In a far-reaching account of Russia’s efforts to compromise the 2016 presidential election, the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday offered new details on the …
In a far-reaching account of Russia’s efforts to compromise the 2016 presidential election, the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday offered new details on the roles played by former Trump campaign advisers and their willingness to take advantage of a Kremlin-directed campaign to undermine the candidacy of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Across nearly 1,000 pages, the Republican-led Senate panel not only documented the interactions of Trump campaign officials with Russian contacts but faulted the FBI, in part, for providing a «veneer of credibility» to an uncorroborated dossier that sought to disparage then-candidate Donald Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election. The former Trump campaign chairman was singled out for some of the harshest criticism by the committee, which cast the high-flying political consultant as » a grave counterintelligence threat.» For the first time, the committee unequivocally identified Manafort business associate, Konstantin Kilimnik as «a Russian intelligence officer.» The committee’s assessment of Kilimnik went even further than a separate investigation of Russian election interference prepared by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller. Prior to joining the Trump Campaign in March 2016, Manafort «directly and indirectly» communicated with Kilimnik, the Senate report found, adding that «on numerous occasions, Manafort sought to secretly share internal campaign information» with the Russian operative. Following dual convictions on financial fraud charges in Alexandria, Virginia and Washington, D. C., arising from the Mueller investigation, Manafort was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.
