Newest WaPo Story Claims Putin Directly Ordered Russia to Interfere in US Election

The Washington Post today published a story, "Obama’s secret struggle to punish Russia for Putin’s election assault," that Obama was warned by the CIA that Putin gave the order to "defeat or at least damage the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and help elect her opponent, Donald Trump."

The timeline of the story as reported by WaPo is summarized by me as follows (quotation marks indicate direct language from Wapo's article):

1. On July 22nd, the DNC Leaks were released by Wikileaks.

2. In late July, DNI chief, James Clapper, at a conference in Aspen, expressed concern about possible Russian meddling on the US election, but stated that the US intelligence community did not have enough evidence to "“make the call on attribution” regarding Russian responsibility for alleged Russian hacking of the DNC, RNC and the subsequent release of the DNC leaks by WikiLeaks.

3. At some point, CIA Director Brennan convened a team of intelligence professionals from the CIA, NSA and FBI who worked solely on determining to what extent Russia was interfering in the US elections. The WaPo story does not indicate if this was done after or prior to the CIA report sent to Obama.

4. In early August, CIA Director John Brennan sent a special eyes only report to President Obama and four senior aides (including National Security Adviser, Susan Rice) that the CIA had received intelligence that Putin directly ordered a Russian cyber campaign to "disrupt and discredit the U.S. presidential race." Eventually the list of administration officials with knowledge of the CIA report expanded to include Vice President Biden and others. Meetings were convened by Rice and/or the homeland-security adviser Lisa Monaco, at which Brennan, Clapper, AG Lynch and FBI Director Comey met to discuss the intelligence gathered that supported Russia's cyber campaign to disrupt the election.

5. Other intelligence agencies did not immediately accept the CIA'a conclusions. The NSA in particular expressed concern based on the fact that the source of critical information supporting the allegations came from a specific country. That country is not named in WaPo's report.

6. Before departing for his vacation to Martha's Vinyard on August 6th, Obama "instructed aides to pursue ways to deter Moscow and proceed along three main paths: Get a high-confidence assessment from U.S. intelligence agencies on Russia’s role and intent; shore up any vulnerabilities in state-run election systems; and seek bipartisan support from congressional leaders for a statement condemning Moscow and urging states to accept federal help."

7. On August 15th, Jeh Johnson, the homeland-security secretary, held a conference call with numerous state officials to float his idea that state voting systems be declared "critical infrastructure" and receive federal cybersecurity protection. He met with resistance from some officials, including Georgia's Secretary of State, Republican Brian Kemp, who voiced suspicion that the intelligence was faulty and that this was an attempt by federal officials to violate states rights.

8. In early September, Johnson, Comey and Monaco met with 12 key members of Congress in September, including senior leadership of both parties to disclose this information to them. The meeting did not go well. Democrats wanted the info released to the public and Republicnas did not, based on the claim that warning "the public that the election was under attack would further Russia’s aim of sapping confidence in the system." Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader, also expressed "skepticism that the underlying intelligence truly supported the White House’s claims."

9. In September, and also later in an October 31st phone call, Obama delivered messages to Putin warning him not to interfere in US elections. Putin responded that this claim was untrue and demanded proof. Nonetheless, some Obama administration officials stated that they believe Russia abandoned more extensive cyber measures to "sabotage" the actual voting process after Obama's warnings.

10. "On Sept. 22, two California Democrats — Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Adam B. Schiff — did what they couldn’t get the White House to do. They issued a statement making clear that they had learned from intelligence briefings that Russia was directing a campaign to undermine the election, but they stopped short of saying to what end." About a week later, " "McConnell and other congressional leaders" issued a statement issued a cautious statement that encouraged state election officials to ensure their networks were “secure from attack.” The release made no mention of Russia and emphasized that the lawmakers “would oppose any effort by the federal government” to encroach on the states’ authorities.

11. Obama was advised to issue very punitive sanctions to punish the Russians and "crater" their economy, but chose not to do anything until after the election, in December when he issued much milder sanctions and ordered the withdrawal of a number of Russian Diplomats from the country.

12. On Jamuary 6, 2017 December the DNI, NSA and CIA released their 25 page declassified assessment of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Nowhere in that report doies it state that Putin was directly responsible for any cyber campaign by Russia to influence the US elections.

