Thread: Russia challenges US to prove campaign hacking claims or shut up

Russia challenges US to prove campaign hacking claims or shut up

By Laura Smith-Spark, CNN
Updated 8:58 AM ET, Fri December 16, 2016

Story highlights

Dmitry Peskov said US accusations of hacking "look unseemly" without proof
US intelligence agencies have pinned blame on Russia for election-related hacking

(CNN)The United States must either stop accusing Russia of meddling in its elections or prove it, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was "indecent" of the United States to "groundlessly" accuse Russia of intervention in the US election campaign, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

"They should either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise it all begins to look unseemly," Peskov reportedly said about the latest accusations that Russia was responsible for hacker attacks.

President Barack Obama on Thursday vowed retaliatory action against Russia in the light of allegations that it meddled in the US presidential election campaign.

US intelligence agencies in October pinned blame on Russia for election-related hacking. At the time, the White House vowed a "proportional response" to the cyberactivity, though declined to preview what that response might entail.

US President-elect Donald Trump dismissed the US intelligence community's assessment, however, in comments Sunday.
He suggested that there was no proof Russia had hacked the election, saying the snooping in Democratic Party servers and emails of campaign staffers for Hillary Clinton could have been done by China or even someone sitting in New Jersey.

Gloves-off White House creates rift between Obama, Trump teams

A US official familiar with the election-related hacking told CNN Thursday that the operation was carried out with sophisticated hacking tools, suggesting that Putin was involved.

The source said while Putin's "fingerprints" were not on the hacking, "the nature of the operation was such that this had to be approved by top levels of the Russian government."

Russian cyberhacking activity has continued largely unabated since the election, including against US political organizations, US officials briefed on the investigation told CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/16/europe...claims-peskov/

Kremlin says Washington must prove hacking accusations or shut up

Sam Meredith
1 Hour Ago CNBC.com

The Kremlin said on Friday that the United States should either prove accusations that Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election by hacking Democratic Party organizations or drop the issue.

"Either stop talking about it or finally provide some evidence. Otherwise it looks indecent," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Tokyo.

Russia has repeatedly denied the hacking allegations.

Meanwhile, Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister told state television network, Russia 24, he was "dumbstruck" by the NBC report which alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in an election hack.

The report cited U.S. intelligence officials that now believe with a "high level of confidence" that Putin became personally involved in a secret campaign to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

"I think this is just silly, and the futility of the attempt to convince somebody of this is absolutely obvious," Lavrov added, according to the news outlet.

The polarized reactions from current U.S. President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump to date have been stark.

Obama vowed to take action on Friday against Putin and Russia after intelligence agencies claimed to be in possession of overwhelming evidence that hackers with ties to the Kremlin were indeed behind the hacks.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has concluded that Russia were behind the hacking of the U.S. election and did so in an attempt to boost the chances of a Trump administration, though the CIA has not yet made its evidence accessible to the public.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed the notion Russia had any part to play in his election victory and accused Democrats of manipulating the allegations in order to cover embarrassment from their defeat.

"If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?" Trump tweeted on Thursday.

Barrier to the new administration

Given mounting attention to the matter, a team of analysts at Eurasia Group said in a note on Friday that they believe the outgoing administration is likely to take action which could result in a significant barrier for Trump's team once he takes office in January.

"It is unlikely that U.S. intelligence reports will change Trump's intention to initiate a rapprochement with Moscow, but the congressional response following its own investigations could obstruct the new administration's effort," Eurasia Group analysts added.

— Reuters contributed to this report

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/16/kreml...r-shut-up.html

Russia is right on this. Prove it or shut up. I don't believe the Russians were behind the DNC or John Podesta emails. Julian Assange stated publicly last night on Hannity as he had some months ago that his source was not the Russian government. Earlier in said they came from within the US. The CIA leaked this to the Washington Post. Then they refuse to appear before the House Intelligence Committee claiming they weren't ready and didn't have time because they were busy preparing their report for Obama.

