I am surprised that anyone is surprised by this, honestly. Russian culture does not place even as much of a value on truthfulness as American culture does, and

I am surprised that anyone is surprised by this, honestly. Russian culture does not place even as much of a value on truthfulness as American culture does, and even that is not that high. It should be seen as a given that there is significant Russian propaganda working all the time on every issue they care about. Of course they would be trying to influence the American election.