Obama retaliates against Russia for election hacking
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Barack Obama spoke during a Dec. 16 news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama has imposed sanctions on Russian officials and intelligence services in retaliation for Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election by hacking American political sites and email accounts.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis, right, looked at U.S. Sen. John McCain, center left, during a press conference, Wednesday, in Riga, Latvia, while Lindsey Graham, R-SC., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., stood in the background.
In a sweeping response to election hacking and other bad behavior, President Barack Obama today sanctioned Russian intelligence services and their top officials, kicked out 35 Russian officials and shuttered two Russian-owned compounds in the U.S. It was the strongest action the Obama administration has taken to date to retaliate for a cyberattack.
“All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions,” Obama said, adding, “Such activities have consequences.”
In a bid to expose Moscow’s cyber aggression, the U.S. also released a detailed report about Russia’s hacking infrastructure that it said was designed to help computer specialists identify compromised systems and prevent more hacking. And Obama said more action was coming.
“These actions are not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities,” Obama said in a statement released while he was vacationing in Hawaii. The U.S. has previously left open the possibility it could mount a covert retaliatory strike.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that Moscow regrets the new U.S. sanctions and will consider retaliatory measures.
The White House has promised to release a report before Obama leaves office detailing Russia’s cyber interference in U.S. elections, a move that could address Russia’s complaints that the U.S. hasn’t shown proof of its involvement. But the U.S. moved forward with the response today even as the report has yet to be released.
Still, Obama administration officials said the list of entities Obama was sanctioning made clear who exactly the U.S. believes was behind the hacking of Democratic groups and the theft of emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.
Obama amended an executive order issued in 2015, meant to combat cyberattacks, to authorize sanctions on entities “interfering with or undermining election processes or institutions.”
Under this new authority, Obama ordered sanctions against two Russian intelligence services, the GRU and the FSB, plus companies that the U.S. says support the GRU. The cybersecurity firm hired by the Democratic National Committee to investigate theft of its emails determined earlier this year the hacking came from the Fancy Bear group, believed to be affiliated with the GRU.
The FSB is Russia’s main domestic and counter-terrorism intelligence agency. It was formed following the Soviet collapse, when the KGB was split into the FSB and the foreign intelligence agency SVR. The GRU is the Russian military intelligence agency.
The president also sanctioned Lt. Gen. Igor Korobov, the head of GRU, and three of his deputies. Other individuals sanctioned include Alexsey Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two Russian nationals who have been wanted by the FBI for cybercrimes for years.
Obama’s move puts President-elect Donald Trump in the position of having to decide whether to roll back the measures once in office, and U.S. officials acknowledged that Trump could use his executive authorities to do so.
U.S. allegations of hacking during the campaign have ignited a heated debate over Trump’s approach to Russia and his refusal to accept the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia’s government was responsible and wanted to help him win. Though U.S. lawmakers have long called for Obama to be tougher on Russia, some Republicans have found that position less tenable now that Trump is floating the possibility of closer ties to Moscow.
“While today’s action by the administration is overdue, it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Obama said the hacking “could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government,” a contention the U.S. has used to suggest Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved.
Although the White House announced at the same time it was kicking out Russian officials and closing facilities, it said those were responses to other troubling Russian behavior: harassment of U.S. diplomats by Russian personnel and police.
The 35 Russian diplomats being kicked out are intelligence operatives, Obama said. They were declared “persona non grata,” and they were given 72 hours to leave the country. The State Department declined to identify them.
Fyodor Lukyanov, the head of Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, an association of top Russian political experts, called the decision to expel 35 Russian diplomats “a Cold War-like diplomatic war.”
Lukyanov said on Rossiya 24 television that because of today’s sanctions the Trump administration “will have to start off from an even lower point than it was” in trying to mend the U.S.-Russia ties.
“I think the new administration will try to soften the blow and at least distance itself from, to show this has nothing to do with them,” he said.
The two compounds being closed down are recreational facilities owned by Russia’s government — one on the eastern short of Maryland and the other on Long Island, New York — that were also used for intelligence activities, the U.S. said. The White House said Russia had been notified that Russia would be denied access to the sites starting noon Friday.
