No evidence of Russian interference in 2016 US election

Summary

Hillary Clinton has repeatedly laid responsibility for her defeat in the 2016 presidential election on “Russian interference” that helped her opponent. Her claims have never been corroborated by any evidence.

Additionally, in April 2019 Special Counsel Robert Mueller stated that he had found insubstantial evidence to prove that Trump had colluded with the Kremlin.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation denying Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election in particular, and whitewashing the Kremlin's meddling in Western democratic processes generally.

Available evidence suggests that Russian meddling the 2016 US presidential poll - which specifically aimed to damage Clinton's campaign and aid her opponent - did affect the outcome of the vote, particularly in three critical swing states where Trump's victory margins were the thinnest.

The claim that the Special Counsel report provides no evidence of Trump-Russia collusion is spurious. Gathering evidence of "collusion" - which is not a legal concept - fell outside the scope of the investigation. The aim of the probe was not merely to ascertain contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia-linked individuals during the election period, but to establish whether these interactions were deliberate enough on the part of Trump Campaign officials to sustain charges of conspiracy (p. 2).

The report explicitly identifies "numerous links between individuals with ties to the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump Campaign" (p. 9).

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Reported in: Issue 173
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 12/11/2019
Language/target audience: English
Country: Russia, US
Keywords: election meddling, Robert Mueller, Manipulated elections/referendum, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump
Outlet: Sputnik News

The West’s open societies are “liberal” concentration camps

The West’s open societies are totalitarian dictatorships masked as democracies and they are “modern” and “liberal” concentration camps. Throughout the world today a total ideological war is raging between forces which defend the people and traditional values, on the one hand, and globalist elites that uphold a totally opposite vision.

November 19, 2019

Disproof

Conspiracy theory portraying liberal societies of the West as totalitarian systems ruled by “globalist elites” and masked as democracies. No evidence provided. This message also includes a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Western liberal societies as decadent, destructive of traditional values.

The narrative about “threatened values” is adapted to a wide range of topics and typically used to challenge progressive Western attitudes about the rights of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and LGBTI groups, among others.

White Helmets staged faked chemical attacks to justify Western intervention in Syria

The White Helmets have been repeatedly accused of staging fake attacks in the conflict in Syria in a bid to prompt a Western-backed military intervention in the war-torn country.

November 19, 2019

Disproof

The claim advances recurring pro-Kremlin narratives painting the White Helmets as a Western-backed terrorist proxy and, implicitly, denying the responsibility of the Assad regime for chemical attacks perpetrated during the Syrian civil war.

The "repeated accusations" linking the White Helmets to chemical attacks feature heavily in pro-Kremlin coverage of the Syrian conflict and are never accompanied by evidence. The organization has been credited with saving thousands of lives and documenting the use of chemical weapons in Syria, later confirmed by the OPCW. Due to this, the White Helmets have been the subject of a sustained smear campaign aimed at delegitimizing its activities.

2014 coup in Kyiv led to Crimea referendum, Donbas war

In 2014, Ukraine was rocked by mass rallies and experienced a coup d’état in Kiev which forced president Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country.

In the wake of this, Crimea rejoined Russia following a March referendum on the peninsula, with 96 percent voting for reunification, while Donetsk and Lugansk declared their independence and refused to obey the new government in Kyiv.

November 19, 2019

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Euromaidan, the illegal annexation of Crimea, and the war in Ukraine.

There was no coup d'état in Ukraine. The spontaneous onset of the Euromaidan protests was an organic reaction by numerous parts of the Ukrainian population to former President Yanukovych’s sudden departure from the promised Association Agreement with the European Union in November 2013. See the full debunk of this disinformation claim here.