The WaPo story makes several assertions that I judge hyperbolic. For example, read the following excerpts:

In political terms, Russia’s interference was the crime of the century, an unprecedented and largely successful destabilizing attack on American democracy. It was a case that took almost no time to solve, traced to the Kremlin through cyber-forensics and intelligence on Putin’s involvement. And yet, because of the divergent ways Obama and Trump have handled the matter, Moscow appears unlikely to face proportionate consequences. [...]

The CIA breakthrough came at a stage of the presidential campaign when Trump had secured the GOP nomination but was still regarded as a distant long shot. Clinton held comfortable leads in major polls, and Obama expected that he would be transferring power to someone who had served in his Cabinet.

The intelligence on Putin was extraordinary on multiple levels, including as a feat of espionage.

I suggest you read the entire article for a complete picture of WaPo's investigation.

I do note that no one disclosed anything about this August 2016 CIA report until now, more than 10 months after the CIA allegedly informed Obama that Putin was directly responsible for a cyber campaign by Russia to disrupt our elections. The articlde also comes from a source, The Washington Post, whose owner, Jeff Bezos has a $600 million contract with the CIA. Make of that what you will.

To me the most important information revelation contained in this article is the following:

Despite the intelligence the CIA had produced, other agencies were slower to endorse a conclusion that Putin was personally directing the operation and wanted to help Trump. “It was definitely compelling, but it was not definitive,” said one senior administration official. “We needed more.”

Some of the most critical technical intelligence on Russia came from another country, officials said. Because of the source of the material, the NSA was reluctant to view it with high confidence.

One has to wonder why the name of the country that the NSA brass did not trust was excluded from the WaPo article. I find that troubling, though I doubt many will notice it, since its buried deep within the story and not remarked upon other than this one instance by the journalists who authorized the story. One more thing that makes you go "Hmmmmm."

Share
up
0 users have voted.

Comments

Really WaPo, then how come "we" haven't solved it yet? Why is there still not one actual shred of evidence supporting any of this?

My 11th dimensional chess meter is going off a bit - with all this supposedly known BEFORE the election, why was nothing done to stop it? And if they knew so much about Russian efforts, why did they not even bother to look at the actual electorate to see what was coming? Did they perhaps WANT Trump in office, with Russia merely being used to blame HER loss to him when in fact, a loss was well expected and would be tolerated? And they set this up back last summer, so they'd have a ready made excuse for Trump's win, along with a pretext for war with Russia? And with Impeachment hearings for Trump to boot? An extra savory little bonus to humiliate him and the Repuke party?

up
0 users have voted.

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

EdMass's picture

Before departing for his vacation to Martha's Vinyard on August 6th

Ted was dead. Jackie was dead. No panache. No photo opp yacht sailing around the island with the pass by of the "Compound" in Falmouth. Just another rich guy with a gazillion (tax payers) dollars and the 3 plane loads of Secret Service agents along with the fg dog...

Putin? Really? All this supposed crap happened when HE was Potus.

The sheeple will be.

Just stop trying to make sense of all this.

No one ever promised it would make sense.

up
0 users have voted.

Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

@EdMass The Washington Post is a CIA tool, purchased via Bezos of Amazon.

Sadly, PBS news featured the story writers (not really journalists, amirite?) from this completely disreputable rag tonight, thereby dragging themselves further into the swamp.

up
0 users have voted.
Big Al's picture

I think the writers, Greg Miller, Ellen Nakashima and Adam Entous should be investigated and charged with treason.
My one question would be, exactly what did Putin and the hackers do to undermine the election? What was it they allegedly did, is that explained anywhere? Was it articles on RT, was it actually hacking into the voting machines and messing with votes?
If they can't say that, then it's obvious it's all lies.

up
0 users have voted.

@Big Al
It is convoluted, intentionally confusing, manipulative, substance-free propaganda. It is not intended to inform, it is intended to deceive.

up
0 users have voted.

native

Big Al's picture

@native Which is why I said those writers should be brought up on charges, not to mention the WaPo itself. This was intentional propaganda.
That's one of the actions we'd have to take in a full blown revolution against the oligarchy and plutocracy, take down this media. Part of that would be calling out, going after those "traitors" who are willingly spreading the lies for the Empire.
I wrote an essay once doing that, can't remember the guys name but I used it in the headline. I was perturbed to say the least.

up
0 users have voted.