Russian officials have denied the Obama administration’s accusation that the highest levels of the Russian government were involved in trying to influence the U.S. presidential election. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russia’s goal was to help Trump win — an assessment Trump has dismissed as ridiculous.
Stewart Baker, former general counsel for the National Security Agency and former head of policy at the Homeland Security Department, said the administration’s public response to Russia’s hacking activities was “better than nothing” but “more symbolic than real.” He noted that Russia would likely retaliate with similar measures such as ejecting U.S. diplomats.
“On its face, this is more than a slap on the wrists but hardly an appropriate response to an unprecedented attack on our electoral system,” Baker said.
Associated Press writer Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.
154 responses to “Obama retaliates against Russia for election hacking”
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What difference does it make?
Just one more way for Obama to mess with the incoming admin. A spoiled child kicking and screaming .
Waterman2: Ditto to that and believe it or not there is more “Kicking the Dirt” to come before he exits.
yes A_Reader more to come, i.e. pardon all the illegals
Those expelled are KGB intelligence gathering agents which makes one wonder when Trump supporters began their love affair with the KGB.
And pardon all his friends and himself.
lol, as if republicans wouldn’t be doing the same if the situation was reversed?
Actually no they wouldn’t. Evidence of that opinion is when Obama won his second term in 2012. Republicans accepted their defeat. Liberals going off the rails with this petulant little whining narcissist Obama who is setting up Trump with significant challenges in his last few days. Brilliant.
Bootsie, please give your opinion of what Trump should do in the aftermath of Mr. O conducting his personal vendetta.
pilot16, really? You mean absolute gridlock and filibustering every single judicial appointment – to the point of refusing to even hold a hearing for over a year on a Supreme Court nomination – is accepting their defeat? You’re being more than a little myopic and holding a double-standard.
Baloney… Obama always won the popular vote. Republicans were soundly beaten.
Right Pilot. I remember the republicans pledging not to agree with Obama on anything and to make sure that Obama would only be a one term president. Shame your memory is shot. The Donald is going to have challenges regardless. His biggest challenges might come from within his own party. Now he actually has to perform. Unlike Obama, the Donald will be given a relatively healthy economy and stock market. We shall see if he can continue this or if the economy will soon collapse.
Saveparadise, what personal vendetta are you talking about? Can you be specific?
Bootsie, ok his vendetta sanctions that he is carrying out with the Russkies and Putinsye. A vendetta for something he cannot prove.
“A spoiled child kicking and screaming.”
I’m assuming you voted for Trump. You don’t see the teeniest bit of irony in that statement?
Comparing gridlock is not the same as jeopardizing our country by making enemies and not being around to clean his mess. I don’t recall Bush making any rash major decisions in his last weeks in office. But, nomatter what I know youwill just bixxxand moan. Save me the trouble.
@ nalogirl
Excellent post!
Now how could have Obama faced “gridlock” in 2008 and 2009? Didn’t he have full allegiance of his own party?
lol, nalogirl, you also must have a short memory. GW just started a never ending war and like your hero the Donald had no interest in his daily briefing memos. GW didn’t make any rash decisions in his last weeks in office as he had previously made enough. Say Found those WMDs yet?
Obama just making some trouble before he leaves and never to be heard from again. He is already crying like a spoiled brat. Be gone.
If anyone is a spoiled brat, it’s Trump. Everytime he twitters, he has a tantrum. Totally emotionally and mentally immature
Bingo. I thank Russia for exposing the Democrats Lying Cheating ways for the Whole Wide World to see. And you know what like the Democrats says Hillary won the popular votes so how did this change the elections? Watch em twist and turn the truths as they won’t even admit their lying cheating ways!
Pocho is like trumpf. They back up a hostile state. I remember poch calling Obama a commie. Lol. What a sack of hypocrite.
ho! stay off the meds bruddah Nana’s! Never said/wrote Barry was a Commie. Barry’s a Democratic Libertard!
What’s the difference. Be specific as Bootsie would say. sarc
“Lying/Cheating/Crooked” was built on slander, fake news, and just a few embarrassing emails (out of thousands hacked) that provided enough fodder for the undereducated to bite into.
It’s ignorant to think it’s okay for the Russians to influence the election just because it helped “your side.” Anyone who doesn’t have the IQ to understand that should have their right to vote taken away.
