Obama orders review of cyber attacks on 2016 election -adviser

President Barack Obama hasordered a review of the hacking that disrupted the US presidential election after weeks of speculation as to whether Russian information warfare may have helped tip the scales in favor of President-elect Donald Trump.

The New York businessman has said he is not convinced Russian Federation was behind the attacks, but people he has nominated for top national security posts in his new administration have taken a harsher stance toward Moscow. The announcement came from White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Lisa Monaco after weeks of speculation as to just how much of an influence Russia’s hacking the Democratic National Committee had on the election’s outcome.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of SC said this week that Senate Armed Services subcommittees will probe Russian hacking under President Vladimir Putin, who Trump has praised as a strong leader.

“The president wanted this done under his watch because he takes it very seriously”, he said. “He expects to get a report prior to him leaving office”.

Trump has consistently said he is not sure there was hacking, and if there was, whether Russian Federation was behind it.

All of the Democratic and independent members of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in a letter to President Obama, have argued that the American people deserve more information than they have been given. “But never had any response”.

Intelligence agencies did not have specific intelligence showing the Kremlin directed the individuals to pass the hacked emails to WikiLeaks, a senior official told the Post.

“Does this tweet mean that Wikileaks is admitting their Russian connection?” said Nicholas Weaver, a senior researcher at the International Computer Science Institute who has previously warned that WikiLeaks has been “weaponized” by foreign intelligence agencies. At a Heritage Foundation event on Wednesday, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, (R-Texas) called for “consequences” for Russia’s interference in the election. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of SC has also said he plans to lead an inquiry into Russia’s hacking efforts through his leadership role on two subcommittees.

The Post reported that the Central Intelligence Agency had identified “individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman”.

In the run-up to the November 8 vote, hackers are also believed to have tried to penetrate election systems in Arizona and IL. Instead, he suggested in an interview with Time that the intelligence community’s conclusions were politically motivated.

Donald Trump has maintained that Russian Federation did not interfere with the 2016 election, reiterating his point in an interview with Time for its “Person of the Year” story about the president-elect.

For its part, Russian Federation has repeatedly denying hacking into places like the Democratic National Committee or attempting to interfere in any way with the election.

The review will go all the way back to the 2008 campaign when China was found to have hacked both the Obama and McCain campaigns, White House spokesman Eric Schultz said at a Friday press briefing.