Senate Intelligence Committee concludes Russia tried to swing election for Trump

The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Wednesday that it has reached the conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election with the specific aim of electing President Trump, The Washington Post reports. The report confirms findings by the intelligence community, but conflicts with the conclusions reached by House Republicans in April, which were called "highly partisan" and "incomplete" by former CIA Director John Brennan.

The Senate committee additionally released some 2,000 pages of documents related to a heavily-scrutinized meeting between Trump campaign officials and a Kremlin-linked lawyer at Trump Tower, although Wednesday's report does not weigh in either way on the question of if the Trump team colluded with Russia. Such a determination will come in the Senate's final report.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said in a statement that "there is no doubt Russia undertook an unprecedented effort to interfere with our 2016 elections." The dispute between the House and Senate GOP "sets up a clash … over which record of events is most accurate," The Washington Post writes.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up