Russia RNC Hack: Did Russia Really Help Trump Win the Elections? A Look at Events Leading to Debate

By Raizel Albano
CIA says with
CIA says with "high confidence" that Trump's win was backed by Russia.  Aljazeera.

Today, the world is shocked with yet another surprising post-US elections news with Russia's CIA-confirmed involvement with Donald Trump's presidential bid win.

Although the CIA would not divulge as to how it got its source, Trump's party and the Russian authorities both vehemently deny the allegations. CIA, on the other hand, takes its stand of having "high confidence" that Russia is involved with the election results.

Trump's transition team presents an official statement, saying, "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It's now time to move on and 'Make America Great Again.'"

Some political analysts later draw on an emphasis to the transition team's statement, saying this shows the upcoming administration's distrust with the US' own intelligence agency. Kristen Holmes, CNN White House Producer, says that "Trump is mocking, essentially insulting the intelligence community," given that these are the same people who provide regular debriefings and "give updates on matters of national security."

With the CIA taking its stand, and Trump and Russian officials denying the allegations, the US populace is desperate for answers. Is it possible to glean on Russia's likely involvement based on previous events leading up to Trump's win?

Holmes says this is not the first time Russia's surfaced during Trump's campaign. She adds, on a previous interview, Trump is quoted into saying, "It could be Russia, but it could also be China, it could also be lots of other people." This is with regards to issues on hacking that's been monitored on several US government servers.

The publication of Clinton's emails on WikiLeaks was a breaking point for her campaign, with correspondences ranging from the so-called 'Bill Clinton Inc.', double standards of the Clinton Foundation, and her stands on waging wars against North Korea and Syria. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denies of Russia's involvement with the now infamous Democratic National Committee (DNC) leaks.

Some US intelligent agents believe otherwise. Leading up to the elections, they say several government networks have been breached and this was 'traced' back on Russian hackers. They also admit to getting access to emails that prove of Russia's full support for Trump. A CIA senior official who wishes to remain anonymous, says several emails prove that it was Russia's idea to "publicize the failings" of Clinton's party. He adds, "That was a major clue to their intent."

The lack of backing for these evidences, even if they come from credible authorities, is anything but heresy according to foreign officials. Craig Murray, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, says that "They (CIA) are absolutely making it up."

Intelligent agents and US politicians are also divided with CIA's findings. Another senior official says while Russia can have its motives in backing Trump, this does not mean it has altered or intervened in the elections.

This divide has led US President Obama to launch a closer investigation on the allegations through election results and possibly, a vote recount. Lisa Monaco, Obama's Homeland Security Adviser, says, "The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process... and to capture lessons learned from that and to report a range of stakeholders, to include the Congress."

During the campaign, Clinton is quoted into calling Trump a 'puppet'. Now many are left to wonder how she believes this is so, and the American public is desperate for answers.