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Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, recently made blanket-statements about the multi-Agency Intelligence Assessment — that they in fact, did NOT conclude.
Director Pompeo said this:
“The intelligence community’s assessment is that the Russian meddling that took place did not affect the outcome of the election,” Pompeo said at a security conference in Washington.
When in fact that blanket-statement papers-over what impact Russian Interference may have had — and it goes far beyond the scope, and the words, of that very Report itself, that he quoted.
From the WashingtonPost:
A report compiled by the CIA and other agencies described that Russian operation as unprecedented in its scale and concluded that Moscow’s goals were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process and help elect Donald Trump.
But the report reached no conclusions about whether that interference had altered the outcome — an issue that U.S. intelligence officials made clear was considered beyond the scope of their inquiry.
“We did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election,” the report said. U.S. spy agencies are “charged with monitoring and assessing the intentions, capabilities, and actions of foreign actors,” the report said, but do “not analyze U.S. political processes or U.S. public opinion.”
Patheos.com has these observations about the further work needed, to explore the “possibilities” of Russian agents “foisted on” the American people, by means of guile and deception, and out-right lies …
The report did not assess whether Russian interference affected the outcome of the election because that’s not their job and it’s not something that we will ever be able to answer. There has been no indication that any votes were changed, which is the only way we could be certain of a clear effect on the outcome. What we do have is a huge operation to influence people to think a certain way — pro-Trump and anti-Clinton — through social media, fake news sites and advertising.
Political and Social researchers (and ‘brain-trusts’ at Facebook and Tweeter too), need to start “evaluating” the Social Impacts of that “HUGE Russian Operation” that the Intelligence Agencies HAVE warned us about. Something which is an on-going and present danger.
Does “Fake News” from unseen “agents” — full of hate, fabrications, and distortions — influence actual people to change their actual votes, or perhaps influence them ‘Not to Vote’ at all — or Not?
Inquiring minds ought to want to know, how Big an Impact did that Russian Influence Campaign actually had? How many voters (in which states) were swayed by these unsubstantiated Ads, created in some “boiler room” operation?
And on the flip-side, assume there was no Russian Operation, what might the Election Result have been, then?
Inquiring minds ought to want to know.
The threats of Foreign Interference are real … so our responses to it ought to be.
Papering-over this unpleasant chapter of (on-going) American History — should be Not an Option, Mike.