Attempt in law.
OK, Black letter: Attempt is comprised of three elements: (1) intent to commit a crime; (2) conduct that constitutes a substantial step toward completing the crime and (3) a failure to complete the crime.
The question is were elements (1) and (2) present?
Now, maybe the Russians DID intend to rig the election, did they do anything substantial to complete that crime?
On the other hand, we have internal DNC memos where they ...