@Big Al
Someone (assumed to be the Russian government) accessed databanks with the names, addresses, and party affiliation of 180 million Americans. That's it. Spoken with an ominous voice. (BTW: Remember the film, Canadian Bacon?)

I don't know why that would be of interest to Putin. I can see where it would be interesting to the RNC or DNC (who had one of the databases already).

Actually, I thought all that was public record anyway. I can access the Cook County web page and find my own voting record without any ID.

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

CB's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness
for the US presidency in 2020 if he fails to get elected for another term in Russia.

up
0 users have voted.

@CB

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@CB

And with Putin's wide-ranging super-powers, he's sure to be just as popular in America as he is in his own country, with I believe it was an 85% approval rating.

Certainly far more than any Two-Faced Corporate Party offerings, since even with rabid wolves posturing on his country's borders, Putin cut military spending in Russia to ensure that the people had their pensions, this effectively signing his own(to-be-attempted) death/depose-warrant, as both wings of the corporate Party cannot suffer those serving the public interest in any country to survive as a bad example to their own citizens in raising their expectations, rather than meekly submitting to being further drained, dispossessed and poisoned for ever-increasing billionaire/corporate enrichment and empowerment.

up
0 users have voted.

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

snoopydawg's picture

@Big Al

U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans

For decades, a so-called anti-propaganda law prevented the U.S. government’s mammoth broadcasting arm from delivering programming to American audiences. But on July 2, that came silently to an end with the implementation of a new reform passed in January. The result: an unleashing of thousands of hours per week of government-funded radio and TV programs for domestic U.S. consumption in a reform initially criticized initially criticized as a green light for U.S domestic propaganda efforts So what just happened?

We can guess what happened after he rescinded that law. Good ole Obama, always looking for ways to stick it to the little people.

up
0 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@Big Al Don't ya know that Putin took "boring" Hillary/Podesta emails, changed their content to make Hillary look bad and scare voters away, conspired with 1000s of Macedonian hackers and (((Americans))) and Russian WikiLeaks, all to install Trump and steal the presidency from Hillary? These are Hillary's own words.

up
0 users have voted.
detroitmechworks's picture

After all, the allegations that saddam did 911 started day of...

It was only when we needed a war excuse that all of the evidence was manufactured aND shipped to the msm distributors.

My rule is that if it comes from the cia it is a lie. They want their war with Russia because they need their job security. If they don't come up with something, politicians start looking to have a few heads on a platter for failure of intelligence.

up
0 users have voted.

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

orlbucfan's picture

2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 equals 5 POTUS elections. Both the Repukes and Dimocrats won. With the exception of 2016, where was all the screeching and bloviating about the Russkies interfering and throwing the election???? The sad, simple truth is that both tRump and $hrill were the 2 worse candidates offered up to voters in many, many decades!! They were both equally evil and stunk up the place! Rec'd!! @detroitmechworks

up
0 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

ggersh's picture

up
0 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

If one steps back and looks at the sweep and emergent themes around Russia, one must admire the deep state actors in feeling the pulse of the media and at least the democratic party to spread its message.

The first charges of publishing Podesta emails and documents/emails while sensational at first but quickly wore off in their effect. After all, the shit was true. Here is Obama several weeks after the election.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/us/politics/hacking-russia-election-f...

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said on Friday that despite Russian attempts to undermine the presidential election, it has concluded that the results “accurately reflect the will of the American people.”
...
The recount efforts have generated pushback by experts who said it would be enormously difficult to hack voting machines on a large scale. The administration, in its statement, confirmed reports from the Department of Homeland Security and intelligence officials that they did not see “any increased level of malicious cyberactivity aimed at disrupting our electoral process on Election Day.”

The administration said it remained “confident in the overall integrity of electoral infrastructure, a confidence that was borne out.” It added: “As a result, we believe our elections were free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective.”

Since that time, there have been a series of successive, each more severe than the previous accusations Finally, now, the exact opposite of what the Obama administration claimed--Russians under Putin's direct orders hacked in the very machines dedicated to the vote infrastructure.

One point. These charges have been released in a serial fashion. There are all these revelations that were known according to the WaPo article, but looking back, none of them are being revealed at one time. Drip by drip by drip in a very calculated manner. One accusation in effect answers the objections raised over a previous charge and keeps the narrative on the front pages of American media.

