Background to Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution 6 January 2017 Background to Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections The Analytic Process and Cyber Incident Attribution Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment that has been provided to the President and to recipients approved by the President The Intelligence Community rarely can publicly reveal the full extent of its knowledge or the precise bases for its assessments as the release of such information would reveal sensitive sources or methods and imperil the ability to collect critical foreign intelligence in the future Thus while the conclusions in the report are all reflected in the classified assessment the declassified report does not and cannot include the full supporting information including specific intelligence and sources and methods The Analytic Process The mission of the Intelligence Community is to seek to reduce the uncertainty surrounding foreign activities capabilities or leaders' intentions This objective is difficult to achieve when seeking to understand complex issues on which foreign actors go to extraordinary lengths to hide or obfuscate their activities On these issues of great importance to US national security the goal of intelligence analysis is to provide assessments to decisionmakers that are intellectually rigorous objective timely and useful and that adhere to tradecraft standards The tradecraft standards for analytic products have been refined over the past ten years These standards include describing sources including their reliability and access to the information they provide clearly expressing uncertainty distinguishing between underlying information and analysts' judgments and assumptions exploring alternatives demonstrating relevance to the customer using strong and transparent logic and explaining change or consistency in judgments over time Applying these standards helps ensure that the Intelligence Community provides US policymakers warfighters and operators with the best and most accurate insight warning and context as well as potential opportunities to advance US national security Intelligence Community analysts integrate information from a wide range of sources including human sources technical collection and open source information and apply specialized skills and structured analytic tools to draw inferences informed by the data available relevant past activity and logic and reasoning to provide insight into what is happening and the prospects for the future A critical part of the analyst's task is to explain uncertainties associated with major judgments based on the quantity and quality of the source material information gaps and the complexity of the issue When Intelligence Community analysts use words such as we assess or we judge they are conveying an analytic assessment or judgment Some analytic judgments are based directly on collected information others rest on previous judgments which serve as building blocks in rigorous analysis In either type of judgment the tradecraft standards outlined above ensure that analysts have an appropriate basis for the judgment 1 Intelligence Community judgments often include two important elements judgments of how likely it is that something has happened or will happen using terms such as likely or unlikely and confidence levels in those judgments low moderate and high that refer to the evidentiary basis logic and reasoning and precedents that underpin the judgments Determining Attribution in Cyber Incidents The nature of cyberspace makes attribution of cyber operations difficult but not impossible Every kind of cyber operation--malicious or not--leaves a trail US Intelligence Community analysts use this information their constantly growing knowledge base of previous events and known malicious actors and their knowledge of how these malicious actors work and the tools that they use to attempt to trace these operations back to their source In every case they apply the same tradecraft standards described in the Analytic Process above Analysts consider a series of questions to assess how the information compares with existing knowledge and adjust their confidence in their judgments as appropriate to account for any alternative hypotheses and ambiguities An assessment of attribution usually is not a simple statement of who conducted an operation but rather a series of judgments that describe whether it was an isolated incident who was the likely perpetrator that perpetrator's possible motivations and whether a foreign government had a role in ordering or leading the operation 2 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified This report is a downgraded version of a more sensitive assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the more sensitive assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections ICA 2017-01D 6 January 2017 TOP SECRET HCS-P SI-G ORCON NOFORN FISA This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign This page intentionally left blank This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Scope and Sourcing Information available as of 29 December 2016 was used in the preparation of this product Scope This report includes an analytic assessment drafted and coordinated among The Central Intelligence Agency CIA The Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI and The National Security Agency NSA which draws on intelligence information collected and disseminated by those three agencies It covers the motivation and scope of Moscow's intentions regarding US elections and Moscow's use of cyber tools and media campaigns to influence US public opinion The assessment focuses on activities aimed at the 2016 US presidential election and draws on our understanding of previous Russian influence operations When we use the term we it refers to an assessment by all