On Saturday, Stent noted that if the Russians are in fact interfering in this election, “it could bring about new energy sanctions.” She noted that one piece of legislation in the Senate, the DETER bill, would require new sanctions if evidence of Russian meddling emerges from intelligence agencies. Stent noted that, so far, Putin may have concluded that the penalties are a small price to pay if he can bring his geopolitical rival down a few more notches. And the early intelligence analyses suggest that, by backing Sanders in the primary and Trump in the general election, he would probably have a good chance of maximizing the electoral tumult.