The 80’s want their diplomacy back!
There is no evidence of any of this. Just because a reporter “says so” to support the DNC, doesn’t make it true. Even the CIA and FBI haven’t offered any tangible evidence to public…other than to “agree” that it all happened. Russians didn’t vote for Trump. Americans did. You liberal dems lost. Accept it. If you REALLY think Russia hacked our electoral system then you would be advocating a more secure system. Like voter ID. But you see, you can’t do that?! It’s against your principles. So you fister the biggest fake news narrative this year. Absolutely incredible that so many can get duped once more with the help of the liberal MSM.
I’m not a liberal Dem. I just want the best, most competent person to be OUR president. The fact that Trump fans are still gloating that “We won / you lost” highlights the divisive mentality that works AGAINST “Make America Great Again.”
The election is over; Trump won and is in the process of becoming our next POTUS. It’s time to look at HIM, pay attention to what he says and does.
No more insulting Clinton; she’s out of the picture. No more blaming the mainstream media. Even if you suspect they put a little spin on things, they do stick to general standards of factual fidelity.
Trump is the president-elect. All his campaign promises were forgotten (by him and his fans) immediately after the election. But we can look at what he does now. What is he saying and/or doing?
As Obama said, Russia revealed Hillary’s secrets, you mean lies. Its all about the loss of the election and his legacy being destroyed.
“Lying/Cheating/Crooked” has proven to be true. Crickets everywhere.
Should Jeff Sessions be confirmed as the next Attorney General, Hillary Clinton may finally face justice.
But it will require a tidal wave of citizens demanding Sessions uphold the Rule of Law.
If Hillary escapes scot-free — yet again — it will set a horrible precedent.
Even more politicians will think they are above the very laws they write.
No Pocho. Republicans were claiming only a few days ago that Obama was asleep in Hawaii and would do nothing to retaliate aginst illegal hacking and illicit assistance to a very bad candidate in the entertainer trump. Well, he acted. Notice how leading Republican senators are supporting it. Trump grovels like the wimp he is to Israel and Russia. He is terrified of them. Russia could well expose Trump’s financial dealings and likely organized crime connections as well.
Lindsey and McCain are back benchers in the new admin. No more Rhinos.
Putin knows a lot about Trump and his business connections in Russia and in our country, but does not want to reveal how much collusion Trump and his appointments to his cabinet and administration have with Russia. Eric Trump admitted that the Trump organization had a lot of business with Russia, in Russia, and selling real estate in our country to Russian oil oligarchs who were protecting their assets by investing in US real estate as the Russian ruble depreciated after the US and European sanctions against Russia for invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea.
Pocho darling… the Republicans wont even admit that the Russians hacked them as well.
where do you get your news from? It’s been written Donald acknowledged the Russian hack once the FBI confirmed with the CIA’s data. What’s so hard to believe that? Apparently under Barry’s watch the FBI and CIA were still not sharing date amongst themselves. This after 911 where I and lot of people thought all sides were to share data openly… . Yikes!
Republican national chair flatly denied there was a hack. He should know and not Trump. Maybe you’re talking about the Trump campaign. But does Trump really know anything about that?
@ pocho
as an Illegal Immigrant would say you are Correcto Mundo!
The bottom line to all this hacking stuff is..DEM’S LYING CHEATING ways were EXPOSED to the WORLD! End of story!
Julian Assange said there was nothing to expose on the GOP side when interviewed on TV.
The rest is history..January 20, 2017 #MAGA
Pocho, you must be one of Putin’s spies and propagandists
Vector, you seem to know lot about Putin and Russia. Uncle is listening and Mr Trump will soon be Cmdr in Chief. Loose lips….
Rigged election on behalf of Trump! Trump lost the popular vote and has no mandate. I hope republicans stand up to him.
The only rigged election was HiLIARy beating Bernie. Take that to the bank. Trump won fair and square. It is about time to stop crying.
Speaking of which…latest HILLIARY sighting
http://nation.foxnews.com/2016/12/29/hillary-clinton-spotted-victorian-castle-resort
The LOSS took a heavy toll!
