The Washington Post broke the story drawing the connection between fake news and the Russian propaganda effort two weeks ago.  Tonight they broke a story that has immediately been picked up by news outlets around the country.  The Post has been leading the way during this election with Mary Baron at the helm.  Tonight The Washington Post reports,

The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.

John O. Brennan, CIA Director

Intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials. Those officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt Clinton’s chances.

The story also reports that republicans, particularly Mitch McConnell, opposed making a joint statement before the election condemning the actions of the Russians.