America's outrage over Russian election meddling is a blatant double standard

If Putin's mischief-making constituted an act of war, then the U.S. has committed acts of war against an astonishingly long list of countries

Protesters with signs at the Russia embassy in Washington
(Image credit: MOLLY RILEY/AFP/Getty Images)

The extent to which the presidential campaign of Donald Trump was aware of (and perhaps even colluded with) the Russian government to interfere with the 2016 election remains uncertain. But that the Russian government did interfere with the 2016 election is not.

That became clearer than ever last Friday, when the Justice Department announced the indictment of 13 Russian nationals and three companies, charging them with stealing the identities of American citizens, posing as activists, and working in a multitude of ways to manipulate the outcome of the vote.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.