three agencies This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment This document's conclusions are identical to the highly classified assessment but this document does not include the full supporting information including specific intelligence on key elements of the influence campaign Given the redactions we made minor edits purely for readability and flow We did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election The US Intelligence Community is charged with monitoring and assessing the intentions capabilities and actions of foreign actors it does not analyze US political processes or US public opinion New information continues to emerge providing increased insight into Russian activities Sourcing Many of the key judgments in this assessment rely on a body of reporting from multiple sources that are consistent with our understanding of Russian behavior Insights into Russian efforts--including specific cyber operations--and Russian views of key US players derive from multiple corroborating sources Some of our judgments about Kremlin preferences and intent are drawn from the behavior of Kremlinloyal political figures state media and pro-Kremlin social media actors all of whom the Kremlin either directly uses to convey messages or who are answerable to the Kremlin The Russian leadership invests significant resources in both foreign and domestic propaganda and places a premium on transmitting what it views as consistent self-reinforcing narratives regarding its desires and redlines whether on Ukraine Syria or relations with the United States i This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections ICA 2017-01D 6 January 2017 Key Judgments Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election represent the most recent expression of Moscow's longstanding desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order but these activities demonstrated a significant escalation in directness level of activity and scope of effort compared to previous operations We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump We have high confidence in these judgments We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him All three agencies agree with this judgment CIA and FBI have high confidence in this judgment NSA has moderate confidence Moscow's approach evolved over the course of the campaign based on Russia's understanding of the electoral prospects of the two main candidates When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election the Russian influence campaign began to focus more on undermining her future presidency Further information has come to light since Election Day that when combined with Russian behavior since early November 2016 increases our confidence in our assessments of Russian motivations and goals Moscow's influence campaign followed a Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations--such as cyber activity--with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies state-funded media third-party intermediaries and paid social media users or trolls Russia like its Soviet predecessor has a history of conducting covert influence campaigns focused on US presidential elections that have used intelligence officers and agents and press placements to disparage candidates perceived as hostile to the Kremlin Russia's intelligence services conducted cyber operations against targets associated with the 2016 US presidential election including targets associated with both major US political parties We assess with high confidence that Russian military intelligence General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU used the Guccifer 2 0 persona and DCLeaks com to release US victim data ii This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign obtained in cyber operations publicly and in exclusives to media outlets and relayed material to WikiLeaks Russian intelligence obtained and maintained access to elements of multiple US state or local electoral boards DHS assesses that the types of systems Russian actors targeted or compromised were not involved in vote tallying Russia's state-run propaganda machine contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin-ordered campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts worldwide including against US allies and their election processes iii This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Contents Scope and Sourcing i ii iv Key Judgments Contents CIA FBI NSA Assessment Russia's Influence Campaign Targeting the 2016 US Presidential Election Putin Ordered Campaign To Influence US Election 1 Russian Campaign Was Multifaceted 2 Influence Effort Was Boldest Yet in the US 5 Election Operation Signals New Normal in Russian Influence Efforts 5 Annexes A Russia--Kremlin's TV Seeks To Influence Politics Fuel Discontent in US B Estimative Language iv 6 13 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Russia's Influence Campaign Targeting the 2016 US Presidential Election This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Russia's Influence Campaign Targeting the 2016 US Presidential Election Putin Ordered Campaign To Influence US Election We assess with high confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election the consistent goals of which were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the election the Russian influence campaign then focused on undermining her expected presidency We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him All three agencies agree with this judgment CIA and FBI have high confidence in this judgment NSA has moderate confidence In trying to influence the US election we assess the Kremlin sought to advance its longstanding desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order the promotion of which Putin and other senior Russian leaders view as a threat to Russia and Putin's regime Putin most likely