# What specifically did the Russians do to "meddle" in the election? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 6, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680 "2017-09-06T22:43:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/1 "2017-09-06T22:43:19Z")
I am hoping to see something that is convincing evidence that the Russians interfered with the election. It is now clear that “everybody knows” that it happened. However, aside from hearing experts say that they know what the Russians did and that there is no doubt that they did it, what exactly was IT? Here’s a little video of a number of experts attesting to the fact that the election was interfered with: [What They've Said About Russian Election Interference - Lawfare](https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-theyve-said-about-russian-election-interference) But, what, specifically, did they do? What “fake news” articles did they post? There were no hacked voting machines. So what did they do that is considered meddling? I think that the widespread dismissal of the claims will continue and strengthen until and unless someone can show something that the Russians did that actually interfered. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/2 "2017-09-06T23:09:13Z")
They hacked the DNC and released their emails, funded polarizing advertising, attempted to provide negative information on Hillary to the Trump campaign, and (potentially) provided funding to the RNC or Trump Campaign. Manafort seems to have been sent to work for Trump by Russia, giving him a professional campaign head. Flynn also seems to have been compromised, and may have been providing information one way or the other. (Though, potentially, he wasn’t ‘active’ yet during the campaign itself.) ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/3 "2017-09-06T23:14:54Z")
As I understand it, several Russians have admitted that they were paid by the Russian government to spend basically all day every day building fake user profiles on social media, posting rumors which either supported Republican ideology or made the Democratic party look bad. They would make sure that the comments section was filled with people defending Republicans and arguing against voting for Democrats. They would repost on Facebook articles which were favorable to the Republicans, whether the information was true or not. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/4 "2017-09-06T23:24:05Z")
Not a lot. Accusers in _L’Affaire Russe_ as it is now [**called**](https://www.lawfareblog.com/marriage-convenience-liberals-and-intelligence-community-come-together-over-russia-connection) have a lot less need of actual evidence than their patron saint, _Tail-gunner Joe_. _VIPS instead surmises that, after WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange announced on June 12, 2016 his intention to publish Hillary Clinton-related emails, the DNC rushed to fabricate evidence that it had been hacked by Russia to defuse any potential WikiLeaks disclosures. To this end, the theory goes, the DNC used the Guccifer 2.0 online persona to release mostly harmless DNC data. Guccifer 2.0 was later loosely linked to Russia because of [Russian metadata](https://twitter.com/pwnallthethings/status/743197064843104257) in his files and his [use](https://www.threatconnect.com/blog/guccifer-2-all-roads-lead-russia/) of a Russia-based virtual private network._ [**Bloomberg : Why Some U.S. Ex-Spies Don’t Buy the Russia Story**](https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-08-10/why-some-u-s-ex-spies-don-t-buy-the-russia-story) 2017-08-10 None of the accusations are illegal acts by the way. Providing negative information on Trump or on Hillary cannot be taken to the courts. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/5 "2017-09-07T00:20:45Z")
One of the other things the Russians did, and continue to do, was and is to post in forums like this one, rhetorical questions by (claimed) skeptics, pretending that there is no proof or support for Russian meddling in, not just elections, but in political discourse in the US and elsewhere in general. And of course, as here, refusing to accept proof when it is presented (which is no surprise, since the news has been filled with all the same supporting evidence for a long time now. It takes non-stop purposeful denial, to continue to pretend that this is all “fake news.”) A concerted and coordinated propaganda campaign to undermine citizen trust in their own government, in ways which benefit Russia. Again, directly admitted to, by some of the Russian agents paid to do it all. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/6 "2017-09-07T01:07:46Z")
