Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–December 10, 2016
Told you so.
While some previous discussions of Russian hacking associated with the 2016 election indicated that the purpose was simply disruption of the election , the CIA has now reached a different conclusion.
The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, according to officials briefed on the matter.
Hacking of both DNC and personal email was reportedly done by Russian state actors, who then provided the information to Wikileaks with the intent of harming Hillary Clinton’s chances and assisting Trump. This assessment follows President Obama’s announcement on Friday that he was ordering a full review of Russia’s attempts to interfere with the election.
Though Russia also hacked information from Republicans they didn’t use that information.
… the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee’s computer systems in addition to their attacks on Democratic organizations, but did not release whatever information they gleaned from the Republican networks.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Senator Harry Reid says that a New York Times for article that ran in the last days of the campaign indicating that there was no link between Trump and Russia, left out information provided in an interview with Reid.
I’ll say it: NYT interviewed Reid for this story. He said things contrary to the story. NYT discarded the interview.
Democratic members of the House and Senate are appealing to President Obama to release more information.
Seven Democratic senators last week asked Obama to declassify details about the intrusions and why officials believe that the Kremlin was behind the operation. Officials said Friday that the senators specifically were asking the White House to release portions of the CIA’s presentation.
Meanwhile, the Trump transition team has issued a statement denying any connection.
Mr. Trump’s transition office issued a statement Friday evening reflecting the deep divisions that emerged between his campaign and the intelligence agencies over Russian meddling in the election. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the statement said. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’”
That massive victory was less than that of President Obama in 2012, or 2008. Or Bill Clinton in 1996.
Trump has already been skipping his presidential daily briefings and has previously ignored the findings of 16 intelligence agencies.
President Obama’s report is due to be completed before he leaves office.
Source: http://dailykos.com
