THE NEW YORK TIMESFrom the Start, Trump Has Muddied a Clear Message: Putin InterferedJames B. Comey, James R. Clapper Jr. and John O. Brennan at a Senate hearing on Russia’s ... moreTHE NEW YORK TIMESFrom the Start, Trump Has Muddied a Clear Message: Putin InterferedJames B. Comey, James R. Clapper Jr. and John O. Brennan at a Senate hearing on Russia’s election interference in January 2017.CreditAl Drago/The New York TimesBy David E. Sanger and Matthew Rosenberg. July 18, 2018WASHINGTON — Two weeks before his inauguration, Donald J. Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election.The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Mr. Putin, who had described to the C.I.A. how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation.Mr. Trump sounded grudgingly convinced, according to several people who attended the intelligence briefing. But ever since, Mr. Trump has tried to cloud the very clear findings that he received on Jan. 6, 2017, which his own int... less
