Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

The Russian government conducted foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. According to the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), the operation—code named "Project Lakhta"—was ordered directly by Russian president Vladimir Putin. The "hacking and disinformation campaign" to damage Clinton and help Trump became the "core of the scandal known as Russiagate".

The Internet Research Agency (IRA), based in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and described as a troll farm, created thousands of social media accounts that purported to be Americans supporting Trump and opposing Clinton. Fabricated articles and disinformation from Russian government-controlled media were promoted on social media, where they reached millions of users between 2013 and 2017.

Hackers affiliated with the Russian military intelligence service (GRU) infiltrated information systems of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and Clinton campaign officials, and publicly released stolen files and emails during the election campaign. Individuals connected to Russia contacted Trump campaign associates, offering business opportunities and proffering damaging information on Clinton. The Russian government has denied involvement in any of the hacks or leaks, and Donald Trump has denied any interference occurred at all. However, some prominent Russian figures, most notably IRA founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, have admitted to their participation in the interference operation.

The campaign was first disclosed publicly by members of the United States Congress in September 2016. The immediate U.S. response included strong statements from the country's intelligence agencies, a direct warning by then-U.S. president Barack Obama to Putin, renewed economic sanctions against Russia, and closures of Russian diplomatic facilities and expulsion of their staff.

The first major government investigation into the campaign, Crossfire Hurricane, was launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in July 2016. In addition to examining the campaign itself, investigators began probling potential links and coordination between Trump associates and Russian officials. However, the investigation was brought to an abrupt halt when President Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey in May 2017. This was not an coincidence, as Trump openly stated Comey's firing was partly motivated by his participation in the investigation.

In response to public outcry after Comey's firing, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein authorized a special counsel investigation, led by former FBI director Robert Mueller, to continue Crossfire Hurricane's work. Over the course of the investigation, twenty-six Russian citizens and three Russian organizations would be indicted by Mueller and his team. The investigation also led to indictments and convictions of Trump campaign officials and associated Americans.

Their final report, released in April 2019, concluded that Russian interference was "sweeping and systematic" and "violated U.S. criminal law". It also found that, though the Trump campaign welcomed Russia's activities, there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal "conspiracy" or "coordination" charges against Trump or his associates. However, they did note that Trump associate Roger Stone "appeared to know in advance" about the imminent publication of certain hacked emails, even though the investigators "'did not have sufficient evidence' to prove active participation in the hacks."

Simultaneously, the Republican-led Senate and House Intelligence Committees conducted their own investigations into the Russians' activities.The Senate committee's report, released in five volumes between July 2019 and August 2020, found that the Russian government had engaged in an "extensive campaign" to sabotage the election in favor of Trump, which included assistance from some of Trump's own advisers. They also found that the IC's initial assessment was "coherent and well-constructed", and that IC analysts had experienced "no politically motivated pressure to reach specific conclusions".

In response to the investigations, Trump, Republican Party leaders, and right-wing conservatives have promoted and endorsed false and debunked conspiracy theory counter-narratives in an effort to discredit the allegations and findings of the investigations, frequently referring to them as the "Russia hoax" or "Russian collusion hoax".