Politics
14:29, 06-Jan-2017
US intelligence chief stands firm with Russian hacking accusation
Updated
10:31, 28-Jun-2018
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Top US intelligence officials reiterated their accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election at a Senate hearing on Thursday.
James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, speaking at a Senate armed services committee hearing on foreign cyber threats, described a Russian campaign by leaking hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman to Wikileaks.
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, says his organization did not get the emails from Russia.
Russia has denied any involvement in the hacking.
Donald Trump continued to call into question the validity of the investigation into the hacking after the hearing.
US Senator John McCain (2nd L) talks with a staffer prior to questioning Director of National Intelligence James Clapper during a hearing in Washington, DC, January 5, 2017. /CFP Photo
US Senator John McCain (2nd L) talks with a staffer prior to questioning Director of National Intelligence James Clapper during a hearing in Washington, DC, January 5, 2017. /CFP Photo
“The Democratic National Committee would not allow the FBI to study or see its computer info after it was supposedly hacked by Russia......” he wrote in a tweet on Thursday, “So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers? What is going on?” he wrote in a follow-up tweet.
James Clapper defended the intelligence community, saying he welcomed healthy debate over its intelligence reports, but added, “There’s a difference between skepticism and disparagement.”
Clapper, a retired Air Force general, said the intelligence agencies analyzed Russia’s motives in a report they submitted to President Barack Obama on Thursday and plan to discuss with Trump on Friday.
Obama said after receiving the report that he has full confidence in its conclusions. He said he hopes once Trump receives his own briefing and his team becomes familiar with intelligence officials “that some of those current tensions will be reduced.”
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