A newly declassified assessment by the U.S. intelligence community from September 2016, obtained by Just the News, showed the IC did not seem overly concerned by Russian meddling in that year’s presidential election and made no mention of the Kremlin backing GOP nominee Donald Trump – a tone which would shift dramatically after Trump won the race in November.
The heretofore unknown Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) – completed in September 2016 but declassified this week by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard – stands in stark contrast to the later assessment, which would be completed in December 2016 and made public in January 2017.
“For months preceding the 2016 election, the Intelligence Community shared a consensus view: Russia lacked the intent and capability to hack U.S. elections,” Gabbard tweeted on Friday. “But weeks after President Trump’s historic 2016 victory defeating Hillary Clinton, everything changed.”
