Clapper: Putin Sought to Demean Sec. Clinton... and to Advantage Mr. Trump’

EXCERPT:

CLAPPER: “The intelligence community assessment concluded first that President Putin directed an influence campaign to erode the faith and confidence of the American people in our presidential election process. Second, that he did so to demean Secretary Clinton and third that he sought to advantage Mr. Trump. These conclusions were reached based on the richness of the information gathered and analyzed and were thoroughly vetted and approved by the directors of the three agencies and me. These Russian activities and the result and assessment were briefed first to President Obama on the 5th of January, then to President-Elect Trump at Trump Tower on the 6th, and to the Congress via a series of five briefings from the 6th to the 13th of January."