“AT THIS DATE, OR THIS POINT, WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?” FAMOUS QUOTE ATTRIBUTED TO LOSER DURING THE BANGHAZI HEARINGS?
Another “red line” by Obama. All bark and no bite.
From Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-cyber-idUSKBN14I1TY
Bark? Kicking diplomats out? Russians?KGB? Cold War? Lol. It’s the trumpie deniers that got duped ,first by Trumpf then by Vlad. Oh wait,trumpf is pulling that “keep your enemies closer” thingie.
the Democrats/Libertards got Duped, lol and they still drinking Barry’s homemade KoolAid! Fool you once shame on you, fool you again shame on YOU! lol
Yes we got duped all right. Under Obama the stock market has risen from below 7000 to now close to 20,000. Unemployment is way down from when that republican hero was president. Will the Donald do as well? That is the question Polcho, and my guess is that he will not. If the economy crashes like it did under GW, will you admit that you were taken? 🙂
Republicans won despite the great legacy of the Democrats.
Republicans will also try again to kill Social Security and Medicare as well as Obamacare by “privatizing” it.
They will try to deport millions of working immigrants.
And they will disrespect the right to privacy of women.
And the rest of the world is laughing at us now that we have an inept, inexperienced, emotionally immature, intellectually challenged President and Administration. I am sure Putin and our other adversaries will take advantage of those weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Poch is drinking trumpf “Goo Aid”,lol.
to boots the reason the dow is up the minute trump won the election he came with a tax cut from 35& to 15& on business and when he said that the dow started climbing not from Obama but from trumps tax cut, that’s why the dow is up thanks to trump.
sorry from 35% to 15 or 20%
IRT NanakuliBoss, maybe you have the evidence that Hawaii born President Obama has been looking for in order to implement this sanction on Russia. No one has yet presented America the evidence that Russia hacked the United States to support the election of President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Smart officials don’t release every bit of intelligence info. Do you understand that?
Un-smart people prefer to read fake news anyway. It’s geared more to their education level.
IRT MM, especially the Hawaii born President Obama and the Democrats who promised us the most transparent and open government. So, again, where is the evidence that Russia hacked the United States to “Fix” the Presidential election?
Russian cyber hacking has been validated by all the US security and intelligence agencies. Putin has good reason to support Trump. He wants the sanctions, imposed on Russia after it’s invasion of the Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, to be lifted. Those sanctions prevented the sale of oil and gas from Russia, and have devastated their economy and devalued the ruble by half. Trump is backing Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon Mobil, who is friends with Putin. Exxon Mobil has an oil and gas business in Russia, which has also had their Russian sales and profits drop because of the US and European sanctions. Rex Tillerson and Exxon Mobil signed a deal with Putin to provide technical and developmental services in the Russian Arctic and Siberia, in the amount of $500,000,000,000, $500 billion. Putin awarded Tillerson “The Order of Friendship”, his gratitude for the deal. Now Trump has nominated Tillerson as his Secretary of State. Putin had a lot at stake with who won the election. He hated Hillary, since she question the fairness of the Russian elections, and the human rights abuses in Russia. So Putin saw Trump as his savior and the salvation of the Russian economy.
IRT Vector, same-same MM where is the evidence? Not speculations as you post. Also, it must relate to the 2016 Presidential election.
kuroiwaj, not speculation at all. If you kept up with the news from other media sources, instead of only watching Fox News and Brteitbart News you might get some objective, reality based and unbiased news.
IRT Vector, do watch Fox, but more msnbc and cnn. Have never watched breitbart? so must receive the same information as you. I do review drudge report from time to time.
The thing about the Boss is, well, he is still the Boss!And Pocho knows it.
Yes, Boots, and under Obama the national debt went from $10 trillion to $20 trillion. Doesn’t that concern you?
And Trump is not even President yet, and has gone over the red line by cozying up to Putin and Assad, both mass murderers, genocidists, and tyrants. Guess that’s perfectly alright with you in your demented universe
Is this fake news?
Yes as they NEVER hacked into a voting machine or changed the results of the voting machines. They did NOT hack the election. They most likely hacked organizations tied to those running for office that had very very poor security associated with their IT systems.
