US Intelligence: Putin ‘ordered’ campaign to help Trump win election

A DECLASSIFIED report by US intelligence agencies has concluded that Russian president Vladimir Putin interfered in the US presidential election in order to help Donald Trump win.

The assessment by the CIA, FBI and NSA says: “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 [Hillary] Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”

Russia has previously denied involvement in the election, and Moscow has not yet commented on the latest revelations.

Leaks from the report have angered Trump in recent weeks, and he again failed to support the findings in the wake of its publication, saying only that the election results had not been affected.

He later appeared to acknowledge the hacking, accusing the Democratic National Committee of “gross negligence” for “allowing” the hacking to occur.

It is the first time in history that US intelligence has publicly reported that a foreign power has interfered in a presidential election.