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Principle and consequence ethics on this issue is actually quite simple. Russia has been the opposing superpower of US for decades. And it has been more so with Vladimir Putin as the president of Russia. To many people in the United States, Russia is seen as an enemy, and to associate with that enemy is like breaking an absolute rule. And the idea that Russia was able to hack into US and influence the country like the recent events in the elections is unthinkable. Like this, Russia causes many troubles and has been and will continue to cause trouble with opposing ideals. The influence from the Russia hasn't and is not good, and must be prevented.

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(He got his “I voted today” sticker!)

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(Oh yeah, this MUST be the reason.)
This cartoon alludes to portraying Putin as an elephant, the sign of Republicans, to say that President Elect Donald Trump was able to win thanks to president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, with ties so close to him.

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Academic Source #2

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The Balkans today:Between the European integrationand the American-Russian antagonism

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The Balkans today:Between the European integrationand the American-Russian antagonism

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Academic Source #1

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Blog post

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Most of the American media are "reporting" that President Obama ordered an investigation of "Russian hacking of our election," and that the intelligence community "confirms" that it happened. Yet there is not yet any evidence that Russia hacked the election or was responsible for the DNC email hacks. None.

When self-interested people and their media allies proclaim something is true, and form a chorus that drowns out any other views, I always suspect a con. It is so easy for the Left, since it controls education and the media, to sell any tale it wishes, from global warming to Michelle Obama as a glamorous fashion icon. Most people will simply fall in line because it is too much trouble and risky to dispute what is regarded as a received truth by the power elite.

Glenn Greenwald debunks the media rush to proclaim fact-free conclusions as if they were certainties.

THE WASHINGTON POST late Friday night published an explosive story that, in many ways, is classic American journalism of the worst sort: The key claims are based exclusively on the unverified assertions of anonymous officials, who in turn are disseminating their own claims about what the CIA purportedly believes, all based on evidence that remains completely secret.

These unnamed sources told the Post that "the CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system." The anonymous officials also claim that "intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails" from both the DNC and John Podesta's email account. Critically, none of the actual evidence for these claims is disclosed; indeed, the CIA's "secret assessment" itself remains concealed.

A second leak from last night, this one given to the New York Times, cites other anonymous officials as asserting that "the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee's computer systems in addition to their attacks on Democratic organizations, but did not release whatever information they gleaned from the Republican networks." But that NYT story says that "it is also far from clear that Russia's original intent was to support Mr. Trump, and many intelligence officials - and former officials in Mrs. Clinton's campaign - believe that the primary motive of the Russians was to simply disrupt the campaign and undercut confidence in the integrity of the vote."

Why it's just as settled as the science that told us we wouldn't be seeing any more snow, right about 2016 or so. The Post did manage to allow that there might be a teeny-weeny bit of doubt about entirely unimportant details, though:

Deep down in its article, the Post notes - rather critically - that "there were minor disagreements among intelligence officials about the agency's assessment, in part because some questions remain unanswered." Most importantly, the Post adds that "intelligence agencies do not have specific intelligence showing officials in the Kremlin 'directing' the identified individuals to pass the Democratic emails to WikiLeaks."

Where is the skepticism? The Russian hacking scenario is an excuse for the Democrats to explain away their loss without blaming themselves or their candidate, and it serves to delegitimize the next president - a bad thing for the country.

My own suspicion is that an insider at the DNC leaked the emails. There is as much evidence for the public to see supporting that assertion as there is for the claim that the Russians did it.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman

Most of the American media are "reporting" that President Obama ordered an investigation of "Russian hacking of our election," and that the intelligence community "confirms" that it happened. Yet there is not yet any evidence that Russia hacked the election or was responsible for the DNC email hacks. None.

When self-interested people and their media allies proclaim something is true, and form a chorus that drowns out any other views, I always suspect a con. It is so easy for the Left, since it controls education and the media, to sell any tale it wishes, from global warming to Michelle Obama as a glamorous fashion icon. Most people will simply fall in line because it is too much trouble and risky to dispute what is regarded as a received truth by the power elite.

Glenn Greenwald debunks the media rush to proclaim fact-free conclusions as if they were certainties.

THE WASHINGTON POST late Friday night published an explosive story that, in many ways, is classic American journalism of the worst sort: The key claims are based exclusively on the unverified assertions of anonymous officials, who in turn are disseminating their own claims about what the CIA purportedly believes, all based on evidence that remains completely secret.

These unnamed sources told the Post that "the CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system." The anonymous officials also claim that "intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails" from both the DNC and John Podesta's email account. Critically, none of the actual evidence for these claims is disclosed; indeed, the CIA's "secret assessment" itself remains concealed.