The Democratic National Committee should really adopt a credo more akin to the feudal samurai of Japan. In a nutshell, if a warrior (or the DNC) was so lax and incompetent to be taken utterly by surprise and as a result, utterly defeated, then he (it) only has himself (itself) to blame.
If one supports the claim that leaking John Podesta’s (et al.) embarrassing e-mails was enough to sway the election in Donald Trump’s favor, then why weren’t sufficient resources allocated to defend or contest them? Furthermore, if you also claim there wasn’t enough time for the DNC to mount an adequate defense, then why didn’t their presumably better educated electorate rally to Hillary Clinton at the polls? After all, going by some of our opinionated readers here, more than your average American citizen, a Democratic voter should have been smart or well-schooled enough to distinguish between a legitimate and an illegitimate political issue.
Lol,all the commies chiming in. Imagine these posters actually backing a “hostile” nation that had been denounced by REAGAN. Reagan,”Sir,tear Down these Walls” .Trumpf, “Amigo,Build me A Wall”.
I guess I’m a little naive, but at this point in time wouldn’t it be a good idea to involve the President elect. Or is this just a pissing game?
Ture, but supposedly both Barry and Donald talked yesterday? Trump also confirmed the Russian hack somewhat changing his view once the FBI came to the same conclusion with the CIA info. Plus now Barry now kicking out Russian diplomats and Donald ain’t saying much of it as it is now. Think Donald is a straight shooter compared to Barry, Donald wait’s for the facts, to cypher it out then he has his conclusions. Way different than Barry, Al, Jesse, Fredericka, etc. jumping to conclusions without facts in cases where the evidence the Judicial Court System disproved these Racially biased bigwigs.
You must think the rest of us are gullible to what you’re saying but Trump’s actions in the past have been to make rash decisions and remarks. If that were not the case, we wouldn’t have all of those incidents including the ones involving his promise to prosecute Hillary. Or have you already forgotten that?
He has four years to prosecute crooked HiLIARy. Don’t count your chickens…
And he has 30 years to release hos taxes.
Trump has pulled off one of the biggest cover ups and con game, by not releasing his taxes, and getting so many people to vote for him. We will have more opaque back room self serving deals and secret maneuverings while he is in office. Collusion, conflicts of interest, nepotism, scandal, and corruption will be hallmarks of Trump’s term in office, with long drawn out legal battles challenging Trump and his administration at every turn
Is that all you got? Very weak. Fox News had some awesome shows today.
The current administration is doing the PE a favor, even if he doesn’t know it. Trump can’t ever acknowledge that he may have benefited from foreign intervention because it would undermine the legitimacy of his election, but if the hacking is legitimate and he doesn’t act he risks confirming that he truly is a puppet for the Russian government. He’s better off letting the current administration act and surveying the outcome.
Good point, aaronavilla…Trump should look at it as Barry cleaning house before moving out.
Trump has probably been made aware of the action before it was taken. He’s simply playing unaware because he doesn’t want Russia to know that he did not challenge the plan. He really can’t given the fact that it would make him even more suspicious. But Trump will twist this later on and reinstate the Russians and totally deny the CIA’s assessment again. And the Trump supporters will buy Trump’s explanations of why he doesn’t believe the CIA’s assessment and then twist it to say that it was wrong of the former president to do what he did because Russia is innocent. Remember, the CIA can’t disclose how they gathered their intelligence to protect their sources and to protect their intelligence gathering methods.
Do you always write fiction? Maybe write a book.
Pocho, aaronavilla thank you both for the info!
Not if the president-elect is the beneficiary of this heinous act against our country and he totally denies all of the US intelligence agencies’ assessment including those of the CIA and FBI whose forensic investigations have concluded that Russia was behind it.
If Trump and Putin are friends just maybe we can all get along.
Tyrants and dictators and other Strong Men might get along well, at the expense of losing your rights and your freedoms
Once the wimp is gone a Strong Man will be our leader. No worries.
There has not been any evidence provided by Obama proving any involvement by Russia in the election.
The claim of Russian hacking has always been bogus. During the election, it was repeatedly stated by election officials nationwide that there was no way that the election
could be thrown because our voting system is not centralized so it would be impossible to interfere with the election results. In contrast, there was evidence that illegals and
dead people voted in several states. Voter fraud in some of these states has always been a problem and no doubt the problem has increased because of recently passed laws
by the progressive left allowing people to vote without having to provide any identification or proving that you are a bono fide US citizen.
