A national security analyst explained on CNN Thursday how special counsel Robert Mueller’s report may be “weaponized” by the Kremlin — and by President Donald Trump.

“This report is a gift to the government of Russia,” Obama-era National Security Council member Sam Vinograd said. “This is a very proud moment for Vladimir Putin.”

The public already knows, Vinograd added, that Putin “likes to use controversial and inflammatory issues as a weapon.”

“He’ll weaponize this report to continue to sow divisions, spread confusion and undermine the credibility of our institutions,” she said.

Furthermore, “we have every reason to assume that President Trump used this document as a green light to continue doing what he was doing on the campaign.”

“He’s claiming that because there are no further criminal indictments against him or members of his team, he didn’t do anything wrong,” Vinograd added. “So we should expect him to continue this behavior going forward in the 2020 campaign cycle.”

Mueller’s report “lays out in excruciating detail a multipronged, sustained and systematic attack against the United States using all kinds of tools — President Trump was just one of them.”

“From an intelligence operations standpoint,” she concluded, “Vladimir Putin launched a very successful operation that is still ongoing.”

Watch below:

Enjoy good journalism?

… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has cut advertising rates in half, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.

We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.

Value Raw Story?

… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has cut advertising rates in half, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.