This is a timeline of events related to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections.
It includes events described in investigations into the myriad links between Trump associates and Russian officials until July 2016, with July 2016 through election day November 8, 2016, following. Events and investigations also occurred during the presidential transition from November 9, 2016, to January 20, 2017, and continued through the first and second halves of 2017; the first and second halves of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, largely as parts of the Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation, the Special Counsel investigation, multiple ongoing criminal investigations by several State Attorneys General, and the investigation resulting in the Inspector General report on FBI and DOJ actions in the 2016 election.
Before Donald Trump's 2016 candidacy 1977 According to former KGB major Yuri Shvets, Trump became the target of a joint Czech intelligence services and KGB spying operation after he married Czech model Ivana Zelnickova and was cultivated as an "asset" by Russian intelligence since 1977: "Russian intelligence gained an interest in Trump as far back as 1977, viewing Trump as an exploitable target."
1986 Soviet Ambassador Yuri Dubinin invites Trump on an all-expenses-paid trip to the Soviet Union.
1987 Konstantin Kilimnik attends the from 1987 until 1992. July: Trump and his wife, Ivana, who spoke Russian, make their first visit to the Soviet Union (which included the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic [RSFSR]). They scout potential construction sites for a Trump Tower Moscow.
1991 December 26: Dissolution of the Soviet Union occurs, wherein the RSFSR becomes the Russian Federation (commonly known as "Russia").
1996 Trump returns to Russia, visits Moscow with Howard Lorber and Bennett S. LeBow to scout potential properties for "skyscrapers and hotels", registers his trademark, and makes connections with the development company Bayrock Group (which would result in Trump Soho) and Felix Sater, who became crucial to later Trump Moscow talks. Trump subsequently announces a plan to invest $250 million in Russia and brand two luxury residential buildings in Moscow, which doesn't come to fruition. Other people on the trip include Leon Black of Apollo Global Management, Ron Bernstein, Theodore Liebman, and Matthew Calamari. During the trip, Trump brings two women he met the night before to a business meeting, and begins a long-term relationship with a former "Miss Moscow". In 2020, the Senate Intelligence Committee reports that it is unable to determine whether Russia has compromising material involving Trump and the three women.
2000 February 14: Trump withdraws his bid for the Reform Party nomination in the 2000 United States presidential election, but writes that he cannot rule out another run for president. Roger Stone chaired Trump's exploratory committee.
2001–2004 Patten and Kilimnik work together at the International Republican Institute (IRI). Patten runs the think tank's Moscow office and considers Kilimnik a key employee.
2004 Manafort begins his relationship with his patron, Deripaska. November 22: The Orange Revolution begins, eventually resulting in a revote ordered by the Supreme Court of Ukraine.
2005 Trump gives Bayrock Group an exclusive deal to build a Trump-branded property in Moscow. Kilimnik leaves the IRI to work for Manafort in Ukraine. June 23: Paul Manafort and a business partner, Rick Davis, propose a plan to Oleg Deripaska under which they would influence news coverage, business dealings, and politics in the former Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States "to benefit President Vladimir Putin's government". They eventually sign a $10 million contract that starts in 2006 using LOAV Ltd. instead of Davis-Manafort; they maintain a business relationship until at least 2009.
2006 At Donald Trump's request, Sater accompanies Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on a Moscow trip, and arranges for Ivanka to sit in Putin's office chair during a tour of the Kremlin. January: Davis introduces Senators John McCain, Saxby Chambliss, and John E. Sununu to Deripaska at the World Economic Forum in Davos. They meet at a private apartment and have dinner at Peter Munk's ski chalet. Later in the month, Deripaska sends Davis and Manafort a letter thanking Davis for arranging the meeting with the senators.
2007 Manafort and Richard Davis found Pericles Emerging Markets, an investment fund solely backed by Deripaska. October 15: Trump praises Putin in an interview on CNN. 2007–2012: Manafort receives $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments from Viktor Yanukovych's pro-Russian Ukrainian Party of Regions. November: Trump attends the Millionaire's Fair in Moscow, where he announces that Trump Vodka will expand its distribution into Russia, his first foray into the Russian market. November 20 Manafort receives his first payment from the Ukrainian Party of Regions. December 19: Trump sends Putin a congratulatory letter for being named Time magazine's "Man of the Year". He writes, "As you probably have heard, I am a big fan of yours!"
2008 2008: Around 2008, Trump Jr. travels to Russia a half-dozen times in 18 months, looking for deals. Deripaska transfers $18.9 million to Pericles Emerging Markets to purchase Black Sea Cable. It is unclear what happened to the money: Deripaska demands an accounting of the funds in 2013, sues Pericles in 2014, and sues Manafort in 2018. A spokesperson for Deripaska denies he ever hired Manafort's consulting company. 2008–2013: Carter Page is an "operational contact" for the CIA, which means the agency can ask him for information he already knows but not task him with gathering information. July: Trump sells the Palm Beach estate Maison de L'Amitie to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev for a record $95 million. Trump bought the property for $41.35 million three years earlier and made only minor improvements. According to Cohen, Trump later tells his associates that he believes Putin was behind Rybolovlev's purchase. September: Trump Jr., then an executive vice president of The Trump Organization, says, "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets, say, in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia." November: Davis-Manafort is disbanded shortly after the presidential election.
2009 May: Kislyak attempts to arrange a meeting between Torshin and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during Torshin's planned visit to Alaska on June 6. Palin's office declines and suggests Torshin meet with Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell. It is unclear whether the meeting took place.
2010 The Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto receives timely financing from Vnesheconombank (VEB), a Russian state-run investment bank. Deripaska lends $10 million to a company jointly owned by Manafort and his wife. August: Trump and Bannon first meet, and David Bossie is present. Trump says he is thinking of running for president in 2012; Bannon replies, "for what country?"
2011 Maria Butina founds the "" organization. 2011–2013: Protests occur in Russia against its legislative and presidential election processes. Putin accuses U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of interfering in Russian politics. April 29 – May 1: Nashville lawyer G. Kline Preston IV and NRA Secretary Jim Land introduce Russian Senator Alexander Torshin to National Rifle Association (NRA) president David Keene at the NRA annual meeting in Pittsburgh. May 7: Keene sends Torshin a handwritten letter offering to help in his endeavors.Beyond the N.R.A.: Maria Butina's Peculiar Bid for Russian Influence August 4, 2018, nytimes.com
October 12–27: Mueller resigns his family membership from the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, and asks for a refund of the unused portion of the annual fees. Two weeks later, the club confirms the membership will end on October 31 and says he will be put on a waitlist for fee refunds, but Mueller never receives the refund. Beginning in May 2017, Trump claims this incident forms a conflict of interest that should prevent Mueller from serving as the special counsel investigating him. December 8: Putin states that Clinton "set the tone for some opposition activists", and "gave them a signal, they heard this signal and started active work".
2012 The FBI warns Representative Dana Rohrabacher that he is being targeted by Russian agents to recruit him as an "agent of influence"; that is, someone who can affect US policy. Italian MEP Gianni Pittella introduces Simona Mangiante, the future wife of George Papadopoulos, to Mifsud in Brussels. Mangiante worked for the European Parliament as an attorney specializing in child abduction cases. February 10: Torshin registers as a life member of the NRA using Russian diplomat Igor Matveev's address and Preston's phone number. April 12–15: Torshin attends the NRA annual convention in St. Louis, Missouri, with an "all access" pass. October 11: Preston applies for Torshin to receive election observer status in Tennessee. October 25: Manafort receives the last of $12.7 million in payments from the Ukrainian Party of Regions. November 6: Torshin and Matveev visit Davidson and Williamson counties in Tennessee as election observers. November 8: Torshin visits the NRA headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. December 14: President Barack Obama signs the Magnitsky Act into law to punish Russian officials responsible for human rights violations.
2013 Apparent security hackers gain access to the Trump Organization's domain registrar account at GoDaddy and register hundreds of "shadow" subdomains with IP addresses located at a company in St. Petersburg Russia known for hosting websites containing malware. Most of the subdomains are created in August. By November 1, 2017, the subdomains disappeared after the Trump Organization was notified of the issue, although the organization denied that any breach occurred. January: Carter Page, a petroleum industry consultant, passes documents about the oil market to Victor Podobnyy, a Russian intelligence agent. He later claims the documents were public information. Podobnyy is charged with being an unregistered foreign agent in 2015. March 13: The FBI interviews Manafort about his offshore business dealings. March 19: Manafort has dinner with Rohrabacher as part of his lobbying efforts for the government of Ukraine. Vin Weber, a partner at Mercury Affairs, is also in attendance. Three days later, Manafort gives Rohrabacher a $1,000 campaign contribution. Richard Gates, Manafort's deputy, pleads guilty in 2018 to lying about the meeting to the FBI. April 13: Two agents of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) discuss recruiting Page. May 3–5: Butina and Torshin attend the NRA convention in Houston, Texas. June: Flynn travels to Moscow at Major General Igor Sergun's invitation. Kislyak helps arrange and coordinate the trip. Flynn visits the GRU headquarters, where he meets with GRU officials, briefs GRU staff, and presents a professional development class on leadership. June 15–18: Attending the Miss USA 2013 pageant, Trump dines with Aras Agalarov, Emin Agalarov, and Rob Goldstone in Las Vegas. The next day he announces that Miss Universe 2013 will be held in Moscow. He sends Putin a letter inviting him to the pageant and asks on Twitter whether the Russian president will be his "new best friend". July 3: Carter Page schedules a dinner with potential investor Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg to pitch his fledgling natural gas business. It is unclear whether the meeting took place.