wanted to discredit Secretary Clinton because he has publicly blamed her since 2011 for inciting mass protests against his regime in late 2011 and early 2012 and because he holds a grudge for comments he almost certainly saw as disparaging him We assess Putin his advisers and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump over Secretary Clinton Putin publicly pointed to the Panama Papers disclosure and the Olympic doping scandal as US-directed efforts to defame Russia suggesting he sought to use disclosures to discredit the image of the United States and cast it as hypocritical 1 Beginning in June Putin's public comments about the US presidential race avoided directly praising President-elect Trump probably because Kremlin officials thought that any praise from Putin personally would backfire in the United States Nonetheless Putin publicly indicated a preference for President-elect Trump's stated policy to work with Russia and pro-Kremlin figures spoke highly about what they saw as his Russia-friendly positions on Syria and Ukraine Putin publicly contrasted the President-elect's approach to Russia with Secretary Clinton's aggressive rhetoric Moscow also saw the election of Presidentelect Trump as a way to achieve an international counterterrorism coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant ISIL Putin has had many positive experiences working with Western political leaders whose business interests made them more disposed to deal with Russia such as former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder Putin Russian officials and other pro-Kremlin pundits stopped publicly criticizing the US election process as unfair almost immediately This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign after the election because Moscow probably assessed it would be counterproductive to building positive relations We assess the influence campaign aspired to help President-elect Trump's chances of victory when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to the President-elect When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the presidency the Russian influence campaign focused more on undercutting Secretary Clinton's legitimacy and crippling her presidency from its start including by impugning the fairness of the election The Kremlin's campaign aimed at the US election featured disclosures of data obtained through Russian cyber operations intrusions into US state and local electoral boards and overt propaganda Russian intelligence collection both informed and enabled the influence campaign Before the election Russian diplomats had publicly denounced the US electoral process and were prepared to publicly call into question the validity of the results ProKremlin bloggers had prepared a Twitter campaign #DemocracyRIP on election night in anticipation of Secretary Clinton's victory judging from their social media activity Cyber Espionage Against US Political Organizations Russia's intelligence services conducted cyber operations against targets associated with the 2016 US presidential election including targets associated with both major US political parties We assess Russian intelligence services collected against the US primary campaigns think tanks and lobbying groups they viewed as likely to shape future US policies In July 2015 Russian intelligence gained access to Democratic National Committee DNC networks and maintained that access until at least June 2016 Russian Campaign Was Multifaceted Moscow's use of disclosures during the US election was unprecedented but its influence campaign otherwise followed a longstanding Russian messaging strategy that blends covert intelligence operations--such as cyber activity--with overt efforts by Russian Government agencies statefunded media third-party intermediaries and paid social media users or trolls We assess that influence campaigns are approved at the highest levels of the Russian Government--particularly those that would be politically sensitive Moscow's campaign aimed at the US election reflected years of investment in its capabilities which Moscow has honed in the former Soviet states By their nature Russian influence campaigns are multifaceted and designed to be deniable because they use a mix of agents of influence cutouts front organizations and false-flag operations Moscow demonstrated this during the Ukraine crisis in 2014 when Russia deployed forces and advisers to eastern Ukraine and denied it publicly The General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate GRU probably began cyber operations aimed at the US election by March 2016 We assess that the GRU operations resulted in the compromise of the personal e-mail accounts of Democratic Party officials and political figures By May the GRU had exfiltrated large volumes of data from the DNC Public Disclosures of Russian-Collected Data We assess with high confidence that the GRU used the Guccifer 2 0 persona DCLeaks com and WikiLeaks to release US victim data obtained in 2 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign cyber operations publicly and in exclusives to media outlets These election-related disclosures reflect a pattern of Russian intelligence using hacked information in targeted influence efforts against targets such as Olympic athletes and other foreign governments Such efforts have included releasing or altering personal data defacing websites or releasing emails Guccifer 2 0 who claimed to be an independent Romanian hacker made multiple contradictory statements and false claims about his likely Russian identity throughout the election Press reporting suggests more than one person claiming to be Guccifer 2 0 interacted with journalists Content that we assess was taken from e-mail accounts targeted by the GRU in March 2016 appeared on DCLeaks com starting in June Russia collected on some Republican-affiliated targets but did