Political Analysis - Before 2016, claiming Russian spies infiltrated the US government was considered right-wing extremism, but after 2016, it became mainstream, though potentially false [1] - The shift occurred because Russia transitioned from the communist left to the nationalist right around 2016 [1] - The concept of a Russian conspiracy became useful to the left after 2016 [2] Ideological Shift - The received wisdom has shifted from concerns about communists to concerns about Russian influence operations [2]