Spy chief ‘resolute’ on cyber attack
UNITED STATES: The top United States intelligence official says he is ‘‘even more resolute’’ in his belief that Russia staged cyber attacks on Democrats during the 2016 election campaign, rebuking persistent scepticism from Republican President-elect Donald Trump about whether Moscow was involved.
James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday he had a very high level of confidence that Russia hacked Democratic Party and campaign staff emails, and disseminated propaganda and fake news aimed at the November 8 election.
‘‘Our assessment now is even more resolute than it was’’ on October 7, when the government first publicly accused Russia, Clapper said. He said motives for the attack would be made public next week.
Trump has called himself a ‘‘big fan’’ of intelligence agencies, but has cast doubt on their assessments that Russia targeted the campaign of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, drawing ire from his fellow Republicans as well as Democrats who are wary of Moscow and distrust Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The intelligence officials at yesterday’s hearing said they were worried that a lack of support from atop the government could prompt valued staff members to leave their agencies.
‘‘There’s a difference between healthy scepticism . . . and disparagement,’’ Clapper said. Vice President-elect Mike Pence has used the expression ‘‘healthy scepticism’’ to defend Trump’s criticism of intelligence findings.
The hearing was overseen by Republican Senator John McCain, a vociferous critic of Russia. It was the first in a series of briefings and hearings on allegations that Russia tried to disrupt or influence the US campaign, one of the most bitter in recent history.
McCain said that Senator Lindsey Graham, also a vocal critic of Moscow, would chair a new armed services subcommittee dedicated to cyber issues.
‘‘Every American should be alarmed by Russia’s attacks on our nation. There is no national security interest more vital to [us] than the ability to hold free and fair elections without foreign interference,’’ McCain said.
Trump will be briefed by intelligence agency chiefs today on the hacks. President Barack Obama received a report yesterday. An unclassified version will be made public early next week.
‘‘I don’t think we’ve ever encountered a more aggressive or direct campaign to interfere in our election process than we’ve seen in this case,’’ said Clapper, who will leave when Trump becomes president on January 20.
Clapper stopped short of declaring Russia’s actions ‘‘an act of war’’, saying that determination was beyond the scope of his office.
He and the two other officials who testified, National Security Agency director Admiral Mike Rogers, and Marcel Lettre, undersecretary of defence for intelligence, did not say what made US intelligence confident that Russia was behind the cyber attacks, a conclusion also reached by several private firms.
Clapper said the hacking did not change any vote tallies.
Moscow denies the allegations. Obama last week ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies he said were involved in hacking US political groups such as the Democratic National Committee.
In a tweet on Thursday, Trump was sceptical about a Russian role, criticising Democrats and praising WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose organisation posted Democrats’ emails online.
– Reuters