Stunning intelligence

U.S. intelligence agencies had sourcing deep inside the Russian government capturing Putin’s direct instructions.

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Covert retaliatory options

Before he left office, Obama set in motion a secret program that authorized the deployment of “implants” in Russian networks.

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‘Menu’ of responses

The White House debated dozens of options against Russia.

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Push for a probe

Secretary of State John F. Kerry proposed the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate Russian interference.

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Brazen harassment

U.S. officials were disturbed by Moscow’s brazen harassment of American diplomats and intelligence operatives.

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Toiling in the dark

As senior administration officials began deliberating on what to do about Russia, lower-level officials were kept in the dark.

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White House priorities

Obama and his senior aides were worried any action they took would be depicted as political interference in an already volatile campaign.

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Warnings to Moscow

The administration issued a series of warnings to Russia.

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Russians expelled

The roster focused heavily on Russians with technical skills.

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Moscow’s compounds

The FBI put priority on seizing two Russian compounds in Maryland and New York as a response to the election interference.

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Agency differences

Despite the intelligence, agencies were slow to endorse the conclusion that Putin wanted to damage Clinton and help elect Trump.

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A chronology of the 2016 U.S. election and the new revelations

Russia’s election inference was one of the most divisive topics of the presidential campaign.

Intelligence agencies knew as early as 2015 that the Russians had penetrated the systems of the Democratic National Committee, but it wasn’t until the election cycle hit full force that many of the leaks began to surface. Throughout the summer months, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump continued to reject the intelligence on Russia’s involvement, while Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was dogged by an email scandal that resurfaced time and time again.

Here is a look at the events in the administration as the White House proposed various ways to punish Russia during the final months of the presidential campaign:

Clinton and the DNC
Trump and the GOP
The Obama administration

February

Clinton in the lead

Feb. 1

Democrat Hillary Clinton wins the Iowa caucuses but edges Bernie Sanders by the smallest margin in history. Most Democrats still agree Clinton can win in November.

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Feb. 1

Republican Donald Trump finishes second in the Iowa caucuses, just behind Ted Cruz. A majority of Republicans say Trump "tells it like it is."

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Feb. 29

Jeff Sessions becomes the first senator to endorse Trump. He would go on to serve as one of Trump's key advisers during his campaign.

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March

Clinton in front

March 1

Clinton pulls ahead of Sanders on Super Tuesday, winning seven states.

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March 1

On Super Tuesday, Trump emerges as the front-runner when he wins primaries in seven states. Some Republicans call for the party to unify behind Trump.

Read more

Podesta hacked

March 19

Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta receives an email link instructing him to change his password, allowing hackers to later access his account.

March 21

In an interview with The Post, Trump provides a list of foreign policy advisers including Carter Page. Page worked as an investment banker in Russia for a decade. He had been on the FBI's radar since 2013 after a Russian agent in New York tried to recruit him.

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March 28

Trump hires Paul Manafort. He is recommended by Roger Stone.

April

April 27

Trump gives a speech at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington promising warmer ties with Russia. Sessions, Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner attend the event. Sessions says in Senate testimony that he does not recall meeting Kislyak at that event.

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April 28

During an interview with Bill O’Reilly, Trump says Russian President Vladmir Putin called him a genius. The statement is inaccurate.

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May

Hints of hacking

May 18

Speaking at a cybersecurity event in Washington, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. says officials have seen indications that hackers have targeted presidential campaigns. He does not elaborate further.

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May 19

Trump promotes Manafort to campaign chairman.

June

Early June

Page stuns foreign policy experts by praising Putin in a speech.

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June 3

Rob Goldstone, a publicist for Russian pop star Emin Agalarov, emails Donald Trump Jr. saying a Russian lawyer has potentially damaging information against Hillary Clinton as part of “Russia and its government’s support.” The email clearly shows Trump Jr. understood he was taking information from Moscow.

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Moscow's aggressive actions

June 6

A CIA operative is tackled to the ground by a uniformed FSB guard outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

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U.S. officials were disturbed by Moscow’s brazen harassment of American diplomats and intelligence operatives. In one previously undisclosed incident last year, a Russian military helicopter dropped down from the sky to pass just feet over the hood of a vehicle being driven by the U.S. defense attache in northern Russia.