not conduct a comparable disclosure campaign We assess with high confidence that the GRU relayed material it acquired from the DNC and senior Democratic officials to WikiLeaks Moscow most likely chose WikiLeaks because of its selfproclaimed reputation for authenticity Disclosures through WikiLeaks did not contain any evident forgeries A prominent target since the 2016 Summer Olympics has been the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA with leaks that we assess to have originated with the GRU and that have involved data on US athletes Russian Cyber Intrusions Into State and Local Electoral Boards Russian intelligence accessed elements of multiple state or local electoral boards Since early 2014 Russian intelligence has researched US electoral processes and related technology and equipment In early September Putin said publicly it was important the DNC data was exposed to WikiLeaks calling the search for the source of the leaks a distraction and denying Russian state-level involvement DHS assesses that the types of systems we observed Russian actors targeting or compromising are not involved in vote tallying Russian Propaganda Efforts Russia's state-run propaganda machine--comprised of its domestic media apparatus outlets targeting global audiences such as RT and Sputnik and a network of quasi-government trolls--contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences State-owned Russian media made increasingly favorable comments about Presidentelect Trump as the 2016 US general and primary election campaigns progressed while consistently offering negative coverage of Secretary Clinton The Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet RT formerly Russia Today has actively collaborated with WikiLeaks RT's editor-in-chief visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in August 2013 where they discussed renewing his broadcast contract with RT according to Russian and Western media Russian media subsequently announced that RT had become the only Russian media company to partner with WikiLeaks and had received access to new leaks of secret information RT routinely gives Assange sympathetic coverage and provides him a platform to denounce the United States 3 Starting in March 2016 Russian Government- linked actors began openly supporting President-elect Trump's candidacy in media This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign aimed at English-speaking audiences RT and Sputnik--another government-funded outlet producing pro-Kremlin radio and online content in a variety of languages for international audiences--consistently cast President-elect Trump as the target of unfair coverage from traditional US media outlets that they claimed were subservient to a corrupt political establishment Russian media hailed President-elect Trump's victory as a vindication of Putin's advocacy of global populist movements--the theme of Putin's annual conference for Western academics in October 2016--and the latest example of Western liberalism's collapse Putin's chief propagandist Dmitriy Kiselev used his flagship weekly newsmagazine program this fall to cast President-elect Trump as an outsider victimized by a corrupt political establishment and faulty democratic election process that aimed to prevent his election because of his desire to work with Moscow on Putin by airing segments devoted to Secretary Clinton's alleged health problems On 6 August RT published an Englishlanguage video called Julian Assange Special Do WikiLeaks Have the E-mail That'll Put Clinton in Prison and an exclusive interview with Assange entitled Clinton and ISIS Funded by the Same Money RT's most popular video on Secretary Clinton How 100% of the Clintons' 'Charity' Went to Themselves had more than 9 million views on social media platforms RT's most popular English language video about the President-elect called Trump Will Not Be Permitted To Win featured Assange and had 2 2 million views For more on Russia's past media efforts-- including portraying the 2012 US electoral process as undemocratic--please see Annex A Russia--Kremlin's TV Seeks To Influence Politics Fuel Discontent in US Russia used trolls as well as RT as part of its influence efforts to denigrate Secretary Clinton This effort amplified stories on scandals about Secretary Clinton and the role of WikiLeaks in the election campaign Pro-Kremlin proxy Vladimir Zhirinovskiy leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia proclaimed just before the election that if President-elect Trump won Russia would drink champagne in anticipation of being able to advance its positions on Syria and Ukraine RT's coverage of Secretary Clinton throughout the US presidential campaign was consistently negative and focused on her leaked e-mails and accused her of corruption poor physical and mental health and ties to Islamic extremism Some Russian officials echoed Russian lines for the influence campaign that Secretary Clinton's election could lead to a war between the United States and Russia In August Kremlin-linked political analysts suggested avenging negative Western reports 4 The likely financier of the so-called Internet Research Agency of professional trolls located in Saint Petersburg is a close Putin ally with ties to Russian intelligence A journalist who is a leading expert on the Internet Research Agency claimed that some social media accounts that appear to be tied to Russia's professional trolls--because they previously were devoted to supporting Russian actions in Ukraine--started to advocate for President-elect Trump as early as December 2015 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Election Operation Signals New Normal in Russian Influence Efforts Influence Effort Was Boldest Yet in the US Russia's effort to influence the 2016 US presidential election represented a significant escalation in directness level of activity