A second leak from last night, this one given to the New York Times, cites other anonymous officials as asserting that "the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee's computer systems in addition to their attacks on Democratic organizations, but did not release whatever information they gleaned from the Republican networks." But that NYT story says that "it is also far from clear that Russia's original intent was to support Mr. Trump, and many intelligence officials - and former officials in Mrs. Clinton's campaign - believe that the primary motive of the Russians was to simply disrupt the campaign and undercut confidence in the integrity of the vote."

Why it's just as settled as the science that told us we wouldn't be seeing any more snow, right about 2016 or so. The Post did manage to allow that there might be a teeny-weeny bit of doubt about entirely unimportant details, though:

Deep down in its article, the Post notes - rather critically - that "there were minor disagreements among intelligence officials about the agency's assessment, in part because some questions remain unanswered." Most importantly, the Post adds that "intelligence agencies do not have specific intelligence showing officials in the Kremlin 'directing' the identified individuals to pass the Democratic emails to WikiLeaks."

Where is the skepticism? The Russian hacking scenario is an excuse for the Democrats to explain away their loss without blaming themselves or their candidate, and it serves to delegitimize the next president - a bad thing for the country.

My own suspicion is that an insider at the DNC leaked the emails. There is as much evidence for the public to see supporting that assertion as there is for the claim that the Russians did it.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman

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Most of the American media are "reporting" that President Obama ordered an investigation of "Russian hacking of our election," and that the intelligence community "confirms" that it happened. Yet there is not yet any evidence that Russia hacked the election or was responsible for the DNC email hacks. None.

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Americans' Opinions of Russian President Vladimir Putin

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Americans' Opinions of Russian President Vladimir Putin

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Graph

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U.S. intellligence says Russia tried to influence election

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U.S. intellligence says Russia tried to influence election

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News Report #3
CBS News

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U.S. intellligence says Russia tried to influence election

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U.S. intelligence sources confirm to CBS News that Russia tried to influence the 2016 election and favored Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. CBSN's Vlad Druthers has the latest on the hacking efforts.

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CIA confident Russia tried to influence U.S. election

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CIA confident Russia tried to influence U.S. election

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News Report#2
CBS Evening News

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CIA confident Russia tried to influence U.S. election

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Intelligence sources tell CBS News that the CIA is confident that the Russian government tried to influence the presidential election in favotr of Donald Trump. Experts attribute the hack of the Democratic National Committee's emails and other intrusions to Russian hackers known as Fancy Bear and Cozy Bear, reports Jeff Pegues.

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Democrats and Republicans Call For Investigation Into Russia’s Influence on US Election

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Democrats and Republicans Call For Investigation Into Russia’s Influence on US Election

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News Report #1
ABC News

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Democrats and Republicans Call For Investigation Into Russia’s Influence on US Election

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While more questions are raised as to Russia's involvement in the presidential election, Trump stands by Exxon's CEO, Rex Tillerson, as his likely pick for secretary of state.

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Tweet

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Donald Trump Press Conference Cold Open - SNL

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Donald Trump Press Conference Cold Open - SNL

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Comedy Sketch

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Donald Trump Press Conference Cold Open - SNL

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Stakeholder #4
(47th Vice President of United States)

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Biden: Russian Attempts to Influence Elections 'Will Occur Again'

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Biden: Russian Attempts to Influence Elections 'Will Occur Again'

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Newspaper Article #4

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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden warned European nations Wednesday to be ready for Russia to try to influence their elections in the same way that U.S. intelligence agencies say they are certain Russia did in the November vote that is bringing Donald Trump to office this week.

"With many countries in Europe slated to hold elections this year, we should expect further attempts by Russia to meddle in the democratic process. It will occur again, I promise you," Biden said in his final address in Davos, Switzerland.

He further accused Russia of working to unravel what he called the "liberal international order" and return to a world in which super powers exerted control over nations in their sphere of influence. In addition to targeting democratic systems, Biden cited Russian "aggression against their neighbors," including actions in Ukraine, and using control of energy supplies as a weapon against other countries.

Russia has rejected the U.S. intelligence conclusion that it interfered in the election with the goal of helping Trump.
NATO
Biden also sought to reassure NATO countries that the U.S. remains committed to the alliance. Trump during his campaign called NATO "obsolete" and suggested the U.S. would not automatically defend a member who had not paid its full share.

"The single greatest bulwark for our transatlantic partnership is the unshakeable commitment of the United States to all of our NATO allies," Biden said. "It is a sacred obligation that we have embraced, that an attack on one is an attack on all. That can never be placed in question."