In the latest one, people have been asking that if Obama knew, why didn't he act? Even Obama is being potentially thrown under the bus to further the narrative. At TOP looks like gopers forced Obama to NOT reveal the information--the good name of Obama is saved.

up
0 users have voted.
Steven D's picture

@MrWebster It's water torture.

up
0 users have voted.

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

@MrWebster

up
0 users have voted.

@MrWebster

That 'Russian hack' claim was evidently needed to try to cover over Two-Faced Corporate Party election machine and other cheating.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/16/clinton-does-best-where-voting-m...

May 16, 2016
Clinton Does Best Where Voting Machines Flunk Hacking Tests: Hillary Clinton vs. Bernie Sanders Election Fraud Allegations

by Doug Johnson Hatlem

At the end of the climactic scene (8 minutes) in HBO’s Emmy nominated Hacking Democracy (2006), a Leon County, Florida Election official breaks down in tears. “There are people out there who are giving their lives just to try to make our elections secure,” she says. “And these vendors are lying and saying everything is alright.” Hundreds of jurisdictions throughout the United States are using voting machines or vote tabulators that have flunked security tests. Those jurisdictions by and large are where former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is substantially outperforming the first full wave of exit polling in her contest against Senator Bernie Sanders.

CounterPunch has interviewed hackers, academics, exit pollsters, and elections officials and workers in multiple states for this series taking election fraud allegations seriously. The tearful breakdown in Hacking Democracy is not surprising. There is a well-beyond remarkable gap between what security experts and academics say about the vulnerability of voting machines and the confidence elections experts and academics, media outlets, and elections officials place in those same machines.

In Leon County, Bev Harris’ Black Box Voting team had just demonstrated a simple hack of an AccuVote tabulator for bubble-marked paper ballots. Ion Sancho, Leon County’s Supervisor of Elections, also fights back tears in the Hacking Democracy clip: “I would have certified this election as a true and accurate result of a vote.” Sancho adds, “The vendors are driving the process of voting technology in the United States.” ...

(A must-read in full at source)
http://canadafreepress.com/article/yuge-election-fraud-in-california-to-...

YUGE Election Fraud in California To Be Investigated

By Katy Grimes —— Bio and Archives January 27, 2017

President Donald Trump announced last evening an investigation into election and voter fraud is coming. “I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” Trump tweeted.

This is music to the ears of many California voters—especially those whose party registrations were changed right before the June Primary, ensuring a Hillary Clinton win over challenger Bernie Sanders. California was a crucial state for both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, but the election was called for Clinton minutes after the polls closed, but before millions of provisional ballot votes were counted.

“What?” you ask, because Democrats insist that fraud during elections is a myth. They claim voter fraud is “virtually non-existent,” buying votes is too difficult and too “legally risky to pull off,” tampering with voting machines is a misnomer because they are often backed up by paper ballots or other means of auditing.
November Election 2016

Despite the left and some on the right insisting there is no election or voter fraud to speak of in the United States, there is plenty of evidence otherwise in California. ...

... A recent study by Stanford University proved that Hillary Clinton‘s campaign pre-rigged the system to steal the nomination from Bernie Sanders. And it was never more apparent than in California where Bernie Sanders voters were likely robbed of a legitimate candidate‚Äîand they know how it happened and who is to blame.

Thousands of voters in the June 7, 2016 California Primary election showed up at the polls across the state to discover their political party registrations had been changed, or dropped altogether… but only after they had received official sample ballots verifying their party registration in the mail. This only could have been done within the Secretary of State’s VoteCal system. ...

http://www.csoonline.com/article/3144513/security/wisconsin-to-recount-u...

Wisconsin to recount US presidential election vote after hack concerns
Security experts have said that the voting machines could be hacked
By John Ribeiro

Bangalore Correspondent, IDG News Service | Nov 28, 2016

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has decided to recount the votes in the state in the last U.S. presidential elections, after concerns were raised that the voting systems can be hacked.

The recount, which was requested by Jill Stein, candidate of the Green Party for the U.S. presidential election, and Rocky Roque De La Fuente, another candidate, is expected to begin late next week, the Elections Commission said. ...

... “For the last decade, computer scientists have warned about the vulnerabilities of these machines, including that they can be breached without detection and even after certain security measures are put in place,” Stein wrote. ...

