Russians scoff at US report on election meddling

MOSCOW – A report by U.S. security services blaming Russia for meddling in the U.S. presidential race has brought stinging rejoinders from Russian politicians and news media.

Alexei Pushkov, a member of the upper house of parliament’s defence and security committee, said on Twitter that “all the accusations against Russia are based on ‘confidence’ and suppositions. The USA in the same way was confident about (Iraqi leader Saddam) Hussein having weapons of mass destruction.”

In another tweet on Saturday, Pushkov suggested that President “Obama is alarmed: Republicans trust Putin more than Democrats.”

Margarita Simonyan, the editor of government-funded satellite TV channel RT that is frequently mentioned in the U.S. report, said in a blog post: “Dear CIA: what you have written here is a complete fail.”