Russia Can Interfere Only if We Let It
Moscow’s operatives did not invent our crude tribal politics; they just exploited them.
Opinion
Robert O’Brien, President Trump’s national security adviser, revealed this week that he had recently met his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, in Geneva and warned him that “there would be absolutely no tolerance for any interference” in the November election.
This was a pointless exchange. It misrepresents how Russia actually interferes in our affairs. The Russian state does not meddle directly. It delegates to proxies, who amplify our divisions and exploit our political polarization.
And the truth is, Americans must recognize that the United States is ripe for manipulation. With a month to go before Election Day, we are ripping ourselves apart.
I stressed in one side meeting that the Russian security services had taken things to a new level of dirty tricks. Their “hack and release” of the Democratic National Committee’s emails and efforts to penetrate Hillary Clinton’s emails were especially damaging. With an arch of the eyebrow, the Russian interlocutor pointed out that no Russian persuaded Mrs. Clinton to use a private server. She and the Democratic National Committee made themselves vulnerable to hackers by not taking proper precautions. He reminded me that it was the F.B.I. that reopened the investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s emails just before the election, because they were on Anthony Weiner’s computer when he was arrested. “We didn’t invent Anthony Weiner,” he retorted.
He brushed off my further protests and objections at his cynicism. “Perhaps you should direct your complaints elsewhere.”
Moscow, like everyone else, expected Mrs. Clinton to win in 2016. Russian operatives wanted to weaken her, but they were surprised — and delighted — when she lost. They were even more delighted when many Americans exaggerated their role in the outcome. Some of my own foreign policy colleagues suggested the Russians had changed opinions on a mass scale as well as affected votes on the margins. American politicians and commentators declared President Trump illegitimate. They said Vladimir Putin “elected” him.
By Fiona Hill
Ms. Hill was senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/opinion/trump-russia-election-interference.html
LIES, MISSDIRECTIONS, NARRATIVES, WE DIDN'T DO NOTHING.