... “The only way to know whether a cyberattack changed the result is to closely examine the available physical evidence — paper ballots and voting equipment in critical states," wrote J. Alex Halderman, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan, in a post on Medium.com. The deadline for asking for recounts was Friday in Wisconsin, Monday next week in Pennsylvania, and Wednesday in Michigan, he noted.

“Whether voting machines are connected to the Internet is irrelevant,” Halderman wrote in a submission in support of Stein. As demonstrated by him in the laboratory in just a few seconds, anyone can install vote-stealing malware on a voting machine that silently alters the electronic record of every vote, he added. ...

...“We are standing up for an election system that we can trust; for voting systems that respect and encourage our vote, and make it possible for all of us to exercise our constitutional right to vote,” Stein said in a statement Friday. She launched a campaign to raise funds to meet the fees for the recounts in the three states.

Election integrity experts have independently identified Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as states where "statistical anomalies" have raised concerns, according to the new campaign, which has clarified that the effort to recount votes in the three states is not intended to help Clinton and is unlikely to change the election outcome.

But this was not Hillary and her numerous minions or Trump and his, either, even if it was made to appear that way! American ingenuity and all just can't manage this - but somehow Putin does it - all the way from distant Russia to affect machines not even on the internet - and outcheats the local cheaters with actual access to the machines:

http://blackboxvoting.org/

http://blackboxvoting.org/fraction-magic-video/

A real-time demo of the most devastating election theft mechanism yet found, with context and explanation. Demonstration uses a real voting system and real vote databases and takes place in seconds across multiple jurisdictions.

Over 5000 subcontractors and middlemen have the access to perform this for any or all clients. It can give contract signing authority to whoever the user chooses. All political power can be converted to the hands of a few anonymous subcontractors.

“It’s a product. It’s scaleable. It learns its environment and can adjust to any political environment, any demographic. It runs silently, invisibly, and can produce plausible results that really pass for the real thing.” ...

Must be Russian subcontractors, working for Putin who wanted Hillary to win the Dem nomination and general election... probably how she apparently also won the popular vote in the general, although the Electoral College stepped in to vote for Trump, to confound the Russian puppets known as the Clintons, who'd already handed Putin 20% of America's already inadequate for power-plant energy generation strategic uranium resources. Bet Hillary wanted to sell Putin those nuclear bombs she's so obsessed with...

https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200...

Wisconsin’s Voter-ID Law Suppressed 200,000 Votes in 2016 (Trump Won by 22,748)
A new study shows how voter-ID laws decreased turnout among African-American and Democratic voters.
By Ari BermanTwitter
May 9, 2017

But you can tell that Putin really passed those laws, too, just before pooping in the hallway and hoping that it would be attributed to the resident dogs - who promptly leaked, and who were featured in a photo posted on this site recently.

No, the snark will never end, not until political morals improve.

Edit: and neither will my belated discovery of a typo-ed letter finally occur prior to pressing 'post'... and edited again because I missed a Trump reference and then removed the excess names up top from doing 2 edits... so far... going to bed since I can't see straight anyway, lol, so whatever else else I've missed will just have to stay.

up
0 users have voted.

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

@Ellen North Having worked many an election inside and outside the polling places, it is only the insiders who are capable of massive cheating. One article I read, and of course whose link I lost, looked at what the Russians would have to do, and literally it would have required literally tens of thousands of infiltrators to move the election to any one candidate. This backs up my experience.

Yup, neglected in all of this blaming of super duper genius Russian hackers is the memory hole that the US has historically had in many places an insecure voting infrastructure. From what I can tell, neither major party has proposed or willing to fund a hardening the voting infrastructure that for me at least, makes sense as it then could prevent the major parties from cheating--such as massive party flipping of independents in the democratic primaries to prevent them from voting for Bernie.

up
0 users have voted.

@MrWebster @MrWebster

Exactly!

And the memory hole intended to suck down in an all-consuming whirlpool the public's knowledge of the long-running issues with what get termed 'electoral irregularities' and indications/proof of electoral cheating committed by both wings of the US Corporate Party goes in tandem with the confusion tactic of mass accusations against everyone and corks it with, most especially ???the enemy country??? with their RUSSIAN Hackers!!! Of Mass Destruction!!! and who must be invaded/nuked for fun and profit, in the hope that the fuzzy-headed public sheep will simply replace their memories of what actually has been happening with their oft-repeated lies so that they can blow up the universe, including themselves and their piles of soon-to-be-radioactive-and anyway-worthless piles of money they could never possibly spend all of anyway.