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June 9

Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner meet a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower. The president’s son would reveal almost a year later that he agreed to meet with the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, because she claimed to have potentially damaging information about Hillary Clinton and illegal campaign contributions to the DNC.

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June 9

Obama formally endorses Clinton.

First DNC hack made public

June 14

The Washington Post reports for the first time that Russians penetrated the DNC's computer network and stole opposition research on Trump. The Russians first gained entry into the DNC's system in the summer of 2015 and again in the spring of 2016, but the breach is not made public until now.

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Russia scoffs at claim

June 14

Russia denies the hack. Putin’s top Internet adviser muses that maybe someone “simply forgot the password.”

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Suspicious claim of responsibility

June 15

"Guccifer 2.0," a self-identified Romanian hacker, claims responsibility for the DNC breach, despite the conclusion of cybersecurity firms that Russia was behind it. The FBI also privately confirms to The Post that Russia was responsible. Guccifer claims he gave WikiLeaks the files.

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June 15

Trump says the DNC hacking is a distraction and suggests the DNC hacked itself to get attention.

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June 20

Two more independent research firms confirm that the Russian government was behind the DNC hack.

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More leaks

June 21

"Guccifer 2.0" posts more stolen documents.

Read more

July

RUSSIA AND THE CONVENTIONS

Carter Page

Sergey Kislyak

Julian Assange

J.D. Gordon

GOP convention, July 18 to 21

Democratic convention, July 25 to 28

Trump staffers alter

GOP platform on Ukraine

 

DNC information

exposed

During the Republican National Convention, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak speaks with Trump advisers J.D. Gordon and Carter Page. Gordon would later say he was part of the push to soften the GOP’s national security platform regarding U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists. Kislyak meets with Jeff Sessions at a panel at the convention hosted by the Heritage Foundation.

WikiLeaks publishes about 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, days before the party’s national convention. Julian Assange tells NBC there is "no proof" that the information his anti-secrecy group received came from Russia. U.S. officials say WikiLeaks received the data from Russia.

Jeff Sessions

RUSSIA AND THE CONVENTIONS

Carter Page

Sergey Kislyak

Julian Assange

J.D. Gordon

GOP convention, July 18 to 21

Democratic convention, July 25 to 28

DNC information

exposed

 

Trump staffers alter GOP

platform on Ukraine

WikiLeaks publishes about 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, days before the party’s national convention. Julian Assange tells NBC there is "no proof" that the information his anti-secrecy group received came from Russia. U.S. officials say WikiLeaks received the data from Russia.

During the Republican National Convention, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak speaks with Trump advisers J.D. Gordon and Carter Page. Gordon would later say he was part of the push to soften the GOP’s national security platform regarding U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists. Kislyak meets with Jeff Sessions at a panel at the convention hosted by the Heritage Foundation.

Jeff Sessions

July

The DNC emails are released while Clinton is questioned about her use of a private email server. Despite this, Obama is still confident that he will be transferring power to Clinton.

Comey's unusual news briefing

July 5

FBI Director James B. Comey holds a surprise news briefing, saying the FBI recommends no charges following the Clinton email investigation.

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July 11-12

Prior to the Republican National Convention, Trump staffers soften the language of the GOP’s national security platform regarding U.S. support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists.

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July 18

The GOP convention begins in Cleveland.

July 18

Sessions speaks with Kislyak at a panel hosted by the Heritage Foundation during the convention, one of two encounters he did not reveal later during his confirmation hearing to become attorney general.

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“I may have met him — possibly. It might have been in Cleveland," Page says in an interview after the election.

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July 21

Trump accepts the Republican Party's nomination. The GOP convention ends.

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July 21

The White House convenes a high-level interagency meeting on Russia's hacking of the Democratic National Committee with representatives from the FBI, Defense Department and intelligence community, among others.

WikiLeaks publishes DNC emails

July 22

WikiLeaks publishes about 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee. The emails appear to show a preference within the DNC for Clinton over Sanders. U.S. officials have said that Russian intelligence used intermediaries to pass the email cache to WikiLeaks.

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Clapper continues to state publicly that U.S. intelligence agencies remain uncertain of who was behind the DNC hack, even though concern about Moscow's interference was rising.

July 24

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigns as a result of the WikiLeaks fallout.

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July 25

The Democratic National Convention begins in Philadelphia. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange tells NBC there is "no proof" that the Democratic emails his organization published were provided by Russia.