This is really bizarre. Veiled aspersions are cast my way! I’m possibly a Russian posing as a curious skeptic - just to, what, undermine trust in the government? Bizarre. I know people have admitted doing “things” to interfere. I would still like someone in a position of authority to present something specific - a news article - something that was alleged to be from a reputable news source but was in reality posted by a Russian. If the Russians did so much mischief, it would behoove those making the claim to provide something tangible - something specific. I would actually like to believe what they did was incredibly egregious, and terribly obvious. So far, I see only allegations, solid expert confirmations that it was true, but with something so big, still nothing definitive, nothing clearly obvious, no actual, tangible evidence. No wonder the right is dismissive of the claims. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/7 "2017-09-07T01:19:23Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Accusers in _L’Affaire Russe_ as it is now [**called**](https://www.lawfareblog.com/marriage-convenience-liberals-and-intelligence-community-come-together-over-russia-connection) have a lot less need of actual evidence than their patron saint, _Tail-gunner Joe_. **Moderator Warning** As you’ve been told repeatedly, political potshots are not allowed in General Questions. Comparing accusers in this case to McCarthyism is a political potshot. This is an official warning. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/8 "2017-09-07T01:36:46Z")
> [@sbunny8](#): > > As I understand it, several Russians have admitted that they were paid by the Russian government to spend basically all day every day building fake user profiles on social media, posting rumors which either supported Republican ideology or made the Democratic party look bad. They would make sure that the comments section was filled with people defending Republicans and arguing against voting for Democrats. They would repost on Facebook articles which were favorable to the Republicans, whether the information was true or not. Isn’t that, specific details aside, the same thing that the Russians do in every election? And the same thing we would do to the Russians if they actually had fair elections? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/9 "2017-09-07T03:23:34Z")
Don’t forget about donald,jr. And the son-in-law (can’t be bothered to spell his name)…their sactions seem shady to me imho ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/10 "2017-09-07T04:40:20Z")
There is also evidence that Russian hackers broke into software that held states’ electronic voting records and may have tampered with the voting rolls to make it hard or impossible for some voters in predominantly Democratic districts to vote. > **[Russian Election Hacking Efforts, Wider Than Previously Known, Draw Little...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/01/us/politics/russia-election-hacking.html?src=twr&_r=2)** > > A Times investigation has found that infiltration efforts were broader than previously disclosed and that state and federal agencies have conducted few forensic inquiries. This type of interference may have affected up to 39 states. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-13/russian-breach-of-39-states-threatens-future-u-s-elections](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-13/russian-breach-of-39-states-threatens-future-u-s-elections) The Russians may have been able to effectively choose who was allowed to vote. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/11 "2017-09-07T05:23:17Z")
The Russians also attempted to keep the divide alive between Bernie Sanders and Hillary supporters to convince Bernie voters to stay home, vote 3rd party, or do a pointless write in. > **[Russian Trolls Fooled Sanders Voters With Anti-Clinton Fake News](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-fake-news-russia_n_58c34d97e4b0ed71826cdb36)** > > The trolls set out to distract and divide the invigorated left. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/12 "2017-09-07T10:05:29Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Isn’t that, specific details aside, the same thing that the Russians do in every election? And the same thing we would do to the Russians if they actually had fair elections? ? This appears either to assert that it’s okay for a foreign country to interfere in another nations democracy, as long as they do it every time. And the accusation that we WOULD do it to them, is just insulting nonsense. Even if it were true, that ALSO would not make anything that the Russians did okay. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/13 "2017-09-07T10:09:14Z")
> [@CC](#): > > This is really bizarre. Veiled aspersions are cast my way! I’m possibly a Russian posing as a curious skeptic - just to, what, undermine trust in the government? Bizarre. I know people have admitted doing “things” to interfere. I would still like someone in a position of authority to present something specific - a news article - something that was alleged to be from a reputable news source but was in reality posted by a Russian. If the Russians did so much mischief, it would behoove those making the claim to provide something tangible - something specific. I would actually like to believe what they did was incredibly egregious, and terribly obvious. So far, I see only allegations, solid expert confirmations that it was true, but with something so big, still nothing definitive, nothing clearly obvious, no actual, tangible evidence. No wonder the right is dismissive of the claims. You only see what you have chosen to see. Read the news yourself, the proof is already there. Stop just glancing at headlines and reading op ed pieces, and other Russian propaganda, and you’ll have your answers. You keep playing a game of demanding that it’s not your responsibility to actually learn anything, and that unless someone violently shoves facts down your throat, that you can calmly pretend that nothing happened. That’s not how reality works. ---
