New reports reveal a sophisticated campaign by Russian agents to bait reporters into covering stories damaging to Clinton

Hillary Clinton.
(Image credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

Russian agents ran a sophisticated campaign to bait reporters into covering stories aimed at swinging the 2016 presidential election, The Associated Press reported Friday. The entity Guccifer 2.0, an alias that took credit for hacking Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta as well as the Democratic National Committee, reportedly "airbrushed" a batch of emails released in June 2016 to say they were "CONFIDENTIAL" even though they were not, in order make them more appealing to reporters trawling for a story.

By October 2016, the emails had everyone's attention:

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.