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International desk: US spy chiefs insisted on Thursday they have strong evidence that Russia mounted an unprecedented bid to disrupt the American election, standing firm in the face of Donald Trump\u2019s refusal to accept their conclusions.<\/p>\nInternational desk: US spy chiefs insisted on Thursday they have strong evidence that Russia mounted an unprecedented bid to disrupt the American election, standing firm in the face of Donald Trump\u2019s refusal to accept their conclusions.<\/p>\n
One day before the heads of four top intelligence bodies brief the president-elect on their assessment of Russian meddling in last year\u2019s race, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told a Senate hearing he had \u2018very high\u2019 confidence in their findings.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Russians have a long history of interfering in elections, theirs and other people\u2019s,\u2019 he told the Armed Services Committee. \u2018But we have never encountered such a direct campaign to interfere with the election process as we have seen in this case.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018This was a multifaceted campaign. So the hacking was only one part of it, and it also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, fake news.\u2019<\/p>\n
Clapper, National Security Agency chief Michael Rogers and Marcel Lettre, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, told the committee in a joint statement that \u2018only Russia\u2019s senior-most officials\u2019 could have authorized the operation, in which hackers stole Democratic Party files and emails, which were then disseminated via WikiLeaks, embarrassing the party and harming losing candidate Hillary Clinton\u2019s White House effort.<\/p>\n
\u2018Russia has clearly assumed an even more aggressive cyber posture by increasing cyber espionage operations, leaking data stolen from these operations and targeting critical infrastructure systems,\u2019 Clapper said.<\/p>\n
No new evidence <\/strong><\/p>\n Trump, who has pledged a rapprochement with President Vladimir Putin\u2019s Russia after taking office on January 20, has repeatedly dismissed that finding.<\/p>\n The Republican has mocked via Twitter past intelligence errors of the CIA, FBI and other agencies, challenging them to prove that the hacking and leaks could be traced up to the top of Putin\u2019s government.<\/p>\n Late Thursday, he again asked \u2018how and why are they so sure about hacking,\u2019 claiming that the DNC prevented the FBI from accessing their servers. BuzzFeed News reported that the FBI had in fact never asked to examine them.<\/p>\n As Trump first raised doubts early last month, President Barack Obama ordered the intelligence community to produce a comprehensive report on cyberattacks and Russian interference in the election.<\/p>\n Obama was briefed on the report Thursday, and Clapper, Rogers, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan are expected to detail it to Trump on Friday.<\/p>\n US officials familiar with the report told CNN that the liaisons who delivered the stolen emails from Russia to WikiLeaks had been identified.<\/p>\n And US intelligence agencies intercepted communications from senior Russian officials indicating they had celebrated Trump\u2019s victory as a win for Moscow, according to a report in The Washington Post.<\/p>\n An unclassified version of the report presented to the president\u2014stripped of sensitive details\u2014will be released to the public early next week.<\/p>\n \u2018I think the public should know as much about this as possible,\u2019 Clapper said.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Thursday\u2019s much-anticipated hearing did not offer any new evidence to back the allegations.<\/p>\n When asked by senators to provide more proof, Clapper repeatedly said he could not do so in public, saying it risked damaging the intelligence community\u2019s sources and operations.<\/p>\n \u2018We have invested billions, and we have put people\u2019s lives at a risk to glean such information,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n Soured relations<\/strong><\/p>\n Friday\u2019s briefing for Trump will come amid worries he has already soured relations with key parts of the all-important national security establishment.<\/p>\n In addition to casting doubts on their conclusions over Russian interference, Trump raised more hackles on Wednesday by citing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to suggest that anyone, even a 14-year-old child, could have been behind the hacking.<\/p>\n Under strong criticism from politicians of both parties for placing more credibility in Assange than the CIA and FBI, Trump defended himself Thursday.<\/p>\n \u2018The media lies to make it look like I am against \u2018Intelligence\u2019 when in fact I am a big fan!\u2019 Trump said on Twitter.<\/p>\n \u2018The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange – wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people…to make up their own minds as to the truth.\u2019<\/p>\n Without naming Trump, Clapper said there was \u2018a difference between healthy skepticism and disparagement\u2019 of the intelligence community.<\/p>\n \u2018And I\u2019ve received many expressions of concern from foreign counterparts about, you know, the disparagement of the US intelligence community,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n \u2018Public trust and confidence in the intelligence community is crucial,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n Asked about Assange\u2019s credibility, Clapper said his publication of leaked materials had \u2018put people at risk.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I don\u2019t think those of us in the intelligence committee have a whole lot of respect for him,\u2019 Clapper said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" International desk: US spy chiefs insisted on Thursday they have strong evidence that Russia mounted an unprecedented bid to disrupt the American election, standing firm in the face of Donald Trump\u2019s refusal to accept their conclusions. One day before the heads of four top intelligence bodies brief the president-elect on their assessment of Russian meddling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n