Thread by @jseldin

NEW: Senate Intel Committee concludes #Russia's Internet Research Agency (#IRA) "sought to influence the 2016 US presidential election by harming Hillary Clinton's chances of success & supporting Donald Trump at the direction of the Kremlin"
intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/…

"The Committee's analysis of the IRA's activities on social media supports the key judgments of the January 6. 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment" per the report "'#Russia's goals were to...denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency'"

BUT unlike the 2017 IC assessment, Senate Intel Committee found rather than "discrediting Secretary Clinton & publicly contrasting her unfavorably to [Trump]" #Russia "was overtly&almost invariably supportive of then-candidate Trump, & to the detriment of Sec Clinton's campaign"

Senate Intel report also concludes, "#Russia's targeting of the 2016 U.S. presidential election was part of a broader, sophisticated, and ongoing information warfare campaign designed to sow discord in American politics and society"

“#Russia is waging an information warfare campaign against the US that didn’t start and didn’t end with the 2016 election" per Senate Intel Chair @SenatorBurr "Other adversaries, including #China, #NorthKorea, and #Iran, are following suit"

@SenatorBurr "My hope is that by continuing to shine a light on this issue, we will encourage more Americans to use social media responsibly, as discerning and informed consumers" per @SenatorBurr in statement
re #Russia info ops

@SenatorBurr "With the 2020 elections on the horizon, there’s no doubt that bad actors will continue to try to weaponize the scale and reach of social media platforms to erode public confidence & foster chaos" per statement by Senate Intel Vice Chair @MarkWarner
re #Russia election meddling

@SenatorBurr @MarkWarner "The #Russia|n playbook is out in the open for other foreign & domestic adversaries to expand upon-& their techniques will only get more sophisticated" warns @MarkWarner "Congress must step up and establish guardrails to protect the integrity of our democracy"

@SenatorBurr @MarkWarner More from the Senate Intelligence Committee report on #Russia social media ops - Republican candidates perceived as hostile to Moscow also targeted, including @tedcruz and @marcorubio

@SenatorBurr @MarkWarner @tedcruz @marcorubio Per Senate Intel Committee report, most targeted group of Americans were African-Americans:

"By far, race and related issues were the preferred target of the information warfare campaign designed to divide the country in 2016..."

@SenatorBurr @MarkWarner @tedcruz @marcorubio "#Russia’s goal is to pit Americans against Americans" a person familiar w/the Senate Intelligence Committee report tells @VOANews "They believe a divided America is in their strategic interest"

There are also indications that not only is the threat from #Russia, others enduring but that it is increasingly hostile & destructive

"Our adversaries are putting out anything that’s antagonistic, on all sides" the person familiar w/the report said "It’s all fair game"