The vice president said going forward there need to be efforts to make Europe more energy independent, for nations to improve their cyber security and to combat misinformation.

Biden said the world is probably safer than it has ever been, but that with modern technology and the ease of sharing images it can feel like there is "perpetual chaos." He said in facing current fears there is a danger of reverting to what he called the "political small-mindedness" and nationalist policies that led to world wars last century.

He advocated responding by tapping into the "big heartedness" that brought the plan to rebuild Europe after World War II and the "audacity that proposed the United Nations."

"We can't rout fear with retrenchment," Biden said.

An uncertain world

He cited a "palpable uncertainty about the state of the world," but said that while the United States plays an important role, the world's challenges do not hinge solely on leadership from Washington.

"Whether we reinforce the ties that bind us or whether we unravel under the current pressures, these choices have to be made by every single nation," Biden said. "And they will determine what kind of nation and what kind of nations and what kind of world we're going to leave for our children."

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голос америки

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Biden: Russian Attempts to Influence Elections 'Will Occur Again'

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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden warned European nations Wednesday to be ready for Russia to try to influence their elections in the same way that U.S. intelligence agencies say they are certain Russia did in the November vote that is bringing Donald Trump to office this week.

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Newspaper Article #3

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Russian Hackers Were Only Getting Started in the 2016 Election

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Russia's hacking of the 2016 election was bad. But it could be worse: Hackers could damage the U.S. power grid or other infrastructure.

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Russia Used Fake News to Influence the Election, Says U.S. Intelligence Chief

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Russia Used Fake News to Influence the Election, Says U.S. Intelligence Chief

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Newspaper Article #2

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Fake news was part of the Russian government's attempt to influence the U.S. presidential election, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a Senate hearing Thursday morning.

Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, asked Clapper about allegations that Russian government-backed groups had created or propagated false news stories as part of a broader campaign that included hacking and stealing emails. Clapper replied:

This was a multifaceted campaign. So the hacking was only one part of it, and it also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, fake news.

Asked whether those disinformation efforts have continued in the election's wake, Clapper said "yes." He declined to elaborate on the nature of Russia's propaganda campaign in Thursday's hearing, or to speculate on what impact it might have had on the election's outcome, if any. He said there will be more detail in an unclassified report that is scheduled to be released early next week.

Fake news stories, including many written to appeal to a pro-Trump or anti-Clinton audience, circulated widely on Facebook in the months leading up to the Nov. 8 election. They included false reports that the pope had endorsed Trump and that an FBI agent suspected of leaking Clinton's emails had been murdered. In the month since, there has been much debate over who was responsible for creating and spreading such stories, and what role they played in voters' decisions.

Clapper is not the first to suggest that Russian groups played a significant role in fueling fake news. And even his own testimony to Congress should not be taken as gospel. Still, his statements lend greater credibility to the allegations, which have in some cases relied on questionable evidence and methodology. A Nov. 24 Washington Post story linking Russia to fake news was justly criticized for its credulous presentation of findings by an anonymous group called PropOrNot, whose list of "Russian propaganda" websites implausibly included a broad range of well-known, U.S.-based news and commentary outlets.

That the Post story was flawed does not mean that the Russians played no role in spreading fake news, of course. Adrian Chen, who criticized the Post's story for the New Yorker in December, wrote for the New York Times Magazine in 2015 about a group of Russian "trolls" who spread various hoaxes via U.S. social media even before the most recent presidential election cycle.

It would be a mistake to overstate the Russians' role.

At the same time, it would be a mistake to overstate the Russian government's role in the fake news phenomenon. Plenty of it was homegrown: BuzzFeed, the Post, NPR, and others have independently tracked down and interviewed the proprietors of some of the most prominent fake news purveyors, each of whom have their own motivations, and none of whom have obvious ties to Russia.

Multiple reports have also pointed to a cottage industry of fake news sites in Macedonia, at least some of which appear to be the work of entrepreneurs pursuing advertising revenue. This supports the argument that Facebook itself is at least partly to blame for the fake news phenomenon, because its news feed algorithm tends to favor sensational and partisan stories over sober, factual reports. (We at have created a tool, This Is Fake, to help flag fake news on Facebook. Facebook has since created its own tools, partnering with third-party fact-checkers.) A decline in public trust of the mainstream media, concerted propaganda efforts by U.S.-based political groups, and media illiteracy among the public share some blame, too.

Still, Clapper's comments and the upcoming report are likely to raise fresh questions about the mechanisms by which fake news is created and promoted, and about how deeply Russian hackers and media outlets have ingratiated themselves into that distribution system. Disinformation and propaganda have long been specialties of the Russian government and state-run media. Increasingly, they're becoming endemic to the United States as well.

