“We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,” said a statement today from the Obama administration about a series of cyberattacks on U.S. political figures and organizations.
Them’s fightin’ words.
The United States government formally declared on Friday that administration officials believe Russia is stealing and leaking emails from “a range of prominent individuals and institutions” including the DNC. They stopped short of naming President Vladimir Putin, but oh, the shade of it all.
The headquarters of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), seen in Washington, U.S. June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron
Today’s statement from DNI chief James Clapper and the Department of Homeland Security says the leaked emails “are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.” Those emails were shared by WikiLeaks, DCLeaks.com, and Guccifer 2.1.
Will President Obama demand sanctions or other punishment?
From David Sanger’s report in the New York Times:
For weeks, aides to Mr. Obama have been debating a range of possible responses to the Russia action, from targeted economic sanctions to authorizing covert action against the computer servers in Russia and elsewhere that have been traced as the origin of the attacks.
The White House has not said whether Mr. Obama has reviewed those options, or decided on any.