Barack Obama has ordered a full review of potential election-related hacking in the aftermath of Trump’s win. Despite having claimed that such hacks were impossible, the administration seems to be toying with the idea now that their candidate lost.
In an extraordinary rebuke of the intelligence agencies he will soon lead as president, Donald Trump broke with his predecessor on Friday and rejected the conclusion that Russia had sought to help him by meddling in the U.S. election.
“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the Trump transition team said in a unsigned press release. “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.'”
The Trump team’s highly unusual statement came after the White House revealed that President Barack Obama has ordered a “deep dive” into the cyberattacks that plagued this year’s election — and news reports suggested that some agencies had already reached conclusions that Trump might find uncomfortable.
Obama has asked the intelligence community to deliver its final report before he leaves office, raising the prospect that agencies may conclude that a foreign power successfully altered the trajectory of the Nov. 8 election just days before Trump’s inauguration.
The review will put the spate of hacks — which officials have blamed on Russia — “in a greater context” by framing them against the “malicious cyber activity” that may have occurred around the edges of the 2008 and 2012 president elections, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said during Friday’s briefing.
The Washington Post reported on Friday evening that the CIA had determined in a secret assessment that the Russian government had interfered in this year’s election not just to rattle confidence in the system but specifically to help elect Trump, whose fiery response came just hours later.
In an interview days earlier with Time magazine, Trump flatly rejected intelligence agencies’ preliminary finding that Russia had hacked Democrats’ computer and email systems to influence the election. “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe they interfered,” he said. Asked directly if those conclusions were motivated by partisan politics, he replied: “I think so.”
The White House’s announcement follows repeated demands from congressional Democrats for more information about the digital assault that destabilized the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton’s campaign through much of the election. Schultz insisted the review was “unrelated” to these requests, however.
Trump’s rebuke of this politically-motivated development isn’t “extraordinary,” as Politico claims. Why would Trump sit back and watch as his predecessor uses his executive power to actively undermine the incoming president?
Trump is right to fight back against these claims. The “assessment” that Russians tried to elect Trump doesn’t even look to be based on any hard evidence. It’s just speculation from an administration that has tried to tear down Trump at every opportunity.
Source: Politico
Then he won’t$#%&!@*when some of his stunts are “reviewed” by Trumps people, will he?
But what about Obama and Hillary fraudulent voting. But that’s OK right cry baby democrats.
They are so pathetic!
Awwww, his wittle bitty heart is bwoken…him not Wana weave. Your ouuuty next month, or Trump will drag your$#%&!@*out by your nutsack. !!!!
I call b******t. If they want to check into what has been hacked, they should start with Clinton’s bootleg server.
What SORE LOOSERS
What ever happened to him and Hillary saying we should accept the results and give him a chance?
Before the election He insisted there was no rigging going on. Then Hillary lost. Now it was rigged.
Obama is psychotic and delusional…a proven criminal