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2016 intel report was tasked to probe Chinese election meddling, but instead focused just on Russia
Just the News ^ | August 8, 2025 11:00pm Updated: August 9, 2025 1:35am | Jerry Dunleavy

Posted on 08/09/2025 3:50:16 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

Russia! Russia! Russia! Obama's now-obliterated intel assessment on foreign influence in the 2016 election was supposed to also research China's history of hacking U.S. presidential campaigns. Despite that task, the assessment never mentioned Beijing at all, and instead was focussed on creating a false Trump/Russia collusion narrative.

The controversial January 2017 intelligence community assessment (ICA) on meddling in the 2016 election was supposed to include details on Chinese hacking efforts targeting U.S. presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 — but it focused solely on Russia instead, and never mentioned Beijing once.

The omission of any mention of China in the publicly available versions of the January 2017 ICA is notable, given that internal emails indicate President Barack Obama ordered the ICA to include details on China’s 2008 cyber campaign targeting the campaign of Obama and of his opponent, since-deceased and then-Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. 

Obama’s own White House also repeatedly said after the November 2016 election that the ICA would include details on any and all malicious foreign cyber efforts during the 2008 election as well as during the 2012 face-off between Obama and former Gov. and future Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah.

Despite this, the ICA does not appear to have contained anything about Chinese efforts in 2008 and 2012, focusing almost exclusively on Russia’s alleged efforts in the 2016 election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

CCP hackers targeted Obama, McCain and Romney

Though it is a largely-overlooked saga — lacking any formal ICA detailing it — there is substantial evidence that Chinese hackers targeted Obama and McCain in 2008 and again targeted Obama and Romney in 2012.

Then-Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper’s executive assistant, sent an early December 2016 email about Obama’s orders related to the Russian meddling assessment,...

(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
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1 posted on 08/09/2025 3:50:16 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

The Neocons knew that it would be FAR EASIER to create a FALSE narrative about Russian meddling than to report on the TRUE narrative of Chinese meddling, at least when it came to trying to discredit Trump...and it nearly worked.

But now Trump is FAR WISER, hence his upcoming meeting with Putin to put an end to the Neocon War in Ukraine.


2 posted on 08/09/2025 4:06:22 PM PDT by BobL (If you're over 50 and still eat carbs, expect to become diabetic)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Why didn’t we hear about China?

Because China knows how to bribe well!


3 posted on 08/09/2025 4:32:22 PM PDT by airborne (Thank you Rush for helping me find FreeRepublic! )
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