Clinton criticises UK for blocking Russian election influence report

LONDON (AP) — Hillary Clinton says she’s “dumbfounded” that the United Kingdom government has failed to release a report on Russian influence in British politics before the country holds a national election next month.

The former US presidential candidate told British media that the public needs to know what is in the report by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee before British voters go to the polls on December 12.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has said it needs more time to review the security implications of the report before it is released.

Critics allege the report is being withheld until after the election because it is embarrassing to Johnson’s Conservative Party, which is trying to win a majority and push through Johnson’s Brexit plan to take Britain out of the European Union.

“I’m dumbfounded that this government won’t release the report ... because every person who votes in this country deserves to see that report before your election happens,” Clinton told the BBC on Tuesday.

“There is no doubt ... that Russia in particular is determined to try to shape the politics of Western democracies, not to our benefit but to theirs.”

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 US presidential election found that Russia interfered in the vote in a “sweeping and systemic” fashion.

US President Donald Trump, who won office in that vote, has dismissed the Mueller report’s conclusions, but the investigation put Russia into the crosshairs of a debate on the integrity of elections worldwide.

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