Luckily, the Dems are also circling the drain...

Was just looking at this - I only hope that there's time left for such efforts to take effect, and if anyone can can manage to pass and have this sort of thing enforced. I haven't been hearing much about this over the past year, so might as well plunk it around a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhe286ky-9A

How to Fix America's Corrupt Political System
Represent.Us

Published on 19 Apr 2016

The vast majority of Americans are fed up with money corrupting politics — but how do we fix it?

We've got some ideas. Learn more and help make it happen at https://represent.us/action/thesoluti...

Edit: although Hillary won what was publicized as being the popular vote - so that all the RUSSIAN!!! HACKERS!!! could do was to hack the Electoral College. Unless they're all Putin Puppets, of course...

up
0 users have voted.

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Steven D's picture

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-reg-wasserman-schultz-homel...

On Thursday, Wasserman Schultz, a congresswoman from Broward and Miami-Dade counties, tore into former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s congressional testimony about the Russian hacking of the party’s computer system.

“He’s wrong in every respect,” Wasserman Schultz said in an interview on CNN. She said Johnson “is utterly misinformed” and the version of events he provided is “simply not accurate.”

On Wednesday, Johnson appeared before the House Intelligence Committee, testifying that the DNC didn’t accept help from his agency after its email systems were hacked.

“The response I got was, the FBI had spoken to them. They don’t want our help. They have CrowdStrike, the cyber security firm,” Johnson said. “I recall very clearly that I was not pleased that we were not in there helping them patch this vulnerability.”

Johnson, who served as homeland security secretary from 2013 to 2017, was appointed to his post by former President Barack Obama. Wasserman Schultz was Obama’s handpicked DNC leader from 2011 to 2016. [...]

“He’s wrong in every respect. Let me just be very clear: At no point during my tenure at the DNC was I contacted by the FBI, DHS or any government agency or alerted or made aware that they believed that the Russians, an enemy state, was intruding on our network. At no point. And I am a member of Congress, who had the ability to sit down and be briefed in a classified setting.”

Wassermann Schultz said it was “astounding” that the federal agencies, upon discovering the intrusion on the Democrats’ computer network did not “do anything other than lob a phone call into our tech support through our main switchboard.”

Pressed on CNN about Johnson’s testimony that the DNC rebuffed attempts to help, she said. “Respectfully, Secretary Johnson is utterly misinformed. And it’s simply not accurate. ... The FBI and other federal agencies did virtually nothing to make sure that when they were aware at the point that they were aware that there was a concern that there was an intrusion on our network by the Russians that they did virtually nothing to sound the alarm bells to make us aware of that. And they left, essentially, the Russians on our network for more than, for almost a year before we discovered that they were there.”

“How is it that the FBI or DHS or any federal agency that was concerned about a foreign enemy state intruding on the networks of one of the two major political parties did not think it important enough to go higher than a tech support staffer?” she said. “It is astounding and outrageous.”

DWS throwing a black man and a high-ranking Obama administration official under the bus. Something tells me she's the one who is "misinformed." LOL

up
0 users have voted.

"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

@Steven D Johnson said "that the DNC didn’t accept help from his agency after its email systems were hacked.". But DWS said "At no point during my tenure at the DNC was I contacted by the FBI, DHS or any government agency or alerted or made aware that they believed that the Russians, an enemy state, was intruding on our network."

No, Debbie, they didn't. They didn't say they did. YOU mentioned the Russians. Johnson just said "hacked".

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

snoopydawg's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness
The headline will state categorically that they have proof that Russia interfered with the election because they hacked into the voting machines in 39 states.

Then inside the article that's full of innuendos, there are words like, we believe, they might have, an anonymous source told us, and other words to that effect.
Then at the bottom of the article, they make this huge leap of logic and repeat the headline.

How people can read this and believe the conclusions are mind numbing. I read the articles and laugh.

The biggest propaganda that is a total lie is this one.

All 17 intelligence agencies have stated that there is no doubt that Russia interfered with the election.

This has been debunked numerous times, yet people are still saying it. What actually happened was that only 4 agencies have information about Russia interfering with the election.

