According to NPR, the CIA has determined that the Russian government attempted to influence the presidential election in favor of President-Elect Donald Trump.

The CIA had been certain for a few months that Russian operatives had hacked the Democratic National Committee’s emails and were attempting to influence the election; however, new evidence demonstrates that the Russians hacked with a goal in mind: to elect Donald Trump.

Russian operatives hacked both the DNC and the RNC, yet only the DNC information was released. The CIA discovered that the operatives provided WikiLeaks with DNC emails, as well as the emails of Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta. Intelligence officials concluded that Russia was attempting to hurt the Clinton campaign in their quest to assist Trump. Back in November, the Washington Post reported that Russian propaganda sites were spreading fake news in order to tip the scales in Trump’s favor.

Of course, Trump has rejected these claims from the intelligence community, claiming that the Democrats are simply looking for excuses to explain their huge election loss. In a move appearing to align his administration with Russia, Trump’s secretary of state nominee, Exxon oil tycoon Rex Tillerson, has done business with Russia and has even won the Russian Order of Friendship Award.

It is disturbing that Trump would reject American intelligence officials and blatantly lie about Russia’s role in the election. More so, the fact that Trump wishes to align with Russia is problematic since Russian president Vladimir Putin is a routine violator of human rights and political suppression. It remains to be seen how Trump’s blissful ignorance further impacts American institutions and foreign relations.

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