2016 Russian Election Interference: Mueller Findings and Senate Intelligence Committee

Overview

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report, released in August 2020 with the support of Republican members, concluded that Paul Manafort sharing detailed Trump campaign polling data with a Russian intelligence officer constituted "a grave counterintelligence threat." This was not the Mueller report's cautious phrasing; it was a bipartisan Senate committee's direct conclusion.

The interference was documented. The contacts were documented. The absence of a criminal conspiracy charge was not an absence of evidence of contact and benefit.

The Meeting

On June 9, 2016, the most senior officials of the Trump campaign — Manafort, Kushner, Trump Jr. — sat in Trump Tower with individuals offering materials from the Russian government against their opponent. The offer had been spelled out: "very high level and sensitive information" that was "part of Russia's support for Mr. Trump."

Trump Jr.'s response, in an email that now exists: "I love it especially later in the summer."

The Invitation

On July 27, 2016, Trump stood before cameras and said: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing."

According to the Mueller indictment, the GRU attempted to access Clinton campaign email servers for the first time on that day.

The Polling Data

Manafort provided detailed internal campaign polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik — including data on specific swing states — multiple times during the campaign. The Senate Intelligence Committee, with Republican and Democratic members, assessed Kilimnik as a Russian intelligence officer and called Manafort's action a grave counterintelligence threat.

Manafort's stated explanation for sharing the data was never coherent. No legitimate reason was offered.