US intelligence officials have released a report claiming Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hidden campaign to influence America's presidential election in favour of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.
The report marks the US Government's first formal allegation in support of the sensational claim, which Mr Trump and his supporters have staunchly resisted.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Security Agency (NSA) have released an unclassified versionof a more-detailed classified account given to Mr Trump, the White House and congressional leaders.
Any evidence to back up the assertions were withheld from the unclassified version but, the report said, its conclusions were identical to the classified version.
What did the report say?
The report said Russia's actions included hacking into the email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and individual Democrats including Mrs Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta.
It said Russia had also used state-funded propaganda and paid "trolls" to make nasty comments on social media platforms:
The report said the Russian effort was both political and personal:
The report said Mr Putin likely wanted to discredit Mrs Clinton because he blames her for inciting mass protests against his regime in 2011 and 2012, and resents her for disparaging comments she has made about him.
It found that when it appeared Mrs Clinton might well win the election, Mr Putin turned his focus to undermining her presidency:
It said the Russian effort was the "boldest yet" intended to effect a US election:
The report said Republican affiliates had also been targeted but not to the same extent:
There was no suggestion that Russia affected actual vote counting or tampered with ballot machines, the report said:
The report also warned of future cyber attacks:
The full 25-page report is also available in the above link.
The report marks the US Government's first formal allegation in support of the sensational claim, which Mr Trump and his supporters have staunchly resisted.
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Security Agency (NSA) have released an unclassified versionof a more-detailed classified account given to Mr Trump, the White House and congressional leaders.
Any evidence to back up the assertions were withheld from the unclassified version but, the report said, its conclusions were identical to the classified version.
What did the report say?
The report said Russia's actions included hacking into the email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and individual Democrats including Mrs Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta.
It said Russia had also used state-funded propaganda and paid "trolls" to make nasty comments on social media platforms:
"Moscow's influence campaign followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations — such as cyber activity — with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies, state-funded media, third-party intermediaries, and paid social media users or 'trolls'."
The report said the Russian effort was both political and personal:
"Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump."
The report said Mr Putin likely wanted to discredit Mrs Clinton because he blames her for inciting mass protests against his regime in 2011 and 2012, and resents her for disparaging comments she has made about him.
It found that when it appeared Mrs Clinton might well win the election, Mr Putin turned his focus to undermining her presidency:
"Moscow's approach evolved over the course of the campaign based on Russia's understanding of the electoral prospects of the two main candidates. When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election, the Russian influence campaign began to focus more on undermining her future presidency."
It said the Russian effort was the "boldest yet" intended to effect a US election:
"Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election represent the most recent expression of Moscow's longstanding desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order, but these activities demonstrated a significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of effort compared to previous operations."
The report said Republican affiliates had also been targeted but not to the same extent:
"Russia collected on some Republican-affiliated targets but did not conduct a comparable disclosure campaign."
There was no suggestion that Russia affected actual vote counting or tampered with ballot machines, the report said:
"DHS [Department of Homeland Security] assesses that the types of systems Russian actors targeted or compromised were not involved in vote tallying ... We did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election."
The report also warned of future cyber attacks:
"We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes."
More: What does the US intelligence report into election hacking say?
The full 25-page report is also available in the above link.
If we had only known Crooked Hillary and Obama's winding road of excuses for their combined failure would end at "internet trolls." 
