In the fall of 2016, alongside the acrimonious election, another event was simultaneously taking place. The Russian Intelligence Agency, allegedly under the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was rumored to be hacking the American Democratic National Committee, or DNC. Putin supposedly authorized this “hacking” to bring dishonor on the American democratic system and demonstrate his support for Donald Trump and the Republican party. As a result, a number of confidential emails were released to the public.

In the weeks leading up to the presidential election and directly following the controversial email release, people across the country claimed that Trump was receiving assistance from the Russians. The Russians had purportedly seized emails from the DNC that defaced both individuals and groups of Americans.  Once they were leaked to the public, debates flared and raged on, causing Clinton and the Democratic Party to remain defensive.

At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on January 10, FBI Director James Comey testified that although both the DNC and the RNC (Republican National Committee) were hacked, the hackers only released the DNC emails to the public. This begs the question: what was Russia’s motivation? James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, and most of the country believe that Russia’s main motive was getting Trump into the White House.

As of January 11, Donald Trump maintains the belief that Russia is one of many potential instigators of the email hacking. The then President-Elect said that it could have been another country or individual, and that Russia is not the only possible culprit. Trump also stated that the hacking had no influence on the outcome of the recent presidential election.

Regarding this event, Collin Montag ‘17 states, “Trump’s initial rejection of the possibility of a Russian hack could have been excusable, but… until Trump can come to terms with the well-evidenced Russian intervention and many other issues facing him already, a critical American public isn’t going to be likely to trust his administration.”

There is an ongoing investigation of certain associates of Donald Trump allegedly linked to Russian officials. This investigation continues even after Trump was sworn into office as the President of the United States. Yet some continue to wonder what the outcome of the election would have been if the hacking had not taken place.

Toni Lanausse ‘20 states, “It’s clear that the election was influenced by the hacking of the DNC, and I believe that the election would have turned out very differently.

Society will force individuals to choose which way to lean for this issue. Some say that the fact that Russia has been caught with malware proves it is the culprit of this hack. On the other hand, many insist Russia has been framed and cannot be the proven criminals. Information is still being investigated in the hopes of revealing to the American public what exactly happened in the 2016 election, so that the country can be better prepared in the future to protect its political process.