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Russia Used Fake News to Influence the Election, Says U.S. Intelligence Chief

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Fake news was part of the Russian government's attempt to influence the U.S. presidential election, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a Senate hearing Thursday morning. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, asked Clapper about allegations that Russian government-backed groups had created or propagated false news stories as part of a broader campaign that included hacking and stealing emails.

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Stakeholder #3
(4th Director of National Intelligence)

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DECLASSIFIED: Read the intelligence report on Russia interfering with US election

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DECLASSIFIED: Read the intelligence report on Russia interfering with US election

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Op-ed #2

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The U.S. intelligence community on Friday accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 election in its strongest terms yet, alleging Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to undermine faith in the electoral process and developed a "clear preference" for President-elect Donald Trump.

The conclusions came in an unclassified report released Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that goes into the most detail yet on what it deems Russia's motives for meddling in the U.S. election. It excludes some information delivered in a classified report. President Barack Obama previously called for a full review and report on Russia's role in the election.

"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," the report said, adding that intelligence agencies have "high confidence" in that assessment.

It comes after the Obama administration late last month sanctioned nine entities and individuals it believes were involved in the alleged interference, straining tensions with Moscow ahead of the start of Trump's term. The president-elect has consistently questioned that Russia directed a cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee or tried to meddle in the election, seeing the allegations as an attempt to discredit him.

The report accuses Putin of seeking to "undermine the U.S.-led liberal democratic order, the promotion of which Putin and other senior Russian leaders view as a threat to Russia and Putin's regime." It said that Putin tried to discredit Clinton in particular because since 2011 he has blamed her for "inciting mass protests against his regime."

The intelligence community contended that it believes Moscow "will apply lessons learned from its campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts in the United States and worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes."

After a briefing with top intelligence officials Friday, Trump did not say whether he agreed with their assessment that Russia tried to influence the election, but acknowledged that Russia and others have mounted cyberattacks against the U.S. He insisted that recent hacks did not affect the election outcome.

The intelligence community in a statement Friday said it "did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election." It added that it did not believe vote tallying equipment was targeted or compromised.

The DNI report alleges the Russian strategy "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.'" It said the intelligence community assessed "with high confidence" that Russian military intelligence used a persona and another platform to release information obtained in cyberattacks to media outlets and WikiLeaks.

"Russia's effort to influence the 2016 US presidential election represented a significant escalation in directness, level of activity, and scope of effort compared to previous operations aimed at US elections," the report said.

Russia has denied directing an effort to influence the U.S. election process.

The intelligence community said Russia's operations during the election were "unprecedented" but followed a "longstanding strategy" designed to be deniable with front and false-flag organizations. It alleges the main Russian intelligence agency, GRU, used cyber operations, previously identified as phishing attacks, to "compromise the personal email accounts of Democratic Party officials and political figures" and targeted institutions linked to both major parties.

It used the Guccifer 2.0 persona, DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks to distribute information gained in those cyberattacks, the report alleges. Russian intelligence services got access to DNC netowrks in July 2015 and kept it until at least June 2016, the report says.

Russian diplomats prepared to publicly question the election results if Clinton won, the report said. It alleges that pro-Kremlin bloggers prepared a hashtag, "DemocracyRIP," to use on Twitter on Election Night.

Russia also used propaganda arms to distribute negative coverage of Clinton and portray Trump positively, the report alleges. It said Russian government-funded outlets like RT and Sputnik "cast President-elect Trump as the target of unfair coverage from traditional U.S. media outlets that they claimed were subservient to a corrupt political establishment."

The intelligence community also cited those outlets' coverage of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It gave examples of an English-language RT video from August titled, "Julian Assange Special: Do WikiLeaks Have the E-mail That'll Put Clinton in Prison?" and an interview with Assange called "Clinton and ISIS Funded by the Same Money," among others.

Read the full report below:

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DECLASSIFIED: Read the intelligence report on Russia interfering with US election

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The U.S. intelligence community on Friday accused Russia of interfering in the 2016 election in its strongest terms yet, alleging Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to undermine faith in the electoral process and developed a "clear preference" for President-elect Donald Trump.

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U.S. intel community "confident" Russia directed hacks to influence election

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U.S. intel community "confident" Russia directed hacks to influence election

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Op-ed #1

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The Obama administration has for the first time accused the Russian government of hacking into U.S. political groups, people and institutions in order to influence the election.