and scope of effort compared to previous operations aimed at US elections We assess the 2016 influence campaign reflected the Kremlin's recognition of the worldwide effects that mass disclosures of US Government and other private data--such as those conducted by WikiLeaks and others--have achieved in recent years and their understanding of the value of orchestrating such disclosures to maximize the impact of compromising information We assess Moscow will apply lessons learned from its campaign aimed at the US presidential election to future influence efforts in the United States and worldwide including against US allies and their election processes We assess the Russian intelligence services would have seen their election influence campaign as at least a qualified success because of their perceived ability to impact public discussion Putin's public views of the disclosures suggest the Kremlin and the intelligence services will continue to consider using cyber-enabled disclosure operations because of their belief that these can accomplish Russian goals relatively easily without significant damage to Russian interests Russia has sought to influence elections across Europe During the Cold War the Soviet Union used intelligence officers influence agents forgeries and press placements to disparage candidates perceived as hostile to the Kremlin according to a former KGB archivist Since the Cold War Russian intelligence efforts related to US elections have primarily focused on foreign intelligence collection For decades Russian and Soviet intelligence services have sought to collect insider information from US political parties that could help Russian leaders understand a new US administration's plans and priorities The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service SVR Directorate S Illegals officers arrested in the United States in 2010 reported to Moscow about the 2008 election In the 1970s the KGB recruited a Democratic Party activist who reported information about then-presidential hopeful Jimmy Carter's campaign and foreign policy plans according to a former KGB archivist We assess Russian intelligence services will continue to develop capabilities to provide Putin with options to use against the United States judging from past practice and current efforts Immediately after Election Day we assess Russian intelligence began a spearphishing campaign targeting US Government employees and individuals associated with US think tanks and NGOs in national security defense and foreign policy fields This campaign could provide material for future influence efforts as well as foreign intelligence collection on the incoming administration's goals and plans 5 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Annex A Russia -- Kremlin's TV Seeks To Influence Politics Fuel Discontent in US RT America TV a Kremlin-financed channel operated from within the United States has substantially expanded its repertoire of programming that highlights criticism of alleged US shortcomings in democracy and civil liberties The rapid expansion of RT's operations and budget and recent candid statements by RT's leadership point to the channel's importance to the Kremlin as a messaging tool and indicate a Kremlindirected campaign to undermine faith in the US Government and fuel political protest The Kremlin has committed significant resources to expanding the channel's reach particularly its social media footprint A reliable UK report states that RT recently was the most-watched foreign news channel in the UK RT America has positioned itself as a domestic US channel and has deliberately sought to obscure any legal ties to the Russian Government In the runup to the 2012 US presidential election in November English-language channel RT America -created and financed by the Russian Government and part of Russian Government-sponsored RT TV see textbox 1 -- intensified its usually critical coverage of the United States The channel portrayed the US electoral process as undemocratic and featured calls by US protesters for the public to rise up and take this government back RT introduced two new shows -- Breaking the Set on 4 September and Truthseeker on 2 November -- both overwhelmingly focused on criticism of US and Western governments as well as the promotion of radical discontent From August to November 2012 RT ran numerous reports on alleged US election fraud and voting machine vulnerabilities contending that US election results cannot be trusted and do not reflect the popular will Messaging on RT prior to the US presidential election In an effort to highlight the alleged lack of RT 3 November democracy in the United States RT broadcast hosted and advertised thirdparty candidate debates and ran reporting supportive of the political agenda of these candidates The RT hosts asserted that the US two-party system does not represent the views of at least one-third of the population and is a sham This annex was originally published on 11 December 2012 by the Open Source Center now the Open Source Enterprise 6 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign RT aired a documentary about the Occupy Wall Street movement on 1 2 and 4 November RT framed the movement as a fight against the ruling class and described the current US political system as corrupt and dominated by corporations RT advertising for the documentary featured Occupy movement calls to take back the government The documentary claimed that the US system cannot be changed democratically but only through revolution After the 6 November US presidential election RT aired a documentary called Cultures of Protest about active and often violent political resistance RT 110 November RT new show Truthseeker RT 11 November RT Conducts Strategic Messaging for Russian Government RT's criticism of the US election was the latest facet of its broader and longer-standing