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Obamas secret struggle to punish Russia for Putins election assault - JUNE 23, 2017HACKING DEMOCRACY
Timeline
The White House debated various options to punish Russia, but facing obstacles and potential risks, it ultimately failed to exact a heavy toll on the Kremlin for its election interference.
Graphic: The main findings, highlighted
Next: Doubting the intelligence, Trump pursues Putin and leaves a Russian threat unchecked
Inside was an intelligence bombshell, a report drawn from sourcing deep inside the Russian government that detailed Russian President Vladimir Putins direct involvement in a cyber campaign to disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race.
But it went further. The intelligence captured Putins specific instructions on the operations audacious objectives defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump.
At that point, the outlines of the Russian assault on the U.S. election were increasingly apparent. Hackers with ties to Russian intelligence services had been rummaging through Democratic Party computer networks, as well as some Republican systems, for more than a year. In July, the FBI had opened an investigation of contacts between Russian officials and Trump associates. And on July 22, nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee were dumped online by WikiLeaks.
But at the highest levels of government, among those responsible for managing the crisis, the first moment of true foreboding about Russias intentions arrived with that CIA intelligence.
The material was so sensitive that CIA Director John O. Brennan kept it out of the Presidents Daily Brief, concerned that even that restricted reports distribution was too broad. The CIA package came with instructions that it be returned immediately after it was read. To guard against leaks, subsequent meetings in the Situation Room followed the same protocols as planning sessions for the Osama bin Laden raid.
It took time for other parts of the intelligence community to endorse the CIAs view. Only in the administrations final weeks in office did it tell the public, in a declassified report, what officials had learned from Brennan in August that Putin was working to elect Trump.
[Putin ordered effort to undermine faith in U.S. election and help Trump, report says]
Over that five-month interval, the Obama administration secretly debated dozens of options for deterring or punishing Russia, including cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, the release of CIA-gathered material that might embarrass Putin and sanctions that officials said could crater the Russian economy."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/national-security/obama-putin-election-hacking/
Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking - MARCH 17, 2017
American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials and others close to Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence.
Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Trump associates.
The disclosures about the contacts came as new questions were raised about Attorney General Jeff Sessionss ties to the Russians. According to a former senior American official, he met with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, twice in the past year. The details of the meetings were not clear, but the contact appeared to contradict testimony Mr. Sessions provided Congress during his confirmation hearing in January when he said he did not have communications with the Russians.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html
White House announces retaliation against Russia: Sanctions, ejecting diplomats - JANUARY 2, 2017
The administration described Russia's involvement as "Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities" and sanctioned four Russian individuals and five Russian entities for what it said was election interference. The administration also ordered 35 Russian diplomats to leave the country and two Russian compounds are being closed.
This is the first time the names of Russian officials involved in the hacking have become public on the sanctions list.
"Russia's cyber activities were intended to influence the election, erode faith in US democratic institutions, sow doubt about the integrity of our electoral process, and undermine confidence in the institutions of the US government," a White House statement said. "These actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
According to statements from the White House and the Treasury Department, the government has sanctioned nine entities and individuals over their alleged interference in the election: the GRU and the FSB, which are two Russian intelligence services; four individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU's operations.
The US also separately sanctioned two Russian individuals, Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev and Alexey Belan, for using cyber-enabled means to allegedly cause misappropriation of funds and personal identifying information. They've long been sought by the FBI."
https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/29/politics/russia-sanctions-announced-by-white-house/index.html
And Of Course This Too!
Thank You, Mr. REAL POTUS Barack Obama! America would saved itself a lot of HEADACHE and PAIN if they LISTENED TO YOU when you told US to ELECT Hillary Clinton ---- and never, ever put Donald Trump anywhere near 1600 Penn. Ave.
dalton99a
(83,700 posts)LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)The Obama Stare Down. Never Will Forget It! Thank You REAL POTUS Barack Obama!
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. He is the one who spiked Obama's effort to warn the Nation as to what was happening in real time.
Thanks Mitch,may Karma bite you big time.
Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)He knew very well what was going on for quite a while (frickin auto complete)
They had infiltrated these spies, right?
As much as I loathe him, its even worse now
Self righteous, smarmy prick
Lordy, he makes me wanna hurl
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)had more relevance in time. Comey with the help of Jason Chaffetz was a side show that was being disproved by DNC people.
Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)In time, perhaps youre right, but hindsight is irrelevant in the heat of the final days of that fiasco some call a free election
Appreciate your point, though
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)hurt us the most. Working call boards for three plus months,the real killer was the Friday letter. Up to that time,we could have pulled off a squeaker.
Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)We know how reliable diebold is
If they hacked into the registration rolls, why on earth would they not keep going?
It cant happen here, right?
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)machine. Nuf said. BTW,there was a Diebold Tech siting ten feet away.
Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)Had to.....
Need some levity
Appreciate your contributions here, as always
What was the deal with that diebold hacking, btw?
Sounds interesting
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Techie was as dumb as a box of rocks.
Gabi Hayes
(28,795 posts)Right under their incompetent noses
If nothing else, todays indictments shows just how FAR ahead of us the Russians are
global1
(25,826 posts)They welcomed the Russian interference. I think Mueller is on to them.
GusBob
(7,478 posts)for it's election interference" jump right off the bat here
It seems as if Obama tried to warn people in the government more than *us* the voters
I had read when he found out about the Facebook ads he warned Zuckerman, who basically did nothing. I do not recall him informing the general public
Tarheel_Dem
(31,436 posts)GusBob
(7,478 posts)Is there any evidence of that
Tarheel_Dem
(31,436 posts)knuckle-dragging sycophants that the election was "rigged", and Mitch McConnell threatening Obama that he would co-sign & amplify that message if Obama made that claim publicly, I'm giving the former POTUS the benefit of the doubt here. Since Obama had endorsed and campaigned for Hillary, Mitch McConnell made it nearly impossible for him to make an announcement of such magnitude, and not have it look political. It was a classic Catch 22.
GusBob
(7,478 posts)Every time this story comes up someone mentions that. It makes me sick, as you cannot play politics with "the crime of the century" which went largely unpunished ( per the link in the OP).
They also mention how everyone thought Hillary was going to win so their actions were tempered based on that assumption. To me, that indicates they were unaware of the depth, breath, and scope of the Russian meddling. And the consequences thereof.
Hindsight is 20/20 indeed. But serious mistakes were made. As the one aide is quoted in the OP
"I feel like we sorta choked" that defines my opinion
That having been said, this whole thing has been an obsession of mine since 12/17 ( when PBO first informed the general public). The article in the OP is the most in-depth I have read on the subject. The latter parts indicate some things that the Obama administration did to blunt the Russians going forward. That needsvto be brought to the attention of cynical people like me
LovingA2andMI
(7,006 posts)Where Told In The Media, It Was NOT ON ACCIDENT. It Was ON PURPOSE. That was Real POTUS Barack Obama and His Administration TRYING TO WARN US. Period.