US Intelligence officials have released a full report on Russia's alleged role in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee during the 2016 election, with the aim of influencing the vote in Donald Trump's favour.
"We assess with high confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election," the report reads, "the consistent goals of which were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary [Hillary] Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency."
Motivation behind Putin's apparent order of the hacks, the report says, was rooted in a vendetta the Russian president had against the former Secretary of State.
"[H]e has publicly blamed her since 2011 for inciting mass protests against his regime in late 2011 and 2012," it adds, "and because he holds a grudge for comments he almost certainly saw as disparaging him."
"We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the US... election to future influence efforts."