anti-US messaging likely aimed at undermining viewers' trust in US democratic procedures and undercutting US criticism of Russia's political system RT Editor in Chief Margarita Simonyan recently declared that the United States itself lacks democracy and that it has no moral right to teach the rest of the world Kommersant 6 November Simonyan has characterized RT's coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement as information warfare that is aimed at promoting popular dissatisfaction with the US Government RT created a Facebook app to connect Occupy Wall Street protesters via social media In addition RT featured its own hosts in Occupy rallies Minaev Live 10 April RT 2 12 June RT's reports often characterize the United States as a surveillance state and allege widespread infringements of civil liberties police brutality and drone use RT 24 28 October 1-10 November Simonyan steps over the White House in the introduction from her short-lived domestic show on REN TV REN TV 26 December 2011 RT has also focused on criticism of the US economic system US currency policy alleged Wall Street greed and the US national debt Some of RT's hosts have compared the United States to Imperial Rome and have predicted that government corruption and corporate greed will lead to US financial collapse RT 31 October 4 November 7 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign RT broadcasts support for other Russian interests in areas such as foreign and energy policy RT runs anti-fracking programming highlighting environmental issues and the impacts on public health This is likely reflective of the Russian Government's concern about the impact of fracking and US natural gas production on the global energy market and the potential challenges to Gazprom's profitability 5 October RT is a leading media voice opposing Western intervention in the Syrian conflict and blaming the West for waging information wars against the Syrian Government RT 10 October-9 November RT anti-fracking reporting RT 5 October In an earlier example of RT's messaging in support of the Russian Government during the Georgia-Russia military conflict the channel accused Georgians of killing civilians and organizing a genocide of the Ossetian people According to Simonyan when the Ministry of Defense was at war with Georgia RT was waging an information war against the entire Western world Kommersant 11 July In recent interviews RT's leadership has candidly acknowledged its mission to expand its US audience and to expose it to Kremlin messaging However the leadership rejected claims that RT interferes in US domestic affairs Simonyan claimed in popular arts magazine Afisha on 3 October It is important to have a channel that people get used to and then when needed you show them what you need to show In some sense not having our own foreign broadcasting is the same as not having a ministry of defense When there is no war it looks like we don't need it However when there is a war it is critical According to Simonyan the word 'propaganda' has a very negative connotation but indeed there is not a single international foreign TV channel that is doing something other than promotion of the values of the country that it is broadcasting from She added that when Russia is at war we are of course on Russia's side Afisha 3 October Kommersant 4 July TV-Novosti director Nikolov said on 4 October to the Association of Cable Television that RT builds on worldwide demand for an alternative view of the entire world Simonyan asserted on 3 October in Afisha that RT's goal is to make an alternative channel that shares information unavailable elsewhere in order to conquer the audience and expose it to Russian state messaging Afisha 3 October Kommersant 4 July On 26 May Simonyan tweeted with irony Ambassador McFaul hints that our channel is interference with US domestic affairs And we sinful souls were thinking that it is freedom of speech 8 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign RT Leadership Closely Tied to Controlled by Kremlin RT Editor in Chief Margarita Simonyan has close ties to top Russian Government officials especially Presidential Administration Deputy Chief of Staff Aleksey Gromov who reportedly manages political TV coverage in Russia and is one of the founders of RT Simonyan has claimed that Gromov shielded her from other officials and their requests to air certain reports Russian media consider Simonyan to be Gromov's protege Kommersant 4 July Dozhd TV 11 July Simonyan replaced Gromov on stateowned Channel One's Board of Directors Government officials including Gromov and Putin's Press Secretary Peskov were involved in creating RT and appointing Simonyan Afisha 3 October According to Simonyan Gromov oversees political coverage on TV and he has periodic meetings with media managers where he shares classified information and discusses their coverage plans Some opposition journalists including Andrey Loshak claim that he also ordered media attacks on opposition figures Kommersant 11 July Simonyan shows RT facilities to then Prime Minister Putin Simonyan was on Putin's 2012 presidential election campaign staff in Moscow Rospress 22 September 2010 Ria Novosti 25 October 2012 The Kremlin staffs RT and closely supervises RT's coverage recruiting people who can convey Russian strategic messaging because of their ideological beliefs The head of RT's Arabic-language service Aydar Aganin was rotated from the diplomatic service to manage RT's Arabic-language expansion suggesting a close relationship between RT and Russia's foreign policy apparatus RT's London Bureau is managed by Darya Pushkova the daughter of Aleksey Pushkov the current chair of the Duma Russian Foreign Affairs Committee and a former Gorbachev speechwriter DXB 26 March 2009 MK ru 13 March 2006 According to Simonyan the Russian Government sets rating and viewership requirements