Russians Ridicule U.S. Charge That Kremlin Meddled to Help Trump.
MOSCOW Spies are usually thought of as bystanders who quietly steal secrets in the shadows. But the Russian version, schooled in techniques used during the Cold War against the United States, has a more ambitious goal shaping, not just snooping on, the politics of a nation that the Soviet-era K.G.B. targeted as the Main Adversary.
That at least is the conclusion of a declassified report released on Friday that outlines what Americas top intelligence agencies view as an elaborate influence campaign ordered by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia aimed at skewing the outcome of the 2016 presidential race.
But the absence of any concrete evidence in the report of meddling by the Kremlin was met with a storm of mockery on Saturday by Russian politicians and commentators, who took to social media to ridicule the report as a potpourri of baseless conjecture.
In a message posted on Twitter, Alexey Pushkov, a member of the defense and security committee of the Russian Parliaments upper house, ridiculed the American report as akin to C.I.A. assertions that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction: Mountain gave birth to a mouse: all accusations against Russia are based on confidence and assumptions. US was sure about Hussein possessing WMD in the same way.
Margarita Simonyan, the editor in chief of RT, a state-funded television network that broadcasts in English, who is cited repeatedly in the report, posted her own message on Twitter scoffing at the American intelligence communitys accusations.
Aaa, the CIA report is out! Laughter of the year! Intro to my show from 6 years ago is the main evidence of Russias influence at US elections. This is not a joke! she wrote.
Even Russians who have been critical of their government voiced dismay at the United States intelligence agencies account of an elaborate Russian conspiracy unsupported by solid evidence.'>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/07/world/europe/russians-ridicule-us-charge-that-kremlin-meddled-to-help-trump.html?