American intelligence believes that Russia engaged in a years long campaign to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference,[3] that the Kremlin is the prime mover behind promotion of the fictitious alternative narratives,[4][5] and that these are harmful to the United States.
"[7] On August 18, 2020, the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee released its final report on Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, finding that while he was Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort worked with a close associate who was a Russian intelligence officer "on narratives that sought to undermine evidence that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. election" and to direct such suspicions toward Ukraine.
[8] According to FBI witness interview notes released in October 2019, upon hearing news of a hack of a Democratic National Committee server in June 2016, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort speculated that Ukraine rather than Russia was culpable,[9] a narrative that was also promoted by Konstantin Kilimnik, thought to be a Russian intelligence asset with whom Manafort was working along with Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.
On 16 August 2017, US Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher visited Assange and told him that Trump would pardon him on condition that he would agree to say that Russia was not involved in the 2016 Democratic National Committee email leaks.
[15][16][17] The New York Times reported in November 2019 that American intelligence determined Russia conducted a years-long campaign to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference.
"[30] Bloomberg News reported in January 2020 that American intelligence and law enforcement were examining whether Russia was involved in promoting disinformation to undermine Biden as part of a campaign to disrupt the 2020 election.
During an October 16, 2019, press meeting in the Oval Office, Trump asked about the DNC server eight times in rapid succession, which "they say, is held by a company whose primary ownership, individual, is from Ukraine.
"[40] During the weeks leading to Hill's testimony, American intelligence officials had briefed senators and their staffs about a yearslong campaign by Russia to frame Ukraine for the 2016 election interference.
"[54] On December 20, 2019, former Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), an ardent critic of President Trump, published an opinion piece in The Washington Post admonishing House and Senate Republicans for "attempting to shift blame with the promotion of bizarre and debunked conspiracy theories", and asked them to administer impartial justice in the upcoming Impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
[59] Unlike FBI Director Christopher Wray's remarks the day prior, Barr refused to refute the conspiracy theory of Ukrainian interference in the 2016 election.
[61] On December 9, 2019, following the release of the DoJ inspector general's report into the origins of the FBI-Mueller Russia investigation, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray was interviewed by ABC News.
[63] One British official with knowledge of Barr's requests observed, "it is like nothing we have come across before, they are basically asking, in quite robust terms, for help in doing a hatchet job on their own intelligence services.
[68][69] The Washington Post reported on November 22, 2019, that the Justice Department inspector general had aggressively investigated the allegation that Mifsud had been directed to entrap Papadopoulos, but found it was without merit.
[76][77] The Times reported in February 2020 that Durham was examining whether intelligence community officials, and specifically Brennan, had concealed or manipulated evidence of Russian interference to achieve a desired result.
[79][81] This conspiracy theory, that originated from a "GRU (Glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye; 'Main Intelligence Directorate') persona, 'Guccifer 2.0'", was created "to cast doubt on Russia's culpability in the DNC [intrusion]".
The New York Times reported Justice Department officials were confused and angered by Mulvaney's linkage of the DNC server, a possible quid pro quo, with Ukraine and the Barr inquiry.