Uladzimir Matskevich: Trump has a sword of Damocles hanging above his head

The hacking scandal is directed against Trump and sows doubts in the legitimacy of his victory.

According to the BBC Russian Service, the US intelligence report says Vladimir Putin tried to help Donald Trump win the presidential election.

"EuroBelarus" Information Service together with Uladzimir Matskevich, philosopher and methodologist, tried to clear up the causes and the consequences of the scandal:

- Hackers have been making attempts to influence the United States elections since summer. The first of the hackers confessed to illegal activities in June 2016 and pretended to be Romanian.

Next major incident happened right before the presidential elections, when it seemed that Clinton has an impressive advantage over Trump.

John Brennan, director of the CIA, was the first to bring up the topic of hackers attacks. The Secretary of State John Kerry officially confirmed the information.

Despite the fact that the press majorly has only indirect information, the scandal has been developing for six months, and it hasn’t quieted down after the elections. Moreover, the US made a fairly sharp diplomatic move: 35 Russian diplomats were expelled from the USA.

- What could this scandal mean?

- It is impossible to draw final conclusions about the impact of the attacks on the US election campaign prior to the publication of the full report of the CIA, which is expected not later than January 20 - the last day of the Obama’s presidency.

On the one hand, the scandal can be attributed to the party struggles between the Republicans and the Democrats.

On the other hand, there is a struggle between the Russian and American intelligence agencies that always watch one another, use legal and illegal methods to monitor the potential enemy.

Such a strong reaction of the Obama administration is unusual, in particular, the expulsion of the diplomats. This may indicate that America takes serious interest in the information war.

- What can be the consequences of the hacking scandal?

- It depends on whether the US intelligence agencies are able to prove the responsibility of Russia in the hacking attacks and the level of involvement of the Kremlin and Putin in particular. If the Americans prove the fact of the Russian intelligence agencies intervention in the internal affairs of the United States, the events can go one way, and if all the information remains unclear, then it would indicate some kind of diplomatic war.  
It is quite difficult to assume how the Trump administration will handle all of this, because the campaign is directed against Trump and sows doubts in the legitimacy of his victory.

After the Trump’s inauguration, his administration will treat the information much more carefully, it might even be classified.

- Is it true that the hacking scandal should not be limited to the U.S.-Russia relations only?

- Of course! The scandal affects the internal political system of the United States itself. Trump made numerous populist and rather dubious claims during his election campaign, which cannot but alarm the political establishment of the US. Naturally, there is a hypothetical possibility of impeachment of Trump.

Trump has a sword of Damocles hanging above his head: if the CIA has very strong evidence that Putin's actions or the actions of GRU aimed not only to undermine the US election, but to directly support Trump as well, this scandal could be brought to light at a time when Trump’s policy significantly differs from the policy of the US ruling elite.

- Can this scandal be used to create a global anti-Kremlin coalition as well?

- It would be good if the world leaders and international institutions took the activities of the Russian intelligence agencies in the information war seriously and made a move to prevent such acts in the future.
Although the activities of "WikiLeaks" are not entirely legitimate, it allows public opinion to control governments and prevent those with bad intentions from manipulating the public consciousness. Not only does the new technology offer incredible opportunities for progress, but it also reveals new risks and dangers, which we are not yet fully able to comprehend.