Walk through this.

1. If there was hacking, it was the obligation of the CIA to present their report to the President instead of leak information absent a report to the Washington Post.

2. The CIA is not to involve itself in anyway in domestic affairs, therefore, it shouldn't have even been evaluating the DNC and John Podesta email hack, that was the responsibility of the FBI, who is in fact the organization that discovered it to begin with and informed the DNC last summer that they'd been hacked.

3. The CIA is way out of line here. They don't have the proof, that's why they're scurrying around trying to fabricate it.

3. A CIA that leaks to the press before it reports to the President is rotten to the core.

4. Flynn knows this which is why he ran up against the CIA a couple of years ago on other more serous matters that led to his leaving government at the behest of Obama.

5. Thank God that Flynn is now National Security Advisor and Donald J Trump is the 45th President of the United States. They will clean house, root out these rogues and leakers, and restore integrity and responsibility to our government, including the Central Intelligence Agency.

6. The only statement henceforth that Donald J Trump should make about Russian hacking is this:

"After I'm in Office, I will go to Langley, get to the bottom of this, and report non-classified findings on Twitter."

You know the Democrats are worried about a Russian "attack on American Democracy". So far there's no evidence we've seen or heard that Russia had anything to do with a "hack" on the DNC or John Podesta. The source Wikileaks says their information which is the information some of us read when it was released, did not come from the Russian government, it came from the USA.

But lets think a moment about an "attack on American Democracy". Is what Mexico is doing with illegal immigration through the drug cartels an "attack on American Democracy"? I would say yes it absolutely 100% is an attack on "American Democracy". Is what China is doing with free trade and currency manipulation and $500 billion a year in goods trade deficits an "attack on American Democracy"? I would say yes it absolutely 100% is an attack on "American Democracy". Is a government that forces US taxpayers to fund the educations of illegal aliens in our public schools an attack on "American Democracy"? Yes, it absolutely is 100% an attack on "American Democracy". Is a government that issues passports and citizenship to children of illegal aliens an attack on "American Democracy"? Yes, of course it is.

Is whoever hacked the DNC and released the Podesta emails attacking "American Democracy"? How could exposing the truth be an "attack on American Democracy"? Truth is not our enemy, truth is our friend, as is anyone who supplies it, by whatever means, whether we like it or not.

You know in a sane world - or country - someone would be saying Thank You to whatever entity put those out.

No one is pointing out the emails proved Hillary Clinton to be a very unsavory person and a lot of those around her as well.

We dodged a bullet there - I personally am grateful to the leaker.

Why did it need sophistication to get her emails, apparently she used a lot of unsecured devices.

There are probably a whole host of teenagers in this country that could have hacked her emails.

Again Thank you - and I don't know why more people are saying this.

Just more excuses to try to use as to why Hillary lost. Until there is proof that is what I will continue to believe. Paying about as much attention to this as I did the recounts. So looking forward to Jan. 20th...they lost, get over it.

FBI agrees with CIA on Russian hacking

• 
  
  
  President Obama ties election hack to Putin
  
  He promises unspecific and potentially secret retaliation against Russia, saying "we can do stuff to you."Defends response to cyber

Official: FBI backs CIA conclusion on Russian hacking motive


Associated Press December 16, 2016

FBI backs CIA report that Russia intervened to help Trump win election


WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is supporting the CIA's conclusion that Russia interfered in the presidential election with the goal of supporting Republican candidate Donald Trump.

In a message sent to employees, CIA Director John Brennan said he had spoken with FBI Director James Comey and James Clapper, the director of national intelligence.

Brennan said in the message that "there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election."

A U.S. official who had seen the unclassified message from Brennan confirmed it to The Associated Press on Friday.

President Barack Obama is promising that the U.S. will retaliate against Russia for its suspected meddling in America's election process, an accusation the Kremlin has vehemently denied.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/official-...194526659.html

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