As the saying goes, a lie is around the world while the truth is putting its pants on.

up
0 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

detroitmechworks's picture

@snoopydawg doesn't mention that those agencies "claim" they might have evidence...

Maybe.

It's really good, special intelligence. Really. We know because they carefully told us how it has all the marking's of russians. They even put in Cyrillic letters, so you know it had to be them...

Uhm, no you can't see the evidence... it's classified. But we definitely have it.

/snark

up
0 users have voted.

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

@Steven D

the ability to sit down

up
0 users have voted.

I judge them to be pure unadulterated bullshit. I don't care how many "anonymous officials" WaPo pulls out of its magical top hat, I refuse to believe anything published by that duplicitous, warmongering, CIA-loving rag. What, we're expected to take at face value whatever tall tales are concocted by the likes of James Clapper and John Brennan? These two men, both of them proven liars and shameless propagandists for the MIC, are now to be regarded as paragons of virtue, patriotism and truth? WaPo has been peddling this nonsense for months. Why?

Talk about "fake news", Jeff Bezos & Co take the cake.

up
0 users have voted.

native

SnappleBC's picture

So to be clear, I can write any damned story I want so long as I attribute it to some number of anonymous sources? Heck, I could even do so truthfully simply by picking my story then interviewing known supporters of that story.

Honestly I stopped reading as soon as I got to the anonymous sources part. What that means is that whether or not the story is balderdash I won't be buying it. This is a claim that we should start WW3 and I'd like to see some actual proof before agreeing to nuke the planet. Maybe I'm more pragmatic than I thought?

up
0 users have voted.

A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

Now what? lol Under pressure, Western tech firms bow to Russian demands to share cyber secrets

Western technology companies, including Cisco, IBM and SAP, are acceding to demands by Moscow for access to closely guarded product security secrets, at a time when Russia has been accused of a growing number of cyber attacks on the West, a Reuters investigation has found.

Russian authorities are asking Western tech companies to allow them to review source code for security products such as firewalls, anti-virus applications and software containing encryption before permitting the products to be imported and sold in the country. The requests, which have increased since 2014, are ostensibly done to ensure foreign spy agencies have not hidden any "backdoors" that would allow them to burrow into Russian systems.

But those inspections also provide the Russians an opportunity to find vulnerabilities in the products' source code - instructions that control the basic operations of computer equipment - current and former U.S. officials and security experts said.

Russian authorities get source code access, but the users of the products don't? No, just say no. Make the code widely available to all, that's the answer. Break up a few monopolies as a side benefit. SAP, really? A Russian Software Billionaire Takes on SAP and Oracle. Yeah, right. Russians are not the enemy, oligarchs are the enemy.

Billionaire foreign policy fight as the world burns. Priceless.

up
0 users have voted.

@eyo But your points are well taken. Turn it around. Would we want US companies to accept Russian software without full disclosure?

I sure wouldn't. "But we're the good guys!" Not to Russia we aren't.

up
0 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

@eyo

But it's already been established that US spy agencies have both implanted their own and utilized existing vulnerabilities in computers sold around the world, thereby hazarding the security of people's systems and personal information around the world.

I have to assume that sooner or later anything I have on my computer/the interwebz is going to be snickered over by some bored private corporation employee and wince a bit whenever anyone emails me painful personal details, seeking consolation from someone who they know would keep it private... and am equally peeved that computer illiterates with no money for debugging/replacement like myself may have to try to cope with unnecessary computer infections as a result of these created/retained vulnerabilities. All for the personal satisfaction of a relative few control-freaks.

up
0 users have voted.

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Amanda Matthews's picture

Imprisoned CIA Whistle-Blower: “Everyone Is Corrupt, I’ve Come to Learn”

http://www.alternet.org/imprisoned-cia-whistle-blower-everyone-corrupt-i...

These people torture. They lie. They disrupt other countries elections. They topple governments and cause devastating harm all over the globe.

I'll believe that Jeffrey Dahmer was a vegan before I even toy with the possibility those thugs are telling the truth about anything.

up
0 users have voted.

I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

I feel like my brain is in a fog after reading that article.

Could someone please explain to me exactly what Russia is accused of doing?
Does this give us any new information? If so, I missed it.

up
0 users have voted.
Big Al's picture

@IdahoDiane do anything to affect the integrity of the voting machines because they're hack proof so it really wasn't a hack even though they have no proof but that's why Trump won instead of Clinton. Therefore we need to go to war.

up
0 users have voted.