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The FBI announces it is investigating the DNC hack and states that "a compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously."

July 26

In a tweet, Trump says the Democrats are blaming Russia to "deflect the horror and stupidity of the WikiLeakes disaster."

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July 27

At a rally, Trump says he's never met Putin but urges Russia to hack Clinton emails missing from her private server. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," Trump says. Trump later says he was joking.

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July 28

The Democratic convention ends. Clinton accepts the party's nomination for president, casting Trump as a divisive candidate.

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July 28

In a statement before Clinton's acceptance speech, Trump says: "Democrats have been speaking about a world that doesn’t exist.” He also says he thinks Putin respects him more than Clinton.

July 28

At the Aspen Security Forum, Clapper says Russia has a long history of meddling in U.S. elections. But he says U.S. intelligence agencies remain uncertain of who was behind the DNC hack and why.

July 31

In an interview with ABC, Trump says he has "no relationship" with Putin.

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August

SECRET CIA REPORT ARRIVES AT THE WHITE HOUSE

CIA Director John Brennan first alerts the White House in early August that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an operation to defeat or at least damage Hillary Clinton and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

The president instructs aides to assess vulnerabilities in the election system and get agencies to agree on the intelligence that Putin was seeking to influence the election.

John O. Brennan

President Obama

Jeh Johnson

Brennan calls Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s main security agency, and warns him about interfering in the U.S. presidential election.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s efforts to secure the U.S. voting systems run aground when some state officials reject his plan, calling it a federal takeover.

Alexander Bortnikov

SECRET CIA REPORT ARRIVES AT THE WHITE HOUSE

CIA Director John Brennan first alerts the White House in early August that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered an operation to defeat or at least damage Hillary Clinton and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.

The president instructs aides to assess vulnerabilities in the election system and get agencies to agree on the intelligence that Putin was seeking to influence the election.

John Brennan

President Barack Obama

Jeh Johnson

Brennan calls Alexander Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s main security agency, and warns him about interfering in the U.S. presidential election.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s efforts to secure the U.S. voting systems run aground when some state officials reject his plan, calling it a federal takeover.

Alexander Bortnikov

August

A secret CIA report arrives at the White House for Obama and three senior aides. The intelligence captures Putin's specific instructions on an operation to damage Clinton and help Trump.

U.S. intelligence agencies had sourcing deep inside the Russian government capturing Putin’s direct instructions in the operation to damage Clinton’s chances of winning and help elect Trump. The intelligence on Putin was extraordinary on multiple levels, including as a feat of espionage.

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Brennan's CIA task force

Brennan creates a task force at the CIA to keep Obama informed of developments and decide where to aim subsequent efforts to collect more intelligence on Russia.The task force comprises specialists from the CIA, National Security Agency and FBI.

Russia-related sessions with Cabinet members get underway.

As senior administration officials began deliberating on what to do about Russia, lower-level officials are kept in the dark. A video feed from the Situation Room is shut off -- a measure that had not happened since the run-up to raid on Osama bin Laden's compound.

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Aug. 1

At a campaign rally, Trump says it might be a good thing to get along with Russia.

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Brennan's warning to the Kremlin

Aug. 4

Brennan calls FSB director Alexander Bortnikov and issues a warning to Moscow over any intervention in the election. Obama administration officials are convinced that a series of warnings will prompt Russia to abandon any further aggression.

Aug. 5

Writing in Breitbart, Trump ally and friend Roger Stone argues that Guccifer 2.0 was behind the DNC hacks and not Russia.

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Aug. 6

Obama leaves for vacation on Martha's Vineyard. Before he goes, he instructs aides to get consensus from U.S. intelligence agencies on Russia's role and intentions, assess the vulnerabilities of the election system and seek bipartisan support to publicly condemn Moscow. The aides face obstacles at every turn.

Despite the intelligence, agencies are slow to endorse the conclusion that Putin wanted to damage Clinton and help elect Trump. The NSA in particular is reluctant to regard the CIA conclusion with high confidence, because some of the most critical technical intelligence on Russia came from another country, officials said.

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Aug. 8

Stone tells Republicans in Florida he has "communicated with Assange" and that more Clinton documents could be released, but also says there's no telling what the "October Surprise may be."

