The Russian collusion narrative has dominated the media since the culmination of the 2016 Presidential election, and the goal of Russia getting involved was largely believed to help Donald Trump win. However, after a bombshell indictment filed by Robert Mueller’s probe on February 16 against 13 Russians revealed that the Russians may in fact have been trying to help Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont. Since then, the self proclaimed “Democratic-Socialist” Senator from Vermont has been largely mum on the top.
In the indictment, it’s explained that the Russians “engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump.”
In response, Bernie Sanders hasn’t commented on whether or not his campaign was aware of the intention, and he’s focused his time more on blaming the Clinton campaign for not doing anything about the alleged interference. In a statement, he expressed that the Clinton campaign had more information on the issue than his campaign did and that “They were supporting my campaign? No. They were attacking Hillary Clinton’s campaign and using my supporters against Hillary Clinton.”
As Senator Sanders explores another Presidential run in 2020, this controversy is likely going to pick up steam as he remains quiet on the subject.