A bipartisan plan to impose sanctions on Russia in response to cyberattacks conducted during the 2016 elections could hit a snag among key Republicans, despite the lawmakers’ belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government interfered in the campaign.
The debate over Russian activity has been polarized since mid-summer, when the intelligence community publicly accused Russia of purloining and leaking documents that embarrassed the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign. President-elect Trump refused to accept those findings and impeached the credibility of the CIA after a post-election briefing in which intelligence officials told Congress that Russia interfered for the purpose of boosting Trump’s election prospects.
