and curtailed press freedom, and the lack of free and fair elections. Russia has scored poorly on Transparency International's "Corruption Perceptions Index", the Economist Intelligence Unit's "Democracy Index" and Freedom House's "Freedom in the World" index. Human rights organizations and activists accuse Putin of persecuting political critics and activists as well as ordering them tortured or assassinated. Officials of the United States government have accused him of leading an interference program against Hillary Clinton in support of Donald Trump during the U.S. presidential election in 2016.