Leaked Kremlin documents described Trump as an 'impulsive, mentally
unstable and unbalanced individual': report

John Haltiwanger and Sonam Sheth

Documents assessed to be leaked from the Kremlin described Trump as
"mentally unstable." Trump was painted as an "unbalanced individual
who suffers from an inferiority complex." The documents, seen by The
Guardian, appear to offer insights on Russia's plot to get Trump
elected.

Former President Donald Trump was characterized as an "impulsive, mentally
unstable and unbalanced individual who suffers from an inferiority
complex," said documents The Guardian and experts consulted by the
publication assessed to be leaked from the Kremlin.

The documents appear to show that Russian President Vladimir Putin
personally supported Moscow's interference in the 2016 presidential
election to support Trump's campaign, bolstering the US intelligence
community's findings on the matter. Independent experts reviewed the
documents and said they appeared to be authentic, The Guardian reported.

The papers suggested that Putin, his spy chiefs, and senior ministers in
January 2016 met and concluded that Trump was the best option to promote
the Kremlin's strategic objectives because he would induce "social
turmoil" and undermine the American presidency. Trump's victory "will
definitely lead to the destabilization of the US's sociopolitical system,"
the report said. An official photo taken in January 2016 shows Putin
meeting with his spy chiefs and top ministers.

One report prepared by Putin's expert department called for "all possible
force" to be used to ensure Trump's victory, and that the Kremlin viewed
him as the "most promising candidate."

The US intelligence community determined in early 2017 that the Russian
government waged an elaborate and multifaceted campaign to meddle in the
2016 election. It did so by working to recruit unwitting assets for its
cause; hacking into the Democratic National Committee and leaking emails
that damaged Hillary Clinton's campaign; carrying out a social-media
disinformation operation to boost Trump; and targeting election
infrastructure in as many as 39 states.

The special counsel Robert Mueller also concluded in his final report that
"the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency
and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would
benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian
efforts."

The Kremlin, which has repeatedly denied that Russia interfered in US
elections, scoffed at The Guardian's report and told the outlet that the
notion that Putin and other top officials agreed to support Trump's
candidacy in a secret meeting was "a great pulp fiction."

Thomas Rid, a professor of strategic studies at Johns Hopkins University
and an expert on disinformation, urged caution toward The Guardian's
report. He tweeted, "For a 'leak' of this magnitude, we need at least some
details on the chain of custody." He also said that the fact that the
papers leaked from within the Kremlin � according to The Guardian � means
there could be a risk of forgery.

Chris Krebs, the former top cybersecurity official in the US who was fired
by Trump after speaking out against his election lies, agreed with Rid,
saying the leak was "far too convenient" and looked like a disinformation
operation.

"It could all be individually or collectively true and at the same time
planted & fake," he added.

�Chris Krebs (@C_C_Krebs) July 15, 2021

The documents seen by The Guardian also confirmed that the Kremlin had
potentially compromising material on Trump � kompromat � pertaining to his
visits to Russia before running for president, the report said. But The
Guardian report didn't elaborate on the nature of the compromising
material. Russian spies are known to leverage things such as evidence of
debt and extramarital affairs to compel people to cooperate with them.

Trump repeatedly downplayed Russian election interference, even as his
administration issued sanctions over it, and at one point he appeared to
side with Putin over the US intelligence community on the matter.
President Joe Biden has taken a far more aggressive tone toward Putin, and
in April his administration slapped sanctions on over 30 Russian entities
over the Kremlin's interference in US elections and the SolarWinds hack.