A Russian government think tank controlled by Vladimir Putin hatched a scheme to swing the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump and undermine voters’ faith in the US election, a report said Wednesday.

Three current and four former US officials told Reuters about two confidential documents from the think tank that outlined the framework and rationale for what US intelligence agencies have concluded was an intensive effort by Russia to interfere with the election.

US intelligence officials acquired the documents, which were prepared by the Moscow-based Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, after the election.

The institute is run by retired senior Russian foreign-intelligence officials appointed by the Russian president.

The first document, drafted in June, recommended the Kremlin launch a propaganda campaign on social media and Russian state-backed global news outlets to encourage US voters to elect a president who would take a softer line toward Russia than the Obama administration, the seven officials said.

The second document, drafted in October, warned that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was likely to win the election.

The document made the case that it was better in that case for Russia to end its pro-Trump propaganda and instead focus its messaging on supposed voter fraud to undermine the election’s legitimacy and damage Clinton’s reputation, the officials said.

The sources declined to say how the US got its hands on the documents.

With Post Wires