The 2016 US Presidential Elections Investigations

The 2016 US Presidential Elections Investigations
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The 2016 US Presidential Elections Investigations
The 2016 US presidential polls were marred in claims that triggered a series of investigations by both the congress and the senate. The two houses indulged in prolonged investigations aimed at exploring the claims. However, even with the completion of the investigations, questions still arise about the 2016 polls. There are debates on whether the polls were corrupted as implied by the investigations or whether it was an attempt to taint the names of some individuals. The varying outcomes in the two investigating houses imply the challenge of incoherence. A detailed analysis of the primary issues under investigations for both houses could have instilled a better understanding of what happened and how the problems would be addressed without indulging the world into confusion with different conclusions from the congress and the senate.
The Primary Issues
Multiple issues were contested in the 2016 US presidential polls that warranted investigations by both the congress and the senate. Before the investigations, a series of events occurred to imply interference of the election outcomes by other parties. The major contested issue was, hence, whether parties such as Russia and Wikileaks were involved in interfering with the 2016 US polls. There were also a series of cyberattacks aimed at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and its members. The outcomes of the attacks were leaked emails. Claims, later on, emerged that the Trump campaign team used the leaked emails to seek undue advantage in the elections. Hence, the primary issues were claims of hacking of the DNC, a series of cyberattacks on the electoral systems, undue use of social media platforms to fuel a specific political agenda, and the active involvement of Russia in deciding the president of the US. All the above issues were subject to investigations by different committees of the congress and the senate.[Long, Nicholas Chad. "The Impact of Incumbent Scandals on Senate Elections, 1972–2016." Social Sciences 8, no. 4 (04, 2019).]
The outcomes of investigations by both houses differed greatly on political grounds. The congress led the investigations with the allegations aimed at instituting quid pro quo in the electoral process. Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz instigated serious criminal investigations following the Wikileaks report. The FBI and state department were to be enjoined in the investigations. The investigations would further delve into the malicious cybercrimes instituted by unknown individuals on private emails and social media platforms. The congress investigations were completed with an understanding of unsupported claims of quid pro quo. Conversely, the Senate investigations took longer and made different conclusions. On August 18, 2020, the Senate released the fifth volume of its report on the investigations. In the last volume, the senate explored the collusion between the Trump campaign and Wikileaks to release the private emails to the advantage of the GOP.[Kevles, Daniel J. "Practical Pressures and Scientific Payoffs: A Long View of Knowledge and Utility in Federal Research." Social Research...