Attorney General William Barr has concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election

While every major media outlet in the U.S., including the New York Times, seems content with variations of the the headline, “No Collusion between Trump and Russia,” something critical has gotten lost.

Namely, this part of the opening of Barr’s memo, where he states without equivocation that the Russian government interfered with the 2016 election.

The Special Counsel’s investigation determined that there were two main Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The first involved attempts by a Russian organization, the Internet Research Agency (IRA), to conduct disinformation and social media operations in the United States designed to sow social discord, eventually with the aim of interfering with the election. As noted above, the Special Counsel did not find that any U.S. person or Trump campaign official or associate conspired or knowingly coordinated with the IRA in its efforts, although the Special Counsel brought criminal charges against a number of Russian nationals and entities in connection with these activities.

The second element involved the Russian government’s efforts to conduct computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the election. The Special Counsel found that Russian government actors successfully hacked into computers and obtained emails from persons affiliated with the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party…