@Big Al

just another "theatre" for the big picture.

" We are glad to help with your war on everything, Senor."

up
0 users have voted.

@Big Al

Apparently, the Russians successfully hacked the Electoral College - unless maybe they didn't want the Mad Bomber turning the world into radioactive sludge either?

up
0 users have voted.

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

@Big Al @Big Al

They apparently hacked the Electoral College to give Trump the Presidency after Hillary won the popular vote.

And I, for one, am immensely grateful that the Mad Bomber did not get in to immediately start tossing nukes around, leaving us with a little breathing space in which to practice yoga and lip-stretching exercises in preparation for kissing our butts good-bye.

Edit: got side-tracked and answered this again.

We have a cat (fresh, clear ear tattoo - but nothing known of her at the Humane Society as of today's closing time there) who's been missing now for two days, and it's evening. She's not my cat but still has become my personal lap cat and nearly always spends the night snoozing with 'Aunt Mum'... What, me worry?

up
0 users have voted.

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

CB's picture

@IdahoDiane
made them cognizant of what a piece of crap Shillery would be as POTUS. In the olden days this was called enlightenment.

up
0 users have voted.

@CB

Now we just"wise up".

up
0 users have voted.

Even if they were responsible for the hacking--and I won't concede that until there is evidence based on something other than anonymous sources and classified documents--what did they do? They exposed the Democrats. It's not like they used Jedi mind tricks to change people's votes. They didn't alter the documents they sent to Wikileaks. They didn't physically change any of the votes.

That said, hacking into voter information is a big deal. While we should be very concerned about that and take efforts to avoid it, the state level politicians who told DHS to take hike need to be exposed and held accountable. Otherwise, this just seems like a reason for politicians to look serious and large and in charge. And they also get to do a whole bunch of shitty stuff under the radar while the media lap dogs chase the next BREAKING NEWS RUSSIA LEAK.

up
0 users have voted.

That's my biggest frustration about this whole mess. Absolutely no self-reflection as a country about what we've done in other countries. If any of those people in Washington has a shred of intellectual honesty or integrity, they'd be taking measures to reform the CIA (or dismantle it). Alas, integrity is too much to ask.

up
0 users have voted.

@Chaddiwicker is dirty, and most have been proven dirty. Dirty - lying outright, taking money, completely co-opted and ready for war. But they're still supposed to be taken seriously? They will be by far too many but damn, for those of us now watching this, the level of open contempt for anyone's intelligence is breathtaking. I know it should not be, but sometimes it still shocks me.

up
0 users have voted.

Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

CB's picture

Putin has said, time and time again, that it doesn't matter who is president of the US. Foreign policy is set by the Deep State (bureaucracy) - not the President. So why should he try to manipulate the US elections? Fucking the electorate over with bullshit has been the purview of the US media and pundits for decades.

For the damn proof, just look at the Obama administration. Compare his words before and after the election. Did Putin interfere and make him change his policies after he was elected or maybe Putin did it before Obama was elected. s/

This country is really fucked if people believe the excrement exuding from the western MSM. This kind of shit will eventually destroy the country. Stupid is as stupid does.

up
0 users have voted.
Creosote.'s picture

touches on the "Russian question" too:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2017/07/13/nihilism-of-julian-assange-wi...
How much is believeable, how much sensationalized here? This used to be a trustworthy publication.

up
0 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

up
0 users have voted.

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

CB's picture

WaPo's Latest RussiaGate Story Is an Enormous, Treasonous Turd
The people involved in perpetuating RussiaGate are guilty of things far worse than anything Russia is accused of doing. They are knowingly inciting a civil war even as their narrative continues to fall apart.

The Washington Post, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the U.S. Deep State, published what may be the most detailed half-truth I’ve ever read. This account of the Obama Administration’s handling of an intelligence report with substantive ‘proof’ that Russia hack the U.S. presidential election reads like a Tom Clancy novel.

For a time.

It’s a compelling story that will take in the uncritical reader until the moment where the writers refuse to divulge what intelligence report they are talking about. It goes from Tom Clancy’s Hunt for the Red Hack-tober to another chapter in Twilight of the American Gods.
...

up
0 users have voted.