In my modest opinion, this well-researched article [too long for technical reasons to post on this blog] illustrates how the Kremlin "figured" (not so naively) that it would be easy -- and "cost effective/cheap," with the use of computers -- to further polarize its already polarized favorite enemy-du-jour: the USA.
For two years, Americans have tried to absorb the details of the 2016 attack: spies, leaked emails, social media fraud — and President Trump’s claims that it’s all a hoax. The Times explores what we know and what it means.