Most of the headlines from Vice President Pence's cybersecurity speech Tuesday focused on how he clearly enunciated what President Trump won't: That Russia interfered in the 2016 election. But the full context of what Pence said is far less antithetical to Trump — and is part of a long-running disinformation campaign the Trump administration has waged for a year and a half. Last month, 12 Russian military intelligence officers were indicted on a charge of hacking Democrats' computers and distributing the information during the 2016 election. At the Aspen Security Forum two weeks ago, she blamed the interference on “Russian government actors,” even though the intel community's report directly blames Putin. These officials are undoubtedly trying to avoid alienating Trump, who in recent weeks has demonstrated he still wants to cast doubt on Russian interference.

Source: Washington Post August 01, 2018 13:54 UTC