New reports suggest that Vladimir Putin was directly involved in attacking our democracy, and that the Russian cyber attacks were quite successful.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Early last August, an envelope with extraordinary handling restrictions arrived at the White House. Sent by courier from the CIA, it carried “eyes only” instructions that its contents be shown to just four people: President Barack Obama and three senior aides. 

Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladi­mir Putin’s direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race. 

But it went further. The intelligence captured Putin’s specific instructions on the operation’s audacious objectives — defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump. 

At that point, the outlines of the Russian assault on the U.S. election were increasingly apparent. Hackers with ties to Russian intelligence services had been rummaging through Democratic Party computer networks, as well as some Republican systems, for more than a year. In July, the FBI had opened an investigation of contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates. And on July 22, nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee were dumped online by WikiLeaks.

So as you can see the Obama Administration knew almost immediately that the attacks were directed by Putin, and that they were designed to not only damage Hillary's chances of winning the election but to directly help Trump emerge as the victor.

The article goes into great depth about all of the conversations that went on behind the scenes as to how best to respond to this information but in the end it came down to Obama warning Putin directly to back off, and to release a declassified report to the public about the hacks before the election.

Obama also deported 35 Russian diplomats, closed two compounds, and approved the implantation of cyber weapons into the Russian computer system that can be activated at a later date if Russia continues these attacks on our democracy.

The only problem with those cyber weapons is that it is up to Donald Trump to utilize, or not utilize them, and of course we know what his choice will be.

The article goes on to call this attack the "crime of the century," and I find that to be a completely accurate statement.

Here is an article from Time Magazine to tell us just how accurate it is:  

The hacking of state and local election databases in 2016 was more extensive than previously reported, including at least one successful attempt to alter voter information, and the theft of thousands of voter records that contain private information like partial Social Security numbers, current and former officials tell TIME. 

In one case, investigators found there had been a manipulation of voter data in a county database but the alterations were discovered and rectified, two sources familiar with the matter tell TIME. Investigators have not identified whether the hackers in that case were Russian agents. 

The fact that private data was stolen from states is separately providing investigators a previously unreported line of inquiry in the probes into Russian attempts to influence the election. In Illinois, more than 90% of the nearly 90,000 records stolen by Russian state actors contained drivers license numbers, and a quarter contained the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers, according to Ken Menzel, the General Counsel of the State Board of Elections. 

And get this:

Congressional investigators are probing whether any of this stolen private information made its way to the Trump campaign, two sources familiar with the investigations tell TIME.

I think we already know what that probe will find if it is not obstructed by the Trump Administration.

The White House by the way has FINALLY acknowledged that the Russians interfered in our election.  Well kinda: 

The White House Thursday addressed the joint intelligence report that found Russia had attempted to interfere with the 2016 presidential election, more than five months after the report’s conclusions were made public. First, on Twitter, President Trump dismissed the concerns about Russia as a “big Dem HOAX” and suggested that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, did little to confront the problem. White House aides then clarified Trump’s remarks and said he believes there was Russian meddling but is certain it did not affect the outcome of the race.

I think we are all learning that the last part of this statement is likely untrue.

As for that allegation that President Obama did not do all that he could to "confront the problem" I disagree completely. 

I think the President was in an untenable position and knew full well that if he came out aggressively to say that the Russians were trying to get Trump elected and revealed all of their methods for pulling that off, the folks supporting Trump would never have believed him, and if by some chance Hillary had pulled off a victory her presidency would have been forever tainted by what would have been seen as interference by the Executive branch.

No he did all that he could really do, but in the end Vladimir Putin decided who would sit in the Oval Office.

All we can do is help determine for how long.