**Author:** ![baccer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b77776/32.png) [@baccer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baccer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/14 "2017-09-07T11:38:46Z")
> [@CC](#): > > I am hoping to see something that is convincing evidence that the Russians interfered with the election. It is now clear that “everybody knows” that it happened. However, aside from hearing experts say that they know what the Russians did and that there is no doubt that they did it, what exactly was IT? Here’s a little video of a number of experts attesting to the fact that the election was interfered with: [What They've Said About Russian Election Interference | Lawfare](https://www.lawfareblog.com/what-theyve-said-about-russian-election-interference) But, what, specifically, did they do? What “fake news” articles did they post? There were no hacked voting machines. So what did they do that is considered meddling? I think that the widespread dismissal of the claims will continue and strengthen until and unless someone can show something that the Russians did that actually interfered. You’ll never see any real evidence of meddling that really amounts to anything serious, unless it’s manufactured, and certainly not rising to the level of meddling that we have done in other countries over the decades. If anyone was really concerned with the integrity of our elections they’d be investigating Obama’s television appearance where he told illegal immigrants they could vote without fearing any legal repercussions. That alone was probably responsible for enough illegal votes in California to give hillary the overall popular vote. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/15 "2017-09-07T11:51:54Z")
Why not wait till Mueller has fired both barrels before asking? Anything else is speculation. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/16 "2017-09-07T12:36:20Z")
This is the judgment of the intelligence community as of January 2017 on what the Russians did. There may be more shoes to drop, it is not clear. > [@](#): > > 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. > > We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. 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… > > 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.” [https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA\_2017\_01.pdf](https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/17 "2017-09-07T13:22:26Z")
> [@igor\_frankensteen](#): > > … the proof is already there… Can you provide me something specific? That’s all I’m asking for. > [@igor\_frankensteen](#): > > Stop just glancing at headlines and reading op ed pieces, and other Russian propaganda, and you’ll have your answers. Wait, you mean headlines and op ed pieces are Russian propaganda, too? So how do you know what you can trust? > [@igor\_frankensteen](#): > > You keep playing a game of demanding that it’s not your responsibility to actually learn anything, and that unless someone violently shoves facts down your throat, that you can calmly pretend that nothing happened. That’s not how reality works. You sound a bit too angry to trust. I’m not asking for anyone to “violently shove” anything down my throat. I’m not playing a game. I’m asking for specific examples of Russian meddling, and not simply claims that they did. Relax. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/18 "2017-09-07T14:00:23Z")
**CC** , meet me in [the Pit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=793796&page=71) ---
**Author:** ![pieceoftheuniverse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@pieceoftheuniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pieceoftheuniverse)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/19 "2017-09-07T14:40:10Z")
> [@baccer](#): > > If anyone was really concerned with the integrity of our elections they’d be investigating Obama’s television appearance where he told illegal immigrants they could vote without fearing any legal repercussions. That alone was probably responsible for enough illegal votes in California to give hillary the overall popular vote. I thought this was odd, so I searched for “obama illegal voters.” Literally the first link to come up was the [Snopes article debunking it](http://www.snopes.com/obama-encouraged-illegal-aliens-to-vote/): > [@](#): > > The claim originates from an interview with Obama published on 3 November 2016, in which millennial actress Gina Rodriguez asked the president about a number of issues facing young Latinos. Many of the outrage posts were written around a video in which the majority of the president’s response was edited out to give the misleading impression that Obama was urging undocumented immigrants to vote illegally They’re kind enough to post the full, unedited video, which provides the proper context. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680/20 "2017-09-07T15:18:32Z")
It’s probably time to move this to Great Debates. Colibri General Questions Moderator [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-specifically-did-the-russians-do-to-meddle-in-the-election/795680.md?page=2)