Admiral Mike Rogers, America's Cyber Command chief, told lawmakers today that President Donald Trump and his administration have not granted him the 'authority to disrupt Russian election hacking operations where they originate.' Huh. Wonder why.
NSA Director Mike Rogers:
“I believe that President Putin has clearly come to the conclusion there's little price to pay here, and that therefore I can continue this activity."
— J.D. Durkin (@jiveDurkey) February 27, 2018
From a CNN report:
Asked by Democratic Sen. Jack Reed if he has been directed by the President, through the defense secretary, to confront Russian cyber operators at the source, Rogers said "no I have not" but noted that he has tried to work within the authority he maintains as a commander.
While he did not agree with Reed's characterization that the US has been "sitting back and waiting," Rogers admitted that it is fair to say that "we have not opted to engage in some of the same behaviors we are seeing" with regards to Russia.
"It has not changed the calculus or the behavior on behalf of the Russians," Rogers said about the US response to Russia's cyber threat to date.
"They have not paid a price that is sufficient to change their behavior," he added.
NSA Director Mike Rogers testifies he has not been authorized by President or Mattis to retaliate against Russian cyber operators who attacked 2016 election
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) February 27, 2018
I could retweet Mike Rogers' testimony re: not having the authority to disrupt Russian cyber threats all day. This is an abomination. https://t.co/oTqSxMJIYA
— Nicole Perlroth (@nicoleperlroth) February 27, 2018
This should be the biggest story in the land. A foreign adversary launches a cyber attack on America and the President refuses to protect the country because he is likely to benefit from another such attack https://t.co/8RQ5lIv5aC
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) February 27, 2018
NSA Director Mike Rogers tells Congress that he would need to be granted the authority by Trump or secdef to stop Russian meddling at its source, but he hasn't yet been given that day-to-day authority
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 27, 2018
NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers says he has not received specific direction from the Trump admin to disrupt Russian cyberattacks targeting U.S. elections at their source. https://t.co/JVOEYNnoTW
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 27, 2018
NSA chief MIke Rogers says Russia has "not paid a price" for meddling in U.S. election and WH has not told him to confront Russian cyber threat | https://t.co/11EAlEj7jZ
— Tim Carter (@TimCarterCNN) February 27, 2018
Breaking right now @clairecmc and other Senators in both parties asking outgoing NSA Director Adm Mike Rogers why no one is ordering a response to Russian hacking. McCaskill says "Russia is winning and that is disgusting"
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) February 27, 2018
“We face threats that have increased in sophistication, magnitude, intensity, volume & velocity” per @USCommandCyber's Adm Mike Rogers at #SASC pic.twitter.com/YvE9wgPMMp
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) February 27, 2018
In case you're wondering how seriously Trump is taking Russian interference, NSA director Mike Rogers told Congress today that the Trump administration has not granted him authority to take measures to prevent election meddling pic.twitter.com/9jFnWZ6iTr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2018
WATCH: NSA Director Rogers on Russian cyberattacks:
"If we don't change the dynamic here, this is going to continue – and 2016 won't be viewed as something isolated, this is something that will be sustained over time … Clearly what we've done hasn't been enough." pic.twitter.com/6SFP0NJrX1
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 27, 2018
