meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Rest Is Classified

130. How Russia Made Trump: Putin Hacks The 2016 Election (Ep 1)

The Rest Is Classified

Goalhanger

History

4.42K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Did Russia really interfere in the 2016 US presidential election? Did the election of Donald Trump benefit Vladimir Putin? And how did the scandal begin? Listen as David and Gordon begin their exploration of the role of the Russians in the 2016 election and the dramatic rise of Donald Trump. ------------------- Sign-up for our free newsletter where producer Becki takes you behind the scenes of the show: https://mailchi.mp/goalhanger.com/tric-free-newsletter-sign-up ------------------- Join the Declassified Club to go deeper into the world of espionage with exclusive Q&As, interviews with top intelligence insiders, regular livestreams, ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, and weekly deep dives into original spy stories. Members also get curated reading lists, special book discounts, prize draws, and access to our private chat community. Just go to ⁠⁠therestisclassified.com⁠ or join on Apple Podcasts. ------------------- Get a 10% discount on business PCs, printers and accessories using the code TRIC10. Visit https://HP.com/CLASSIFIED for more information. T&C's apply. ------------------- EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ ⁠⁠https://nordvpn.com/restisclassified⁠⁠ Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee ------------------- Email: therestisclassified@goalhanger.com Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@restisclassified Video Editor: Joe Pettit Social Producer: Emma Jackson Assistant Producer: Alfie Rowe Producer: Becki Hills Head of History: Dom Johnson Exec Producer: Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

For exclusive interviews, bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series,

0:09.0

first look at live show tickets, a weekly newsletter, and discounted books.

0:13.1

Join the Declassified Club at the the 2016 U.S. election?

0:29.9

Yes.

0:31.1

And were Trump and Putin working together.

0:34.2

Well, welcome to the rest of this classified.

0:35.6

I'm Gordon Carrera.

0:36.5

And I'm David McCloskey. And you've just given away the whole series. Oops. Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert.

0:44.4

The Russians interfered in the election people. Case closed. Well, believe it or not,

0:50.0

that is the subject we're going to be exploring in this series in a little bit more depth than

0:55.2

just the one word answer that we just had from David. But I guess David, it's a big subject,

1:01.1

it's a contentious subject, but it's also a really interesting subject from the rest of

1:06.4

classified perspective, because it's going to allow us to get into a particular type of Russian intelligence

1:12.3

operation, what's called an active measure. We'll get into what that is in a few moments.

1:17.0

The aims of these kind of operations, the deep mechanics of how they happen, and crucially,

1:22.7

the consequences, how much impact do they actually have. And there is, as we'll see, a long tradition of this in Russia.

1:29.8

But this is a really interesting case, which has drawn a huge amount of attention and controversy in recent years, hasn't it?

1:37.0

I think Gordon, it's fair to say that this is the rest is classified lens on the 2016 election.

1:42.7

And this is a story, really a spy story that shaped the politics of

1:48.5

that really tumultuous year in American democracy. And I think we probably would be remiss if we

1:54.8

didn't start with a brief word on the politics, which you alluded to, Gordon, which is this is a

2:00.3

hugely partisan issue in the

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Goalhanger, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Goalhanger and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.