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Vladimir Putin tried to influence US election outcome, report says

<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to influence various aspects of the U.S. presidential election, according to the U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf" target="_blank">declassified report</a> released Friday said the goal of the campaign was to "undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency."</p><p>It also said, "Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump."</p><p>The report, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, called the influence campaign "multifaceted." The campaign used government agencies, paid social media "trolls" and state-sponsored media outlets like RT and Sputnik.</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/russia-says-it-won-t-retaliate-against-us-over-sanctions/">Russia Says It Won't Retaliate Against US Over Recent Sanctions</a></b></p><p>According to the assessment, Russian intelligence agencies tried to hack both Democratic and Republican targets.</p><p>U.S. intelligence officials have high confidence that Russia's main foreign intelligence agency, known as GRU, was behind the website DCLeaks.com and the Guccifer 2.0 persona, which published hacked emails from various people and organizations. It also has high confidence that GRU gave hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Democratic officials like John Podesta to WikiLeaks.</p><p>When the Russian government believed Hillary Clinton would win, it shifted its efforts to "focus more on undermining her future presidency."</p><p>According to the report, Russian diplomats and pro-Kremlin bloggers were ready to question the credibility of the election results and even planned to use the hashtag #DemocracyRIP.</p><p>The report states the Russians also got access to "elements of multiple" electoral boards. However, the Department of Homeland Security believes the systems Russians got access to "were not involved in vote tallying."</p><p>The report said the latest campaign from Russia represented "a significant escalation in directness, level of activity and scope of effort compared to previous operations."</p><p>President-elect Donald Trump received a classified briefing on the investigation Friday. </p><p>Trump said in <a href="https://greatagain.gov/intel-meeting-3b6542ca6500#.ybdveyybl" target="_blank">a statement</a> there "was no effect on the outcome of the election." He said, "We need to aggressively combat and stop cyberattacks. I will appoint a team to give me a plan within 90 days of taking office."</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-wants-obama-appointed-ambassadors-out-by-inauguration/">Trump Will Reportedly Boot All Obama-Appointed Ambassadors On Day One</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-got-facts-wrong-in-tweet-about-toyota-s-mexico-plant/">Trump's Toyota Tweet Looks Like An Empty Threat</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/texas-introduces-bathroom-bill-similar-to-north-carolina-s/">Texas Has Introduced A Bathroom Bill Similar To North Carolina's</a></li></ul>
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The US intelligence community concluded in a declassified report released Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" aimed at hurting Hillary Clinton and helping President-elect Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

The campaign, which consisted of hacking Democratic groups and individuals, including Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, and releasing that information via third-party websites, amounted to what the intelligence report called "a significant escalation" in longtime Russian efforts to undermine "the US-led liberal democratic order."

The report was the first official, full and public accounting by the US intelligence community of its assessment of Russian cyberhacking activities during the 2016 campaign and the motivations behind that hacking.

"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.

"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," the report continued.

The report said Moscow used a variety of tactics in a bid to sway the outcome.

"Moscow's influence campaign followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations -- such as cyberactivity -- with overt efforts by Russian government agencies, state-funded media, third-party intermediaries and paid social media users or 'trolls,'" the report found.

The report, which was commissioned by President Barack Obama, comes as Trump has continued to resist the US intelligence community's conclusions that Russia was responsible for the hacking or that it aimed to help his campaign.

Trump was briefed earlier Friday on the report by top US intelligence and law enforcement officials and while he said he had "a constructive meeting," he declined to publicly agree with their conclusions.

Instead, Trump stressed that "there was absolutely no effect on the outcome whatsoever," which the US intelligence community asserted in its report it was not in a position to assess.

Trump did acknowledge in his statement the possibility that Russia could have been behind the hack, though he named China as well as a persistent cyberhacker.

The US intelligence community also warned in its report Friday that Moscow would likely continue to pursue cyberhacking campaigns to influence future elections.

"Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes," it assessed.