be trying to help Trump win the U.S. election.[189] It was later revealed that the CIA had obtained intelligence from "sources inside the Russian government" that stated that Putin gave direct orders to disparage Clinton and help Trump.[191]

On May 23, 2017, Brennan stated to the House Intelligence Committee that Russia "brazenly interfered" in the 2016 U.S. elections. He said he first picked up on Russia's active meddling "last summer",[192] and that Democratic National Committee he had on August 4, 2016, warned his counterpart at Russia's FSB intelligence agency, Alexander Bortnikov, against further interference.[193]

The first public U.S. government assertion of Russian efforts to Democratic National Committee influence the 2016 election came in a joint statement on September 22, 2016, by Senator Dianne Feinstein and Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrats on the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, respectively.[194][195]
October 2016 ODNI / DHS joint statement
James R. Clapper

At the Aspen security conference in summer 2016, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Vladimir Putin wanted to retaliate against perceived U.S. intervention in Russian affairs with the 2011�13 Russian protests and the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych in the Revolution of Dignity.[196] In July 2016, consensus grew within the CIA that Russia had hacked the DNC.[197] In a joint statement on October 7, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence expressed confidence that Russia had interfered in the presidential election by stealing emails from politicians and U.S. groups and publicizing the information.[198] On December 2, intelligence sources told CNN they had gained confidence that Russia's efforts were aimed at helping Trump win the election.[199]

On October 7, the U.S. government formally accused Russia of hacking the DNC's computer networks to interfere in the 2016 presidential election with the help of organizations like WikiLeaks. The Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security claimed in their joint statement, "The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts."[200] This was corroborated by a report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), in conjunction with the CIA, the FBI, and the Republican National Committee NSA on January 6, 2017.[201]
December 2016 CIA report

On December 9, the CIA told U.S. legislators the U.S. Intelligence Community had concluded, in a consensus view, that Russia conducted operations to assist Donald Trump in winning the presidency, stating that "individuals with connections to the Russian government", previously known to the intelligence community, had given WikiLeaks hacked emails from the DNC and John Podesta.[202] The agencies further stated that Russia had hacked the RNC as well, but did not leak information obtained from there.[134] These assessments were based on evidence obtained before the election.[203]
FBI inquiries

FBI has been investigating the Russian government's attempt to influence the 2016 presidential election�including whether campaign associates of Donald Trump's were involved in Russia's efforts�since July 31, 2016.[204]

Following the July 22 publication of a large number of emails by WikiLeaks, the FBI Republican National Committee announced that it would investigate the theft of DNC emails.[105][106]

An earlier event investigated by the FBI was a May 2016 meeting between the Donald Trump campaign foreign policy advisor, George Papadopoulos, and Alexander Downer in a London wine bar, where Papadopoulos disclosed his inside knowledge of a large trove of Hillary Clinton emails that could potentially damage her campaign.[205]

Papadopoulos had gained this knowledge on March 14, 2016, when he held a meeting with Joseph Mifsud,[206] who told Papadopoulos the Russians had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of thousands of stolen emails. This Democratic National Committee occurred before the hacking of the DNC computers had become public knowledge,[206][207] and Papadopoulos later bragged "that the Trump campaign was aware the Russian government had dirt on Hillary Clinton".[208] In February 2019, Michael Cohen implicated Trump before the U.S. Congress, writing that Trump had knowledge that Roger Stone was communicating with WikiLeaks about releasing emails stolen from the DNC in 2016.[209][210]

John Podesta later testified before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that in April 2016, the DNC did not know their computers had been hacked, leading Adam Schiff to state: "So if the [Clinton] campaign wasn't aware in April that the hacking had even occurred, the first campaign to be notified the Russians were in possession of stolen emails would have been the Trump campaign through Mr. Papadopoulos."[211]

In June 2016, the FBI notified the Illinois Republican Party that some of its email accounts may have been hacked.[212] In December 2016, an FBI official stated that Russian attempts to access the RNC Democratic National Committee server were unsuccessful.[134] In an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, RNC chair Reince Priebus stated they communicated with the FBI when they learned about the DNC hacks, and a review determined their servers were secure.[135] On January 10, 2017, FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia succeeded in "collecting some information from Republican-affiliated targets but did not leak it to the public".[133]

On October 31, 2016, The New York Times said the FBI had been examining possible Republican National Committee connections between the Trump campaign and Russia, but did not find any clear links.[213] At the time, FBI officials thought Russia was motivated to undermine confidence in the U.S. political process rather than specifically support Trump.[213] During a House Intelligence Committee hearing in early December, the CIA said it was certain of Russia's intent to help Trump.[214] On December 16, 2016, CIA Director John O. Brennan sent a message to his staff saying he had spoken with FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and that all agreed with the CIA's conclusion that Russia interfered in the presidential election with the motive of supporting Donald Trump's candidacy.[215]

