Several U.S. intelligence officials said they made clear that they did not want the Trump material from the Russian — who was suspected of having murky ties to Russian intelligence and to Eastern European cybercriminals. But instead of providing the hacking tools, the Russian produced unverified and possibly fabricated information involving Trump and others, including bank records, emails and purported Russian intelligence data. “The distinction between an organized criminal and a Russian intelligence officer and a Russian who knows some Russian Intel guys — it all blurs together,” said Steven L. Hall, former chief of Russia operations at the CIA. The Russians are also particularly eager to cast doubt on the federal and congressional investigations into the Russian meddling, U.S. intelligence officials said. All are purported to be Russian intelligence reports, and each focuses on associates of Trump.

Source: thestar February 10, 2018 02:03 UTC