Aug. 11

Brennan begins scheduling private briefings with congressional leaders to brief them on Russia's actions.

New leaks by 'Guccifer 2.0'

Aug. 12

"Guccifer 2.0" releases personal cellphone numbers and email addresses from the files of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The information also shows shared passwords committee members used for research services such as LexisNexis.

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Aug. 14

The New York Times reports on secret Ukrainian ledgers showing $12.7 million in off-the-books payments to Manafort's consulting firm by the Russia-aligned Party of Regions.

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Stone says "Guccifer 2.0" reached out to him on Twitter after his Breitbart article. According to Stone, the conversations were brief and innocuous.

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Johnson runs into problems

Aug. 15

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson arranges a conference call with state officials hoping to gather local support for securing the patchwork of voting systems across the country. Johnson’s proposal is denounced by some Republicans as a federal takeover.

Aug. 17

Trump receives his first classified intelligence briefing as the GOP presidential nominee. He is briefed on the Kremlin's direct involvement in election interference, according to NBC News.

Read more

Aug. 19

Facing mounting political pressure, Manafort resigns.

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Aug. 21

Stone tweets: “Trust me, it will soon the Podesta's time in the barrel. #CrookedHillary.” Podesta would later attack Stone for his tweet, saying he perhaps knew of WikiLeak's plans.

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Voter registration systems probed

Aug. 29

Hackers target state voter-registration systems.

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The FBI eventually detected suspected Russian attempts to penetrate election systems in 21 states. A Department of Homeland Security official said there was one state in which there was evidence voting systems were compromised: Illinois.

September

September

Congressional leaders are briefed on threats to elections systems by Comey and White House homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco, but the meeting dissolves into partisan bickering. Democrats want to name Russia publicly, while Republicans worry doing so will undermine the integrity of the election.

FBI releases documents in Clinton investigation

Sept. 2

The FBI releases documents on Clinton's emails. They show Clinton and her staff used an informal way to exchange sensitive information, but otherwise the release is devoid of any major revelations.

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Sept. 2

Trump attacks Clinton as untrustworthy.

Putin calls hacking a public service

Sept. 2

Putin says he doesn't know anything about the DNC hack and denies Russian involvement. Putin also speculates that the hacking was perhaps a public good. The Clinton campaign denounces his comments, saying that Putin is endorsing election interference.

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U.S. begins probing Russia

Sept. 5

The Post reports Clapper is coordinating an effort among U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to investigate the scope and intent of Russia's election interference.

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Obama and Putin, face to face

Sept. 5

Obama talks to Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in China.

The administration issued a series of warnings to Russia. In one instance, a senior aide recounted a conversation in China when Obama told Putin that "we knew what he was doing and [he] better stop or else."

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Brennan finally finishes briefing all of the “Gang of Eight” congressional leaders. It had proved difficult to get appointments and to talk with certain Republicans.

Sept. 8

Sessions meets with Kislyak in his Senate office and later said he took the meeting as a member of the Armed Services Committee, not as a Trump campaign official. The encounter with the Russian ambassador is one of two that Sessions fails to disclose during his confirmation hearing for attorney general.

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Sept. 8

Trump tells Larry King on a show airing on the Kremlin-backed RT that it is "probably unlikely" Russia was behind the election interference. "I think maybe the Democrats are putting that out. Who knows? But I think that it’s pretty unlikely,” Trump says.

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Frustration builds

Sept. 10

The White House faces mounting pressure from lawmakers and national security officials to blame Russia for election interference. But the intelligence community has still not reached consensus on Putin's role and intentions.

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White House considers more options

Sept. 10

The White House again begins exploring retaliatory measures but is afraid of looking partisan in the middle of the presidential campaign.

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Obama and his senior aides were worried any action they took would be depicted as political interference in an already volatile campaign. They also feared the prospect of instigating a cyber-assault on voting systems before and on Election Day.

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Sept. 22

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrats on the Senate and House intelligence committees, go around the White House and issue their own statement on Russian interference.

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Republicans resist issuing a bipartisan statement by senior lawmakers on Russian interference.

First presidential debate

Sept. 26

Polls show Clinton overwhelmingly won the first debate. Many say Trump was unprepared and sounded undisciplined.

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Sept. 26

Conservative Republicans are soured by Trump's first debate performance. Trump mocks accusations that Russia was behind the DNC hacks, saying: "It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay?”

