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Washington (AP) - In the US election in November, according to the American secret services, Russia stood up for the then President Donald Trump and tried to harm his challenger Joe Biden.
Moscow wanted to influence the outcome of the election and sow strife in the country, according to a report from the office of intelligence coordinator Avril Haines.
President Vladimir Putin and his government had "approved and implemented" the measures.
Russia focused on disinformation in 2020 but, unlike in the 2016 election, did not seek to directly undermine the US electoral infrastructure, it said.
No other country has successfully undermined the US election either, the Justice and Homeland Security Departments said, citing the secret services.
For example, no voting was prevented, no voting machines were hacked, and no results were manipulated.
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Russia relied on its secret service, state media, internet trolls and allies in Ukraine in its campaign, it said.
One of Moscow's most important strategies was to accuse Biden and his family of corruption in connection with Ukraine.
Russia's agents had also targeted Americans who had ties to Trump's government to demand the initiation of investigations against Biden.
There have also been efforts to manipulate Trump administration officials and certain media outlets, it said.
The report did not specifically name the objectives of Russian influence in the United States.
The theories spread by Moscow on the alleged corruption of Biden were represented by Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, among others.
Conservative media like Fox News also picked them up again and again.
The Republican Trump also accused the Democrat Biden and his son Hunter several times of having enriched themselves with crooked business.
Hunter Biden held a lucrative position on the supervisory board of the Ukrainian gas company Burisma between 2014 and 2019.
As Vice President, his father was in charge of US policy towards Ukraine until the end of 2016.
Trump, in turn, is accused of pressuring Ukraine in 2019 to initiate corruption investigations against Biden.
Trump wanted to harm his political rival, so the logic.
Trump's actions against Ukraine led to the initiation of the first impeachment proceedings against Trump for abuse of power.
The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives indicted him, but the Senate acquitted him with a majority of Republicans.
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The new intelligence services report on the 2020 election went on to say that Moscow wanted to “influence the public perception of candidates in the US” and pursue the long-term goal of “undermining trust in the US electoral system and the social division of the people in America to strengthen ».
Russia viewed Biden's election victory as “detrimental to Russian interests”.
China, on the other hand, did not try to influence the election.
Iran, in turn, tried to influence the election campaign in order to reduce the chances of Trump's re-election and to increase the division in American society, it said.
In the 2016 election, Russia intervened in favor of the candidate Trump in order to slow down the Democrat Hillary Clinton.
A special investigator later investigated possible illegal collusion between Russia and Trump's team.
There was insufficient evidence for this, but investigator Robert Mueller did not rule out that Trump might obstruct the judiciary's investigations.
Trump always condemned the Russia investigation as a "witch hunt".
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210317-99-853200 / 2
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Secret services report, English
Department of Homeland Security Report, English