In-brief: The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, sharpening an earlier analysis that found evidence for Russian tampering with the election.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that the CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, sharpening an earlier analysis that found evidence for Russian tampering with the election.

Rather than just undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, the government of Russia took sides in the race, leaking documents stolen from Democratic Party organizations and designed to discredit candidate Hillary Clinton.

The report cites unnamed officials briefed on the matter saying that U.S. intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman. Those officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt Clinton’s chances.

“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”

Source: Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House – The Washington Post