We thought Boris Johnson suppressed the #RussiaReport b/c it names Russian donors to Tories. And it does talk about that threat. But the most damning conclusion is about the gov't itself, which "actively avoided looking for evidence that Russia interfered." https://www.scribd.com/document/469886680/Russia-Report

People think interference is mainly just online. This report labels a third vector (we call malign finance) "Russian expatriates" in London who remain "members of the Russian elite who are closely linked to Putin" while donating in the UK to "assist Russian influence operations."

HOT POTATO: UK intel/security agencies say they only inform the broader govt, while protecting elections is regulators' job. But those regulators say their job is just to administer narrow technical domestic policies at an arm's length, not to defend democracy. So nobody does it.

When parliament asked MI5 for its assessment of foreign interference in the 2016 vote, the response was just six lines of text citing academic studies. Even their reliance on open source material it was incomplete. By contrast, the USG had a public assessment within 2 months.

Russian oligarchs exploit the investor visa scheme, which must be overhauled. Their lawyers run circles around Unexplained Wealth Orders, so instead mitigate the risk by providing law enforcement with more resources to hire financial investigators, technical experts, and lawyers.

Remarkable stats on how the UK intel/security agencies shifted from dedicating much of their efforts toward the USSR in the Cold War to prioritizing counter-terror after 2001-2005 and only dedicating 3-4% of resources to Russia by the time the Kremlin murdered Litvinenko in 2006.

The report says that's understandable. But then it goes on to suggest that by failing to reprioritize Russia quickly enough after Litvinenko in 2006 and after Crimea in 2014 "they took their eye off the ball [and] the UK now faces a threat from Russia within its own borders."

Parliament makes 3 legislative recommendations: (1) advance counterespionage bill to outlaw foreign spying, address cyber/financial influence, and create a FARA regime; (2) authorize sanctions on grounds of serious/organized crime; & (3) give the Electoral Commission more powers.

I'd add that what they need most is strong enforcement, which also suffers "hot potato" w/o unequivocal direction from Downing Street. No elite Russia expatriate in London has faced a Mueller-style probe, which in less than 2 years included over 2,800 subpoenas and 500 witnesses.

This work started with a few stellar investigative reporters like @carolecadwalla, @lukeharding1968, & @CatherineBelton, plus activism by @Billbrowder et al, was picked up by parliament, & now back to the press with headlines that the government entirely deserves. #DemocracyWorks