You have to show ID to buy liquor or to fly but do not have to show any ID to vote.
“US intelligence agencies concluded”, that is the FBI and the CIA. Are you saying that our intelligence agencies are bogus? Our intelligence agencies are one of the key weapons in our fight against terrorist, rogue nations, foreign spies and hackers. You undermining the work and conclusion of our intelligence agencies is akin to adding and abating the enemy. This will NOT make america great again.
I recently read the relevant report (https://www.scribd.com/document/335307386/JAR-16-20296)
The report is from the FBI and the DHS (Department of Homeland Security)
The report states that it “provides technical details regarding the tools and infrastructure used by the Russian civilian and military intelligence Services (RIS) to compromise and exploit networks and endpoints associated with the U.S. election, as well as a range of U.S. Government, political, and private sector entities. ”
There is about 9-10 pages devoted to this, and to countermeasures. It is pretty standard stuff that anyone would use and is not unique to the Russians.
The report indicates there is evidence of hacking in Summer of 2015 and Spring of 2016 in the systems of “a political party”.
This is the context of the widespread hacking that goes on all the time and is still going on, and I assume by the US as well as Russia, etc.
The report states that It is the judgement of multiple parties that it was the Russians.
It is inferred from the evidence of a hack that it was possible that content was stolen, including that of senior party officials.
“APT28 was able to gain access and steal content, likely leading to the exfiltration of information from multiple senior party members. ”
In other words we do not know if they actually did steal it, just that it was possible from their hack.
“It is also inferred that information was leaked to the press” This is also inferred on the basis that it contains information in the files mentioned above.
As to the goal of influencing the elections, there is no mention of this in the report.
I think that hacking went on but it was no different from what goes on all the time.
The claim that specific information was gathered re Clinton etc. and leaked with the goal of influencing the election is not covered by the report.
I also agree that if the Russians did influence the outcome of the elections then there should have been evidence released by the President to back up this serious allegations and and also remember hearing that election officials said that because there was no centralized voting system this would be difficult if not impossible…..I would be more concerned about illegal aliens voting since some of the larger population states such as California and New York don’t require identification to vote….
“in retaliation for Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election by hacking American political sites and email accounts.”
From what I have read, the US has presented no factual evidence that this is true.
In addition, the source of the emails was Wikileaks who have publicly stated that it was not the Russians.
A former British ambassador has publicly stated that he got leaked emails from a dissident member of the Clinton team.
If administration has factual direct evidence, not just a story that supports their political narrative, it should be immediately revealed.
This is the kind of stuff that starts wars.
What exactly was done and lets see the evidence? Democrats should be more concerned about Republican voter suppression efforts than Russia so called hacking which I believe were basically leaks. There is a difference you know.
Oh the myth of voter suppression again. Let’s look at the facts, like the Michigan recount with all of those illegal Dumbocrat votes. Remember this whole hacking thing was Wikileaks telling the world how scandalous, dirty and crooked the party of you baby killers are. Also, funny how all of a sudden the Dems hate the Russians when they have revered communism for decades, how ironic or more like phony.
Only way republicans can win is to reduce voting by minorities. Even republicans have admitted this. Wake up already.
Or to put in proper perspective the Republicans must enlighten the minorities and have them change their vote. That just might work but we still have to reduce the dead people vote and all the free stuff.
But the republicans and the donald were not the same
Boots please go back to where you once claimed you grew up.
I guess the Obama administration should sit in their office and do nothing until Jan 20, 2017. They should let the DON come in and take credit from the sunshine outside too. Wake up America and realize that we are in tough times ahead of us.
Wonderful!! Odummy & the Libtards have been getting their panties ALL in a twist, saying DT is gonna’ start a war, then, with absolutely NO PROOF, Odumbass goes & does this?? This will not end well for someone….
Obama is not starting a war. He is using intelligence reports wisely, and taking decisive action.
Trump can thank Obama for taking care of the Russian diplomats, since Trump is afraid of Putin and doesn’t want to hurt his feelings.