Meanwhile, foreign policy adviser Page steps down from the Trump campaign.

Republicans vs. Democrats

Sept. 28

McConnell and other congressional leaders issue a cautious statement that encourages state election officials to ensure their systems are “secure from attack.” It makes no mention of Russia.

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McConnell not only did not support calling out Moscow; he was skeptical of the intelligence. Some Democrats were stunned at this response and frustated at the White House.

October

October

Secretary of State John Kerry tries to get the administration to confront Russia. His staff produces a memo that includes a package of retaliatory measures, but the response at the White House was essentially "Not now."

Failed 'October surprise'

Oct. 4

WikiLeaks' Assange denies he is targeting Clinton in a highly anticipated news conference that some conservatives expected would surface more damaging information on the Democratic presidential candidate.

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Access Hollywood' tape overshadows Obama administration's statement on hacking

Oct. 7

National security adviser Susan Rice summons Kislyak to the White House and gives him a message for Putin.

At 3:30 p.m., Clapper and Johnson issue a joint statement formally blaming Moscow for attempting to interfere in the election, including by hacking the computers of political organizations.

At 4 p.m., The Post publishes the "Access Hollywood" video, in which Trump can be heard making lewd comments about women.

At 4:30 p.m., WikiLeaks begins publishing hacked emails from Podesta’s account. The group does not identify the source of the emails.

Read more

Oct. 7

This is the administration's first public comment. Until now, the Obama administration had avoided publicly blaming the Kremlin. Obama was facing pressure from the Clinton campaign, his party and his administration to issue some sort of statement summarizing its findings. Comey and Obama do not sign the document, to avoid any appearance of politics.

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Second presidential debate; more emails released

Oct. 9

Clinton accuses Trump of benefiting from Russia's election meddling. Trump denies it, saying he doesn't know Putin.

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Oct. 9

Trump again declines to acknowledge that Russia was behind the DNC hack. “[Clinton] doesn't know if it's the Russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is no hacking,” he says.

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Clinton campaign blames the Russians

Oct. 11

Podesta tells reporters that Russia is responsible for hacking into his account and that the Trump campaign knew WikiLeaks would release his information. He references Stone's cryptic tweet days before, saying it would soon be "Podesta's time in the barrel."

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Oct. 12

Stone claims that he communicated with Assange through a "backchannel" and that he’s never spoken with him directly. WikiLeaks later denies this.

Third and final presidential debate

Oct. 19

Clinton says Putin supports Trump because he “would rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”

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Trump responds: “No puppet. No puppet. You’re the puppet.” When moderator Chris Wallace asks Trump whether he condems Russian interference, he responds: "Of course I condemn. I don’t know Putin. I have no idea."

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More email trouble for Clinton

Oct. 28

The FBI announces it will again investigate Clinton's use of a private server after discovering her emails on the seized computer of Anthony Weiner in a separate investigation.

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Oct. 31

The administration delivers a final pre-election message to Moscow, warning that Russian meddling would be regarded as unacceptable interference. Russia confirmed the next day that it had received the message but replied only after the election, denying the accusation.

November

Kerry makes one last try to confront Russia by advocating for a bipartisan commission.

Kerry proposed the creation of a bipartisan commission to investigate Russian interference and make recommendations on how to protect future elections. Obama and senior White House officials killed the idea. They believed it would be blocked by Congress and be perceived as partisan.

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Nov. 7

Just before the election, the FBI concludes there is no evidence of wrongdoing in the newly discovered Clinton emails.

Nov. 8

Trump is elected president.

Trump’s victory defies significant polls and predictions, and the Obama White House is shocked. It was like a funeral parlor,” said one official.

Nov. 10

In his Oval Office meeting with Trump, Obama warns him against hiring Michael Flynn as national security adviser.

Nov. 17

Trump designates Flynn as the national security adviser.

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Nov. 18

Trump offers Sessions the job of attorney general in his administration.

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Discussions on more sanctions

Nov. 24

After Thanksgiving, Rice orders NSC staffers to compile a list of punitive measures to use against Moscow, including previously discussed cyber, economic and diplomatic actions.

The White House debated dozens of options against Russia: punishing economic sanctions, damaging cyberattacks and the release of sensitive information on Putin. What was proposed was much less severe than some of those original ideas.

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Nov. 28

Trump denies Russian interference in a Time magazine interview: “I don’t believe they interfered. That became a laughing point, not a talking point, a laughing point."

December

December

The Post reports on a secret CIA report that Russia intervened in the election.

Dec. 1 or 2

Flynn, Kushner and Kislyak meet at Trump Tower. Kushner proposes setting up a secret communication channel between transition officials and Moscow, according to intercepts of Russian communications.

Dec. 8

Page is back in Moscow to meet with “business and thought leaders."

CIA says Russia intervened in the election to help Trump

Dec. 9

The Post reports that the CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Trump win the White House, in addition to undermining confidence in the U.S. electoral system.

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On this day, Obama orders a comprehensive review by U.S. intelligence agencies on Russian interference in U.S. elections going back to 2008. After scouring through previously overlooked intelligence, the analysts produce new reports that allowed officials to see how extensive Russia's measures really were.The findings give new urgency to NSC deliberations.

Trump says he doesn't believe The Post's story on the CIA's findings, calling it "ridiculous."

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Dec. 13 or 14

Kushner meets with Sergey Gorkov, chief of Russia’s state-owned Vnesheconombank, at Kislyak's request.

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FBI: Russia intervened in the election

Dec. 16

The FBI agrees with the CIA that Russia sought to help Trump win the White House.

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Obama gives one of his last news conferences, expressing irritation that the media had been obsessed with the WikiLeaks disclosures. In a rare outburst, Obama derides Russia: "The Russians can’t change us or significantly weaken us. They are a smaller country. They are a weaker country."

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Dec. 22

The CrowdStrike cybersecurity firm says it has "high confidence" that the group that hacked the DNC has ties to the Russian military intelligence agency, the GRU.

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Dec. 28

When asked about election tampering at his resort in Mar-a-Lago,Trump says it's “time for the country to move on to bigger and better things.”

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Obama's admistration orders new sanctions and kicks out diplomats

Dec. 29

The administration orders new sanctions against Russian organizations and individuals in response to Russian interference in the election. The administration also orders 35 Russian suspected spies operating under diplomatic cover to leave the United States and closes Russian-owned facilities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and on Long Island that are believed to be used for intelligence purposes.

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The list of expelled spies in retaliation for Russia’s election interference included several who were suspected of helping the operation from within the United States, officials said. The roster focused heavily on Russians with technical skills.

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The FBI put priority on seizing the Russian compounds in Maryland and New York as a response to the election interference. Aerial images of the facilities showed how the compounds were modified, presumably to enhance their espionage capabilities. When the Russians evacuated the compounds, they stripped them of antennas, electronics, computers, file cabinets and other gear, officials said.

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Dec. 29

Flynn discusses the sanctions over the phone withKislyak, a conversation that gets picked up by U.S. intelligence agencies.

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Putin doesn't act

Dec. 30

In a surprising move, Putin chooses not to retaliate against the sanctions imposed by Obama.

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In a tweet, Trump praises Putin’s decision not to respond to the U.S. sanctions.

January

Before he left office, Obama set in motion a secret program that authorized the deployment of “implants” in Russian networks – digital bombs that could be triggered in a retaliatory cyber-strike in the event of Moscow aggression. It would be up to President Trump to decide whether to use the capability.

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Jan. 3

In a tweet, Trump says it's "very strange" that an intelligence briefing on Russia hacking was "delayed until Friday," perhaps so a better case could be built. Officials say there was no such delay.

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Jan. 4

Trump writes on Twitter: “Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’ - why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!”

Officials release declassified report to the public saying Russia interfered in election

Jan. 6

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence releases a declassified report that concludes Russia was behind the campaign hacking -- information that Brennan brought to Obama in August.

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Only now does the public actually learn what intelligence agencies knew in August -- that Putin was working to hurt Clinton and elect Trump. The report was based largely on the work done by Brennan's task force.

Jan. 6

Comey attends a briefing at Trump Tower in which he first informs Trump that he isn’t personally under investigation as part of the FBI’s probe of Russian interference and any coordination between his associates and Russian officials.

Jan. 20

Trump is inaugurated as the 45th U.S. president.

About this story

The Washington Post interviewed more than two dozen current and former U.S. officials in senior positions of the government as well as U.S. intelligence services.

Originally published June 23, 2017.

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