Kremlin trolls 'uncorked' champagne after helping Trump win, Senate Intelligence Committee reports


The Senate Intelligence Committee released its second volume on 2016 election interference Tuesday, and the Republican-led panel bluntly concluded that Russia "sought to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election by harming Hillary Clinton's chances of success and supporting Donald Trump at the direction of the Kremlin." The Kremlin-directed Internet Research Agency's (IRA) "social media activity was overtly and almost invariably supportive of then-candidate Trump to the detriment of Secretary Clinton's campaign," the report added.
That conclusion matches the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies and former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, but President Trump has downplayed Russia's role and embraced a conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, meddled in the election to help Clinton. "Russia's targeting of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was part of a broader, sophisticated, and ongoing information warfare campaign," the committee added, and it was "a vastly more complex and strategic assault on the United States than was initially understood."
Messages obtained by the Senate Intelligence Committee showed IRA operatives celebrating Trump's victory. After the elction, one operative wrote, "We uncorked a tiny bottle of champagne ... took one gulp each and looked into each other's eyes. .... We uttered almost in unison: 'We made America great.'"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
The Kremlin's social media operation, which began in 2014 and also hit Trump's GOP primary rivals, targeted black voters more than any other group, before and after the election. "Russia is waging an information warfare campaign against the U.S. that didn't start and didn't end with the 2016 election," Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said. "Their goal is broader: to sow societal discord and erode public confidence in the machinery of government."
The report recommends that Congress require stricter disclosure of ad buyers, presses social media companies to share information about foreign disinformation among themselves, and asks the White House to publicly and forcefully warn about foreign interference in the 2020 election and develop a plan to deter future attacks. White House spokesman Judd Deere said the administration has made election security a priority.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump DOJ indicts New York AG Letitia James
Speed Read New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted as Trump’s Justice Department pursues charges against his political opponents
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Trump urges jail for Illinois, Chicago leaders
Speed Read The Texas National Guard begin operations in the Chicago area
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-off
Speed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats