Did Russia help Trump's campaign?
Russia deliberately attempted to influence the US elections in Donald Trump's favour, according to a CIA report. Russian hackers accessed email accounts of the Democratic Party leadership and passed on the documents to Wikileaks, the report alleges. Trump has described the allegations as "ridiculous". Some commentators demand a thorough investigation. Others suspect foul play on the part of the CIA.
Trump behaving unpatriotically
With his attitude in the hacking scandal Donald Trump has shown that he doesn't really care about his country's fate, The New York Times criticises:
“If Donald J. Trump were half the man he claims he is, half the patriot he pretends he is, half the leader he’d like Americans to believe he is, he would not only not dismiss the intelligence on Russia’s hacking of our national election, he would also wholeheartedly lead the charge for a thorough investigation. … The fact that Mr. Trump, instead, demeans and dismisses intelligence agencies and the overwhelming evidence they have amassed makes crystal clear - as if further clarification were still necessary - that Mr. Trump’s one and only interest is Mr. Trump. As he himself has said and tweeted so often: 'Sad.'”
Republicans avoiding conflict
Key figures in the Republican Party have demanded that Trump should order an investigation of the CIA's allegations. But the president elect need not fear a genuine revolt from his party colleagues, Phileleftheros believes:
“The confrontation with the CIA poses serious questions about Trump's relations with the intelligence agencies. ... Many Republican politicians are worried, and shudder at the thought that Russia muscled in on the American elections. These include Senator John McCain, who has called on Trump to accept that Russian hackers played a role. 'The facts are there', he said. The Republican Party is now the only player that can set limits for the president elect. However the party leadership doesn't seem prepared to engage in such a conflict. Because all that counts now is power.”
CIA playing fast and loose
One conspiracy hides another, sociologist Tomaž Mastnak writes in Dnevnik:
“Now the CIA has got involved. When it became clear that it had been at work the whole time, it decided to go public. An anonymous letter was sent to the Washington Post - one of the most important cogs in the propaganda and manipulation machinery - stating that the CIA had concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the presidential elections to help get Donald Trump elected. The sources are anonymous and there is no proof to support the claim. Such accusations are nothing new. The Democratic team and its allies were already making them during the campaign. ... With the goal of discrediting Trump.”
Zero tolerance for manipulation
The allegations that Donald Trump's election campaign received help from Russian hackers must be thoroughly investigated, the Financial Times demands:
“The Senate should reject any nominee that treats the issue as lightly as does Mr Trump. Foreign meddling in the US democratic process must be a red line. ... This is a bad time for the rift between the US and Russia to deepen. There is work to be done both in Ukraine and in Syria. ... There is no room for progress on these or other issues while suspicion exists that Russia has directly interfered in a presidential election. Acting as if the hacks are a secondary issue will only encourage further attacks, while degrading confidence in democracy.”
Putin expects recompense from Trump
Putin will expect a reward for his help in the election campaign from the US, Hospodářské noviny comments:
“'Hello, Donald! Now that you have won with our help, how do you intend to show your gratitude? This is what Vladimir Putin will be asking. We can only speculate as to the answer. The worst scenarios at Nato's expense are conceivable. … It is logical that Putin is now expecting his dividends. The Obama administration plans to make public precisely what happened in its last weeks in power, but once the new president has been sworn in on January 20 Trump will have everything in his hands, including supervision of the intelligence services. And his people reject the information coming from these agencies; they have no interest in finding out how long Russia's fingers were.”