[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

5. Therefore (somehow), the Russians successfully undermined the public trust in the U.S. election system.

I think the author is claiming something beyond losing faith in elections:

Mr. Putin achieved one of his goals: throwing the American government into greater turmoil

In fact, many of us have lost confidence in our intelligence agencies, but I believe that is mostly their own fault.

[Alberta's Child]

Sophisticated Russian intelligence tradecraft that was meant to be kept secret would not have permitted such an insecure opening gambit for establishing continuing communication with the Trump campaign. They would not have used something as insecure as email, or relied on liaison cutouts who could so easily be traced to the Kremlin. Instead, the Russians who attended the meeting had obvious Kremlin ties ...

So let me get this straight ...

"Sophisticated Russian intelligence tradecraft" such as e-mails and undercover agents that was designed to be kept secret couldn't be used here, so they just sent plain old Russians to meet with U.S. campaign officials?

This guy's whole storyline doesn't pass the smell test. It sound like he's using facts to retroactively create a narrative.

[RitaOK]

That is correct. Either our traditional intelligence was hollowed out and turned, under Obama, left unable to control the ordinary Russian influence tactics during a bitter US political campaign, or Obama used the existence of those tactics against us, as opponents of the Left, to set the Trump team up.