Hackers Came, but the French Were Prepared

People in the article claim that the attack backfired because the public now knows how to deal with Russian propaganda. I'm not sure of that. Would Le Pen have done better or worse without the leaked documents? She was much further behind than Trump. Also, its effect might have been limited because the French press refused to play the 'useful idiot' role and publicize it and, according to some, because France lacks a Fox News equivalent to push it.[0] Also, I don't remember the Clinton campaign raising questions about the veracity of the leaks, in line with their and other Dems usual passivity (which remains bizarre to me); Macron raised those questions immediately.

In contrast, in the U.S., even the NY Times publicized the Russian material regarding the DNC. The French media said they had to verify the Macron material first, which is normal journalistic procedure, especially given the 'anonymous' sourcing and the likelihood that it was a foreign intelligence agency. I didn't see the NY Times or others even raise that question (and FWIW I wrote them and asked, but never got a response).

I learned recently that the DNC IT team actually told Podesta that a phising email was legitimate and that he should act on it urgently,[1] and the article says that the Clinton people ignored FBI warnings. Macron's people seem much more on the ball, based on the story, but maybe they shouldn't publicize their methods.

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[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/08/world/europe/macron-hacki...

[1] https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/28/13456368/...