Trump might start a war out of incompetence. Any enemy nation can have a fat woman start a Twitter war with Trump. One night (or whatever you call 3 am) he’ll get so riled up while on Twitter, he’ll actually start a war. Now, that’s leadership!
Obama is like the little kid that calls you names and then runs in his house and cries to Mommy.
sarge, you got the wrong person. Trump is the whiner on twitter.
Re MMonkey
This kind of hacking goes on all the time. Some recently found a political use for the knowledge, that seems to be what has changed.
I think it is very dangerous to be playing games like this, just to throw sand in the ears for the P. Elect
“decisive action” — I don’t know, perhaps “devious action”
The US does the hacking like everyone else. Even to the extent of hacking the cell phones of allies (e.g. the hacking of Angel Merkel, German Chancellor)
I heard Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat Texas) publicly claim that the intelligence reports stated that the emails were hacked by the Russians in order to influence the election.
I read the report yesterday and it does not say that.
Ms. Jackson Lee was questioned about this discrepancy and I thought that her response was nonsensical.
Some people think that the final criterion for truth is what fits their political narrative
I got the impression with her, and others, that they actually do not know the difference between a fact and an inference.
Wonderful!! Odummy & the Libtards have been getting their panties ALL in a twist, saying DT is gonna’ start a war, then, with absolutely NO PROOF, Odummy goes & does this?? This will not end well for someone….
Barry has a Track record serving as an elected Gov. Official of the US. TheDonald has not even taken the oath as of yet so it’s all conjecture on the Democrats/Libertards views. The Democratic party was Exposed! with the Russian hack! And these Democrats/Libertards are still not facing up to it, not one not even the all Holy Donna Brazile who knows how a persecuted Christian women feels. How many Democrats quit their positions with connections to the DNC? How can you as a Democrat live with that Lying, Crooked of a Party? It is a sad day when you Libertards having to look past the truth to show your devastating loss in the elections. Why not build from the ground up without all the talking mouths who preach AIR and nothin but AIR
I’ll say it. Even the Republicans have those that spew only AIR!
So you’re saying the Russians did hack US data?
Too bad. I have been to Russia and the Kremlin tour. Friendly people. We look at Russia as they look at us. You can’t say we don’t hack Russia. Right? We hacked the German’s Prime Minister’s phone. I like Russia. Stupid politics is what this is. Get rid of the Electorial Votes stop blaming USSR.
Big mistake…….this means Trump must start 65 yards from the goal line
It is scary how stupid people are. Regardless who you voted for, the Russians hacked our democratic parties emails and disclosed information trying to help out the republicans nominee.
No evidence that the hacks amounted to the republicans nominee winning, but the issue is that a foreign country tried to interfere with our election process.
WAKE UP TRUMP SUPPORTERS, this is not about trump, IT IS ABOUT FOREIGN INTERFERENCE.
Trump won and nothing will change that except an act of congress.
Two reasons that would explain Trump’s denial of the “Russian hack” theory (another thing he was WRONG about):
1) He’s so ignorant and narcissistic that he only cares that he won the election. He doesn’t have the foresight to realize the hackers could turn on him at any time.
2) He was involved in the hacking plan. Not likely, but makes more sense than blaming Hillary (which I’m sure some people will try to do).
I can’t think of another reason to deny the Russian hacks. So what was the reason, ignorance or crookedness?
ummm, Trump accepted the Russian hacking once the FBI got ahold of the CIA’s data for confirmation.
Why was he the last person to acknowledge it? Why did he deny it so strongly, without having any evidence himself on the matter? What caused his strong bias against considering the hacking theory?
Don’t get so excited. What difference does it make? Trump won.
Just punishment. They really screwed up this country by electing Trump.
Kinda too late to act tough eh? What doe he got to lose? Nothing! So making one self looks good would help the people remember him. Remembering him working hard at the end of his term……working hard to keep himself in the big picture of world politics. It’s not an easy transition from Big Man to just another manini American! So give him a little slack and cater to his ego. He is after all our local boy made good! Aloha and good luck Mr. President!
More important about expelling Russian diplomats is the CORRECT thing to do. Whether it makes one look good or bad is secondary.
But now that Obama took action (and demonstrated leadership), the question is: Who was the LAST American “leader” to acknowledge that Russia hacked the election?
