Reuters: The Russian Institute for Strategic Studies worked on a plan for Russian interference in the US presidential election

Work on the plan for a propaganda campaign to interfere in the US presidential election, which, according to American intelligence services, was organized by the Russian authorities, was carried out at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISI). This was reported by Reuters with reference to seven former and current American officials.

According to American intelligence services, two documents were created at RISI with proposals for propaganda activities in connection with the US presidential elections, Reuters reports.

The first, prepared in June 2016, proposed launching a campaign on social networks and international media controlled by the Russian government to encourage American voters to vote for a candidate with a softer policy towards Russia.

Four sources told Reuters the document was a continuation of a campaign that began in March, when they said government-controlled RT, Sputnik and other media outlets were instructed to report positively on Trump's campaign.

In October, another document was developed. Its authors assumed that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton would win the election, and suggested that instead of campaigning in support of Republican Donald Trump, they should concentrate on reports of possible election fraud and discrediting Clinton.

Both documents, according to Reuters sources, were not addressed to specific people or departments and were distributed “at the highest levels” of the Russian government. They came into the possession of American intelligence services after the elections.

The documents developed at RISI became the main argument for the Barack Obama administration that Russia organized a propaganda campaign and a series of cyber attacks in order to influence the US elections, writes Reuters.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, the press services of RISI and RT did not respond to Reuters requests. A representative of the Sputnik agency called the reports from Reuters sources “an absolute lie.”

On the afternoon of April 19 (before the Reuters publication), the TASS agency released a statement from RISI, which called an “inappropriate joke” when unnamed Western media outlets asked whether the institute recommended the Kremlin launch a campaign to influence the US elections.

• The United States accused the Russian Federation of organizing a campaign to influence the course of the American presidential elections, which took place in November 2016. Part of this campaign, according to American intelligence services, was the hacking of the servers of the Democratic Party Committee and the publication of stolen documents through Wikileaks. In connection with cyber attacks, the United States introduced new sanctions against the Russian Federation.
• In January 2017 (before the inauguration of Donald Trump), American intelligence agencies presented a report in which they accused Vladimir Putin of organizing a campaign to interfere in the elections. There was no concrete evidence in the document, from which some intelligence was removed before publication; a significant part of it was devoted to the activities of the RT television channel.
• Russia denies accusations of both trying to influence the US elections and organizing cyberattacks. US President Donald Trump called the accusations against the Russian Federation an attempt by the Democrats to justify their defeat in the elections.
• The Russian Institute for Strategic Studies was created in 1992 by decree of the President of the Russian Federation. The Institute is engaged in “information support” for the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the government, parliament and other departments, preparing information and analytical materials for them.
• In the fall of 2016, it was announced that RISI would be headed by former Prime Minister and head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov from January.