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Obama Orders 'Full Review' Of Russian Election Hacking Claims
By
Gaby Del Valle
Published Dec 9, 2016
Modified Dec 9, 2016
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By
Gaby Del Valle
Published Dec 9, 2016
Modified Dec 9, 2016
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President Obama has ordered a "full review" of reports of hacking-related activity aimed at disrupting or altering the presidential election, a White House official said Friday.
"We may have crossed into a new threshold and it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that, to review, to conduct some after-action, to understand what this means, what has happened and to impart those lessons learned," Obama counterterrorism and homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco told reporters Friday morning.
In October, the federal government officially accused the Russian government of trying to interfere in the presidential election by hacking "political organizations." The Democratic National Committee's servers were hacked in July, and emails from various party staffers were published on Wikileaks. In the days preceding the election, the site uploaded a new batch of emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta, some of which are the source of a certain pizza-related conspiracy theory.
U.S. intelligence officials also said that prior to the election, Russian-based hackers hacked into two U.S. voter registration databases, and there has been increased post-election speculation that Russian hackers could have altered the election results in Trump's favor. (Election analyst Nate Silver declared some of these theories "probably BS.")
In late November, a group of computer scientists and election lawyers urged Clinton to challenge the election results and demand an audit of the votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. After raising the necessary funds, Green Party candidate Jill Stein filed for a recount in Wisconsin, and the Clinton campaign joined the effort. Trump supporters requested that a judge stop the recount, but their request was denied by a federal judge on Friday. According to the Philly Voice, the recount is more than 70 percent complete in Wisconsin and Clinton has gained just 82 votes.
Stein also filed for a recount in Michigan, which ended Wednesday night after an order by U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith, which halted the recount on the grounds that Stein does not qualify as an "aggrieved" candidate. As of Wednesday, 20 counties in the state were counting ballots. In Pennsylvania, where Stein also filed for a recount, U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond scheduled a hearing Friday regarding the request. Both Trump and the Republican party reportedly warned that the recount threatens the state's ability to certify the election before the federal deadline, December 13th.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that some Senate Republicans, including John McCain and Lindsey Graham, are ready to launch a "wide-ranging" probe of Russia's alleged interference in the election.
"I'm going after Russia in every way you can go after Russia," Graham said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. "I think they're one of the most destabilizing influences on the world stage. I think they did interfere with our elections and I want Putin to pay the price."
President Obama wants the report to be finished by January 20th, before he leaves office.
Monaco said the report would be shared with "a range of stakeholders" including members of Congress, but may not be available to the public.
"That's going to be first and foremost a determination that’s made by the intelligence community," she told reporters. "We want to do so very attentive to not disclosing sources and methods that may impede our ability to identify and attribute malicious actors in the future."
Monaco also said that internet-related dangers like hacking are among the most significant national security concerns today. The Trump administration, she said, will "inherit a rapidly-growing threat in this space across all dimensions."
Tagged
donald trump
election hacking
hacking
hillary clinton
jill stein
president obama
russia
wisconsin
Gaby Del Valle
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