Russia Hacks Aimed at Influencing 2016 Campaign, Intel Agencies Report
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the hacking of IT systems associated with the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as part of “an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at” the U.S. presidential election, said U.S. intelligence agencies at our deadline Friday in an unclassified report. Intelligence officials briefed President-elect Donald Trump Friday on a classified version of the report. Intelligence officials also briefed top congressional leaders Friday on the classified report.
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Russia’s goals “were to undermine public faith in the [U.S.] democratic process, denigrate [Clinton], and harm her electability and potential presidency,” the intelligence agencies wrote. “Putin and the Russian Government [seemingly] developed a clear preference for [Trump]. We have high confidence in these judgments.” The Russian government “aspired to help” Trump’s electoral chances “by discrediting” Clinton and “publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him,” the intelligence agencies said. The Russian government shifted the focus of its efforts to “undermining” a potential Clinton presidency “when it appeared to Moscow” that Clinton “was likely to win the election,” the agencies said.
The election-related hacks are part of a years-long Russian cyber strategy to “undermine the US-led liberal democratic order” and included previous hacks against both the Democratic and Republican parties, the U.S. agencies said. They said they have “high confidence” that Russian military intelligence agency GRU released emails obtained through the election-related hacks to WikiLeaks.
Trump stopped short Friday of saying he’s convinced after the briefing with intelligence officials that Russia masterminded the election-related hacks. “Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including” the DNC, Trump said in a statement. Trump has cast doubt on the intelligence community’s assessment and last week referenced WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s recent assertion that Russia wasn't the source of Democratic officials' emails that WikiLeaks published (see 1701040066). Trump’s criticism of the intelligence agencies’ assessment drew direct and veiled criticism from lawmakers during a Thursday Senate Armed Services Committee hearing (see 1701050062).
The Senate Intelligence Committee said it plans an open hearing Tuesday on Russia’s election-related hacks that will include testimony from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan and NSA Director Michael Rogers. The hearing is to begin at 1 p.m. in 216 Hart. The committee said it plans a closed briefing after the open hearing.
Trump said that regardless of who masterminded the election-related hacks, he believes “there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.” He vowed that America’s “safety and security will be my number one priority” when he takes office Jan. 20. Trump said he will direct a team of experts to give him a plan within three months of his taking office on how to “aggressively combat and stop cyberattacks.”
Russia "has a track record of working against our interests, and they clearly tried to meddle in our political system," said Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in a statement. "We must also be clear that there is no evidence that there was any interference in the voting or balloting process. We cannot allow partisans to exploit this report in an attempt to delegitimize the president-elect’s victory. Donald Trump won this election fair and square because he heard the voices of Americans who felt forgotten.”
The findings are “really quite a stunning disclosure,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. during a news conference. Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said “there’s no question in my mind that Russia engaged in a classic covert action campaign, and today’s report confirms that.” Feinstein, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., filed legislation last week calling for an independent, nonpartisan commission to investigate the Russia hacks. The report shows Russia’s hacks were “an attempt to delegitimize our democracy,” said House Homeland Security Committee ranking member Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.
Meanwhile, more than 170 Democratic members of Congress signed on to House and Senate versions of the Protecting Our Democracy Act, which would appoint a 12-member bipartisan joint House-Senate commission to do an 18-month investigation into Russia’s election-related hacks. “This grave threat calls for a truly bipartisan and independent commission,” said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in a news release. Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., and others have sought to create House and Senate select cybersecurity committees with centralized oversight over investigations of the Russia hacks and other cybersecurity issues (see 1612190061 and 1612200044).