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International desk: FBI director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that the US intelligence community stands by its view that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election, despite Vladimir Putin\u2019s denial this week to President Donald Trump.<\/p>\nInternational desk: FBI director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that the US intelligence community stands by its view that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election, despite Vladimir Putin\u2019s denial this week to President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got his view, he has expressed his view,\u201d Wray said when asked about Putin\u2019s denial to Trump at their summit in Helsinki on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe intelligence community\u2019s assessment has not changed. My view has not changed, which is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and that it continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those acts \u201caimed at sowing discord and divisiveness in this country,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Trump appeared to accept Putin\u2019s denial in a press conference after their meeting in Helsinki, sparking outrage in Washington and a rare statement of disagreement by the head of the US intelligence community, Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday Trump walked back his comments, saying he accepted the view of US spies that Moscow had in fact meddled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI accept our intelligence community\u2019s conclusion that Russia\u2019s meddling in the 2016 election took place,\u201d Trump said, reading a statement from the White House.<\/p>\n
Yet Trump continued to suggest doubts, adding: It \u201ccould be other people also; there\u2019s a lot of people out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wray, who was speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, also took issue with Trump\u2019s suggestion on Wednesday that Russia has not continued to interfere this year as the United State prepares for congressional elections in November.<\/p>\n
Wray said that the FBI has not yet seen any specific actions targeting US election infrastructure \u2014 compared to 2016, when Russian hackers targeted voter registration and voting management computers across the country, according to US intelligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut certainly other efforts, what I would call malign influence operations, are very active. And we could be just a moment away from going to the next level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, it\u2019s a threat that we need to take extremely seriously and respond to with fierce determination and focus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if he saw, like Trump, that other countries were involved, Wray said some countries would indeed try to influence US politics in various ways \u201cgoing forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he added, \u201cThere is no question that Russia has been by far the most aggressive actor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wray also took issue with Trump\u2019s repeated condemnations of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion with Russia\u2019s election meddling as groundless and politically motivated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a witch hunt,\u201d he said, using Trump\u2019s words.<\/p>\n
Asked if, amid intense criticism of the FBI by Trump, he had threatened to resign in recent months, Wray declined to answer directly.<\/p>\n
In May 2017 Trump fired Wray\u2019s predecessor, James Comey, after Comey refused to back off of the Russia probe.
\nWray implied that he, too, would not bow to unreasonable pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a low-key, understated guy. But that should not be mistaken for what my spine is made out of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International desk: FBI director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that the US intelligence community stands by its view that Russia interfered in the 2016 US election, despite Vladimir Putin\u2019s denial this week to President Donald Trump. \u201cHe\u2019s got his view, he has expressed his view,\u201d Wray said when asked about Putin\u2019s denial to Trump at their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n