Vladimir Putin has denied several times that he did not order interference in the 2016 election in favour of Donald Trump. Now leaked documents show that he did command Russian spy authorities to ensure a victory for a “mentally unstable”. He argued that with the mentally unstable Trump in the White House Russia would achieve its strategic objectives. Luke Harding, Julian Borger and Dan Sabbagh had this information in The Guardian. Here is an excerpt:

Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.

The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present.

They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow’s strategic objectives, among them “social turmoil” in the US and a weakening of the American president’s negotiating position.

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