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What evidence exists to suggest that this was a deliberate attempt by Russia to influence the results of the US election in a way that would benefit them?

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Ukraine related economic sanctions would be probably cancelled by Trump, while Clinton would have maintained the status quo.

I'm not asking only how Trump would benefit Russia, but what evidence exists to suggest that this entire ordeal was some elaborate scheme concocted by the Russian government?

EDIT: If this claim was such a stark truth, surely there must exist a smoking gun somewhere? So, where is the evidence?

I don't know if you've ever heard of the NSA before, but they deal in secrets. They don't publish their methods and they don't reveal sources. Remember that whole Edward Snowden thing?

They have also been caught telling rather big fibs for political purposes before.

> while Clinton would have maintained the status quo.

Much more likely to increase tensions between US and Russia (perhaps even to dangerous levels). Not saying Russia wasn't "looking for it", but Hillary's anti-Russia rhetoric to help her own campaign wasn't helping.

It was clearly intended to weaken Clinton's public standing whether or not she was elected; it's also arguable that it wasn't really designed to be hard to trace, so it may well have been designed to do the same thing to Trump.

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