Of course emails had an effect

The Russian-hacked emails “had no effect on the election”? (“Trump in error on hacking report,” Jan. 10.)

Of course they did. The whole purpose of negative publicity is to affect an election. Donald Trump himself used the Russian leaks enthusiastically as soon as they came out. He even publicly asked the Russians to come up with more of them. We will never know how many reluctant Hillary Clinton voters they persuaded to vote for Trump or Stein or just to stay away from the polls in disgust. They may not have changed the outcome, but to say they had no effect is hypocrisy.

Equally troubling is the fact that the most damaging disclosures were true. For that, we can thank the Democratic Party insiders. They knew better than their loyal constituents and were stupid enough to say so in emails that they didn’t bother to protect despite warnings from the FBI.

The rules are the rules, and an Electoral College victory is a victory even if it results in a minority president soundly rejected in the popular vote.

But saying that it was not affected by the Russian psychological warfare is like saying we shouldn’t be troubled by terrorist bomb makers until they actually blow up something.

Actually it’s worse. These weapons were aimed at the minds of voters — the foundation blocks of our democracy. We will never know how many of them hit their target.

Ralph Ehlinger Richfield