December 10, 2016: US President Barack Obama ordered a review of all cyber-attacks that took place during the 2016 election period, the White House said on Saturday because of the growing concerns over Russian interference.
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White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said, "Obama called for the review earlier this week, amid growing calls from Congress for more information on the extent of Russian interference in the campaign."
White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said, "Obama called for the review earlier this week, amid growing calls from Congress for more information on the extent of Russian interference in the campaign."
According to PTI, Schultz said, "We are committed to ensuring the integrity of our elections and this report will dig into this pattern of malicious cyberactivity timed to our elections, take stock of our defensive capabilities and capture lessons learned to make sure that we brief members of Congress and stakeholders as appropriate."
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According to PTI, Schultz said, "We are committed to ensuring the integrity of our elections and this report will dig into this pattern of malicious cyberactivity timed to our elections, take stock of our defensive capabilities and capture lessons learned to make sure that we brief members of Congress and stakeholders as appropriate."
Schultz said, "Obama wants the report completed before his term ends on January 20."
"We are going to make public as much as we can," he added. "This is a major priority for the president."
The step is taken after Democrats in Congress pressed the White House to reveal the details to Congress or to public of Russian hacking and also disinformation in the election.
Not only that, US President-elect Donald Trump rejected the intelligence community finding of official Russian involvement.
According to PTI, "Confidential emails from the Democratic National Committee and John Podesta, a top advisor to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, were steadily leaked out via WikiLeaks in the months before the election, damaging Clinton's White House effort."
One month before the election, on October 7, the Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence announced, "The Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations."
They said, "These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process."
In a recent interview with Time magazine, for its "Person of the Year" award, Donald Trump rejected those findings. And when asked if the intelligence was politicized, Trump replied, "I think so."
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"I don't believe they interfered," he said. "It could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey."
by NewsGram team with PTI inputs