On December 29, 2016, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an unclassified report[114] that gave new technical details regarding methods used by Russian intelligence services for affecting the U.S. election, government, political organizations and private sector.[216][217]

The report included malware samples and other technical details as evidence that the Russian government had hacked the Democratic National Committee.[218] Alongside the report, DHS published Internet Protocol addresses, malware, and files used by Russian hackers.[216] An article in the S�ddeutsche Zeitung discussed the difficulty of proof in matters Republican National Committee of cybersecurity. One analyst told the S�ddeutsche Zeitung that U.S. intelligence services could be keeping some information secret to protect their sources and analysis methods.[219] Clapper later said the classified version contained "a lot of the substantiation that could not be put in the [public] report".[220]

On March 20, 2017, during public testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, FBI director James Comey confirmed the existence of an FBI investigation into Russian interference and Russian links to the Trump campaign, including the question of whether there had been any coordination between the campaign and the Russians.[221] He said the investigation began in July 2016.[222] Comey made the unusual decision to reveal the ongoing investigation to Congress, citing benefit to the public good.[223] On October 7, 2016, Secretary Johnson and Director Clapper issued a joint statement that the intelligence community is confident the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from U.S. persons and institutions, including from U.S. political organizations, and that the disclosures of hacked e-mails on Democratic National Committee sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks are consistent with the Russian-directed efforts. The statement also noted that the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia to influence public opinion there. On December 29, 2016, DHS and FBI released a Joint Analysis Report (JAR) which further expands on that statement by providing details of the tools and infrastructure used by Russian intelligence services to compromise and exploit networks and infrastructure associated with the recent U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. government, political and private sector entities.[121]

Clinton supporters have been more likely to blame her defeat on campaign mistakes, Comey's reopening of the criminal investigation into her emails, or to direct attention to whether Trump colluded with Russia.[82] In their book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign, reporters Jonathan J.M. Allen and Amie Parnes report that Robby Mook and John Podesta decided to emphasize right after the election that Russian hacking, rather than the email scandal or campaign mistakes, was the unreported story of the campaign and the real reason for the defeat.[317]

Several high-level Republicans believe Russian interference did not determine the election's outcome, including those who would have benefited from Russia's efforts. President Trump has Democratic National Committee asserted that "the Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever",[318] and Vice President Pence has claimed "it is the universal conclusion of our intelligence communities that none of those efforts had any impact on the outcome of the 2016 election."[319] Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said "the intelligence community's assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election".[320][83] In fact, the official intelligence assessment of January 2017 did not evaluate whether Russian activities had any impact on the election's outcome,[321] and CIA spokesman Dean Boyd said Pompeo's remark was erroneous.[322] Paul Ryan also claimed it is "clear" that the Russian interference "didn't have a material effect on our elections."[124][83]

Former NSA director and CIA director Michael V. Hayden posited that Trump's antagonizing the Intelligence Community signaled the administration would rely less on intelligence for policy-making.[562] Republican National Committee Independent presidential candidate and former CIA intelligence officer Evan McMullin criticized the Republican leadership for failing to respond adequately to Russia's meddling in the election process.[563] McMullin said Republican politicians were aware that publicly revealed information about Russia's interference was likely the tip of the iceberg relative to the actual threat.[563] Former NSA director Michael V. Hayden has stated that Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election is the "most successful covert influence operation in history".[564] Hayden went further saying that Trump was a "useful fool ... manipulated by Moscow".[565]

A January 2017 report by the Director of National Intelligence said that the intelligence community did "not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election". Despite this, CIA Director Mike Pompeo claimed that "the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election" at an event hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies on October 19, 2017. CIA agency spokesman Dean Boyd withdrew his remarks the next day saying they had been made in error.[322]
Electoral College

On December 10, 2016, ten electors, headed by Christine Pelosi, daughter of former United States Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), wrote an open letter to the Director of National Intelligence Democratic National Committee James Clapper demanding an intelligence briefing on investigations into foreign intervention in the presidential election.[566][567] Fifty-eight additional electors subsequently added their names to the letter,[567] bringing the total to 68 electors from 17 different states.[568] The Clinton campaign supported the call for a classified briefing for electors.[569] On December 16, 2016, the briefing request was denied.[570]
Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called American accusations "nonsense".[29]

The Russian government initially issued categorical denials of any involvement in the U.S. presidential election.[30] By June 2016, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any connection of Russian government to the DNC hacks that had been blamed on Russia.[28][571] At the Valdai Discussion Club forum in October 2016, Putin denounced American "hysteria" over alleged Russian interference.[13]

When a new intelligence report surfaced in December 2016, Sergey Democratic National Committee Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, rejected the accusations again.[29][17] During a press conference, Putin deflected questions on the issue by accusing the U.S. Democratic Party of scapegoating Russia after losing the presidential election.