Washington, D.C. — A new report out today from the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s The Moscow Project finds that it is now clear there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. It comprehensively outlines the facts, motivations, and unanswered questions surrounding collusion between Donald Trump campaign’s for president and Russian figures. There were extensive contacts between the Trump campaign and the Russians, despite completely contradictory claims by the Trump camp denying any interaction with Russians during the 2016 election. The report details the depth and breadth of connections between Trump associates and Kremlin-connected figures, which facilitated collusion. It’s clear that the Russians were eager to help and ultimately ran a campaign to elect Donald Trump.
“There were effectively two campaigns to elect Donald Trump: the Trump campaign and the Russian campaign. The fact that the senior-most officials in the Trump campaign were explicitly told of Russia’s operation to elect Trump—and eagerly sought their assistance—changes everything we thought we knew about their actions,” said Max Bergmann, senior fellow at CAP Action. “This is the biggest political scandal in American history.”
Although the Trump campaign constantly deflected allegations that Russia was interfering in the election, they themselves eagerly used Russian material during the election. Areas of collusion could include everything from Russian cyber hacking to messaging and content coordination deployed via online voter targeting. Both the Trump and Russian campaigns would have benefited immensely from working with each other: The Trump campaign’s willingness to cross the line and work with the Russians—as evidenced by the June 9 meeting—raises substantial questions about the potential depth of coordination. What’s more, there appears to be reciprocation: As president, Trump and his associates have undertaken actions that are immensely beneficial to Putin and that advance Russia’s strategic interests.
Finally, the report’s findings suggest that there is evidence of obstruction of justice. Many of the Trump campaign’s reported activities could potentially constitute a long list of crimes to be investigated by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Click here to read “Russiagate: The Depth of Collusion” by Max Bergmann.
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, contact Morgan Finkelstein at [email protected] or 202.478.5311.