A month before the election, Obama administration accused Russian government of election-year hacking

Some people are asking why we weren't informed of the Russian hacking before the election. We were. I remember it.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/obama-administration-accuses-russian-government-of-election-year-hacking-229296

Obama administration accuses Russian government of election-year hacking
By Tim Starks
10/08/16 01:11 AM EDT

Updated 10/08/16 01:11 AM EDT

Signaling a low-point in Washington-Moscow relations perhaps not seen since the Cold War, the Obama administration on Friday ended months of speculation and blamed Russia for deploying its hackers to meddle with the U.S. election.

The accusation came at the end of a week that saw the United States halt negotiations with Russia over joint operations in Syria targeting extremist groups.

The public finger pointing also bows to weeks of pressure from Capitol Hill and national security experts, who have lambasted the White House for staying silent about the series of hacks that have roiled the Democratic party, exposed the inner machinations of political organizations, revealed the private exchanges of high-ranking officials and fueled doubts about the electoral system's integrity.

On Friday, the administration broke that silence.

"These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process," said Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security, and James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, in a statement. "Such activity is not new to Moscow — the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there."

"We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," he added.

The administration urged "state and local election officials to be vigilant and seek cybersecurity assistance" from the Department of Homeland Security.

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