for RT and since RT receives budget from the state it must complete tasks given by the state According to Nikolov RT news stories are written and edited to become news exclusively in RT's Moscow office Dozhd TV 11 July AKT 4 October In her interview with pro-Kremlin journalist Sergey Minaev Simonyan complimented RT staff in the United States for passionately defending Russian positions on the air and in social media Simonyan said I wish you could see how these guys not just on air but on their own social networks Twitter and when giving interviews how they defend the positions that we stand on Minaev Live 10 April 9 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign RT Focuses on Social Media Building Audience RT aggressively advertises its social media accounts and has a significant and fast-growing social media footprint In line with its efforts to present itself as anti-mainstream and to provide viewers alternative news content RT is making its social media operations a top priority both to avoid broadcast TV regulations and to expand its overall audience According to RT management RT's website receives at least 500 000 unique viewers every day Since its inception in 2005 RT videos received more than 800 million views on YouTube 1 million views per day which is the highest among news outlets see graphics for comparison with other news channels AKT 4 October According to Simonyan the TV audience worldwide is losing trust in traditional TV broadcasts and stations while the popularity of alternative channels like RT or Al Jazeera grows RT markets itself as an alternative channel that is available via the Internet everywhere in the world and it encourages interaction and social networking Kommersant 29 September According to Simonyan RT uses social media to expand the reach of its political reporting and uses well-trained people to monitor public opinion in social media commentaries Kommersant 29 September According to Nikolov RT requires its hosts to have social media accounts in part because social media allows the distribution of content that would not be allowed on television Newreporter org 11 October Simonyan claimed in her 3 October interview to independent TV channel Dozhd that Occupy Wall Street coverage gave RT a significant audience boost The Kremlin spends $190 million a year on the distribution and dissemination of RT programming focusing on hotels and satellite terrestrial and cable broadcasting The Kremlin is rapidly expanding RT's availability around the world and giving it a reach comparable to channels such as Al Jazeera English According to Simonyan the United Kingdom and the United States are RT's most successful markets RT does not however publish audience information According to market research company Nielsen RT had the most rapid growth 40 percent among all international news channels in the United States over the past year 2012 Its audience in New York tripled and in Washington DC grew by 60% Kommersant 4 July RT claims that it is surpassing Al Jazeera in viewership in New York and Washington DC BARB 20 November RT 21 November RT states on its website that it can reach more than 550 million people worldwide and 85 million people in the United States however it does not publicize its actual US audience numbers RT 10 December 10 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign 11 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Formal Disassociation From Kremlin Facilitates RT US Messaging RT America formally disassociates itself from the Russian Government by using a Moscow-based autonomous nonprofit organization to finance its US operations According to RT's leadership this structure was set up to avoid the Foreign Agents Registration Act and to facilitate licensing abroad In addition RT rebranded itself in 2008 to deemphasize its Russian origin According to Simonyan RT America differs from other Russian state institutions in terms of ownership but not in terms of financing To disassociate RT from the Russian Government the federal news agency RIA Novosti established a subsidiary autonomous nonprofit organization TVNovosti using the formal independence of this company to establish and finance RT worldwide Dozhd TV 11 July Nikolov claimed that RT is an autonomous noncommercial entity which is well received by foreign regulators and simplifies getting a license Simonyan said that RT America is not a foreign agent according to US law because it uses a US commercial organization for its broadcasts AKT 4 October Dozhd TV 11 July Simonyan observed that RT's original Russia-centric news reporting did not generate sufficient audience so RT switched to covering international and US domestic affairs and removed the words Russia Today from the logo to stop scaring away the audience Afisha 18 October Kommersant 4 July RT hires or makes contractual agreements with Westerners with views that fit its agenda and airs them on RT Simonyan said on the pro-Kremlin show Minaev Live on 10 April that RT has enough audience and money to be able to choose its hosts and it chooses the hosts that think like us are interested in working in the anti-mainstream and defend RT's beliefs on social media Some hosts and journalists do not present themselves as associated with RT when interviewing people and many of them have affiliations to other media and activist organizations in the United States Minaev Live 10 April 12 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign Annex B 13 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign This page intentionally left blank 14 This report is a declassified version of a highly classified assessment its conclusions are identical to those in the highly classified assessment but this version does not include the full supporting information on key elements of the influence campaign This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu