1) Although there are some irregularities under investigation, there is no evidence that any voting machines were hacked or any votes changed.
2) All 17 intelligence agencies have stated on the record that Russia was behind the DNC email hacks. Trump still refuses to believe it.
3) The hacking campaign was originally presented as Russia leaking emails and setting up propaganda news outlets to merely disrupt the election. It was believed that these fake news sites (some were set up by Russian assets, others by random people looking to profit off Facebook clicks) were overwhelmingly aimed at the right not because of some anti-Clinton agenda, but because the right fell for the narrative-fitting lies more readily.
4) The new twist comes from the CIA: that Russia hacked both the DNC and RNC, and chose only to release the DNC emails.
5) The implication of this is that they sought not just to discredit the election, but to favor one candidate over another.
6) In the context of Trump questioning the continued existence of NATO, befriending Putin and other authoritarian leaders worldwide, appointing cabinet members with strong ties to Russia, and his own company apparently having incredibly deep financial interests in Moscow, this charge is both believable and concerning. Certainly worthy of an investigation. It is perhaps mere coincidence that Trump just canceled his press conference that was to outline the resolution of his innumerable business conflicts.
tl;dr the term "hack" is confusing. There is no evidence that voting machines were hacked. But intelligence agencies have said time and time again that Russia was trying to exert influence on the election through a powerful misinformation campaign. The CIA now claims that this was a
targeted propaganda campaign aimed at helping Trump reach the White House. Many have equated these actions to espionage and cyberattacks aimed at our election process by a foreign adversary, and this where the outrage lies. But we won't know anything official until a public investigation occurs.
The (suddenly bipartisan) outrage intensified as Trump continued to paint U.S. intelligence as incompetent and repeatedly rejected their conclusions (see #2). Fortunately, after dodging the topic for several days, a number of prominent GOP voices now support a (semi-public) investigation into Russia's role in our election(s). So the classified information that people in this thread have been asking for might actually see light. This is a good thing.
