Is Kremlin ‘document’ credible?

Philip Bump

A new “blockbuster” report on Russian efforts to interfere with the

2016 presidential election is intriguing—but should be viewed with skepticism, said Philip Bump. Last week The Guardian published a report on what it called an “internal Kremlin memo” prepared for a Jan. 22, 2016, meeting at which Vladimir Putin supposedly directed Russian spy agencies to aid Donald Trump’s candidacy. The document says Russia saw Trump as “mentally unstable” and thought a Trump victory would create “social turmoil” in the U.S. and weaken the country. After the meeting, Putin purportedly ordered Russian military hackers to hack and release Democratic Party emails and use social media to amp up “tensions in American society.” But is the document real? The Guardian says Western intelligence agencies have had the document for months and have not dismissed it. But the document is suspiciously “very neat,” describing Trump in ways that appeal to his critics and his impact in a remarkably prescient way. It states there really is “long-sought kompromat” compiled on Trump during earlier Russian visits—but doesn’t include it. And why has this document been leaked now, by whom, and for what reason? Without answers, doubt is warranted.