"The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations," the Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

Their statement said that recent disclosures that appeared on WikiLeaks, DCLeaks.com and disclosures by Guccifer 2.0 are consistent with the methods of Russian-directed efforts. Further they suggested that people high up within the Kremlin were involved.

"These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process," they said. "Such activity is not new to Moscow-the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."

DHS said that while U.S. officials can't connect recent hacks into state election databases to the Russian government, it said that in most cases, they "originated from servers operated by a Russian company."

The intelligence community and DHS said it would be "extremely difficult" for a nation-state actor to actually "alter actual ballot counts of election results" through a cyberattack because the U.S. election system is so diverse and decentralized. Still, they said they urge state and local election officials to seek assistance on cybersecurity procedures from the federal government.

A senior administration official said Friday that the U.S. government is committed to ensuring a secure election process and that President Obama has made clear that the U.S. will take action to protect the nation's interests.

In early September, Hillary Clinton suspected that Russia was behind the hacking attacks at the Democratic National Committee and other groups.

At the first presidential debate last month, Donald Trump said it was not completely clear f Russia hacked into the DNC. U.S. officials and experts have said people working for the Russian government did, in fact, hack into the DNC. This past week, however, Trump said in a speech on cybersecurity that Russia has conducted cyberattacks.

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U.S. intel community "confident" Russia directed hacks to influence election

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The Obama administration has for the first time accused the Russian government of hacking into U.S. political groups, people and institutions in order to influence the election. "The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations," the Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

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Stakeholder #2
(President-Elect of United States)

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Stakeholder #1
(President of Russia)

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PUTIN: The people behind the Trump dossier are 'worse than prostitutes

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PUTIN: The people behind the Trump dossier are 'worse than prostitutes

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Newspaper Article #1

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REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed back on Tuesday against unverified claims that Russia worked with Donald Trump during the US presidential election to undermine Hillary Clinton.

"We are witnessing an ongoing acute political struggle in the US, whose task is to undermine the legitimacy of the president-elect," Putin said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

He added that those behind the claims, included in a dossier made public last week, were "worse than prostitutes."

"I have an impression they practiced in Kiev and are ready to organize a Maidan in Washington, just to not let Trump take office," Putin said, referring to the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine that led to the ouster of the country's pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, in February 2014.

"The media frenzy surrounding Trump speaks of the degradation of US political elites," Putin said, adding that he was "not acquainted with Trump" and therefore had "no reasons either to defend or attack him."

The dossier was part of an opposition-research project conducted by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, at the behest of anti-Trump Republicans and, later, Democrats. Steele was the former head of the Russia desk in Moscow for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. The memos he wrote made their way to US intelligence officials sometime last year.

A summary of his findings, collected from the network of Russian intelligence sources he had cultivated, was presented to Trump, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and the country's top lawmakers on intelligence matters earlier this month as part of a classified briefing about Russia's intervention in the US presidential election.

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The dossier suggested, among other things, that Russian officials fed hacked Democratic documents to WikiLeaks in exchange for Trump sidelining Ukraine as a campaign issue; that Trump hired sex workers to perform lewd acts in a Moscow Ritz-Carlton presidential suite where President Barack Obama once stayed; and that what the dossier described as "Trump's unorthodox behavior in Russia over the years" provided Russians with information they could use to blackmail him.

Putin mocked the claims contained in the dossier, which he described as "an obvious fake" and "nonsense."

Russian intelligence services "don't chase every American billionaire," Putin said. He added that Trump "has been with the most beautiful women in the world, so why would he need prostitutes in Moscow?"

"Trump organized beauty contests," Putin continued. "I find it hard to believe that he rushed to some hotel to meet girls of loose morals, although ours are undoubtedly the best in the world."

Putin also slammed the new sanctions imposed on Russia by the Obama administration in late December, claiming that attempts were being made to tie Trump's "hands and feet" while he was performing his election campaign promises to try to improve relations with Russia.

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"Some people leave without saying goodbye, and some say goodbye without leaving," Putin said. "The Obama administration belongs to the second category."

Throughout the campaign, Trump broke from traditional GOP orthodoxy and established himself as the most sympathetic Republican candidate toward Russia, stressing a need to work with the country on various geopolitical issues.

Trump has not commented on the dossier's specific claims, but has called the dossier itself "fake news" and "a complete fraud."
Watch Putin's remarks here:

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PUTIN: The people behind the Trump dossier are 'worse than prostitutes'

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Russian President Vladimir Putin pushed back on Tuesday against unverified claims that Russia worked with Donald Trump during the US presidential election to undermine Hillary Clinton. "We are witnessing an ongoing acute political struggle in the US, whose task is to undermine the legitimacy of the president-elect," Putin said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.