Barry Hussein demonstrating leadership? Maybe in a parallel universe or in the active imagination of his dwindling ranks of supporters. Barry has a good public persona, speaks exceedingly well, and could even be accused of being presidential. A leader he is not. His talents are more along the lines of street corner rabble rouser or community organizer if you will. He had many opportunities to demonstrate leadership by holding global bad actors accountable and defending domestic law and order. Instead he stood by while Islamic terrorism accelerated, inner city (his hometown of Chicago for example) violence got out of control, failed to enforce his red line in Syria, China and Russia land grabs, and abandonment of Iranian freedom fighters just to name a few.
And what about that embarrassing “Russian Reset” that his no-talent Sec’y of State Waldo Clinton pushed? Complete and utter failure, no?
Lock her up.
I wonder what would have happened if the Germans expelled a bunch of American diplomats when they found out the Americans were hacking them, including Angele Merkel’s cell phone.
I find it amazing that, supposedly for decades Russia has been hacking our elections and in a matter of SEVEN weeks we have the info. Obama is wrong on this one. He retaliated before the report has been done? Where’s the proof? I also agree that he did this purposely to undermine the incoming administration. Obama has done mire on his vacation then he has done in the years as President. He also does not care that by undermining our incoming President he is also causing great trouble for our country. It goggles the mind that anyone can think its okay to make such a big decision when he will be out of office in three weeks.
Obama is sealing his legacy as the most deviously, incompetent, better known as the worst president in American History by mismanaging American Diplomacy and embarrassing American standing globally. With no evidence that the hacked emails came from Russia, and not recognizing the sloppy security of his Administration and his State Department and his Secretary of State, he has compromised all of our security. Now he takes sanctions against Russia which only complicates the President Elect’s job, and doesn’t help the transition one iota. What a loser!
I began referring to the president as “little Barry Hussein” about 6 months ago. How prescient on my part. He is small in character, petulant and spiteful, much like a spoiled child who doesn’t get his way. Trump is highlighting his many flaws, voters rejected his policies at the polls and by extension rejected Waldo. His legacy is highlighted by upending common sense social norms, striking a match to the mid-east powder keg and increasing the national debt to 20 trillion dollars. Good job Barry.
Putin is just enjoying Obama’s harmless games.
The only hacking I have seen evidence of is in Barry’s golf game! Fore Left!
I doubt President Obama would be so reckless, no matter how big his ego his (according to Trump zealots), as to level these kinds of sanctions without solid information on Russian hacking. I’ll wait until the White House releases its report, if it ever does, before taking a side on this.
It’s fun, though, reading the exchanges … none of which will ever change the minds of either side. Funniest comment was one saying how Trump waits for the facts to surface before reaching conclusions. Huh? The 3 a.m. Tweeter?
A little ” slap on the wrist ” BO has no guts besides Putin has some very shameful information on him. BO has always been terrified of Putin.
If Obama is trying to hold Russian hackers responsible, what punishment does he intend to give Hillary campaign manager John Podesta, former Democratic party chairman Debbie Wasserman Schulz and anyone else for manipulating the Democratic Party process that guaranteed Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic party nominee over Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard?
I wonder how many illegals, muslims and blacks he’ll pardon as the White House door hits him in the butt on January 19th?
“President Barack Obama today sanctioned Russian intelligence services and their top officials, kicked out 35 Russian officials and shuttered two Russian-owned compounds in the U.S. It was the strongest action the Obama administration has taken to date to retaliate for a cyberattack.”
This could easily be overridden by the next POTUS.
Can’t you only hack something that is on line and connected to a server? I know the vote tabulator here was not attacged to any general base server. Sorry, I don’t know the tech language.
these russians they get involved in everything –u.s. elections, olympic doping, what next?
Instead of attacking and retaliating against the alleged messenger, Obama should be attacking the message,that being a corrupt, dishonest and unethical Democrat Party that secretly worked to help Hillary defeat Sanders in the primary election and Trump in the General election.
Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham: ” The retaliatory measures announced by the Obama administration today are long overdue. But ultimately, they are a small price for Russia to pay for its brazen attack on American democracy. We intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose stronger sanctions on Russia,”
The hacking was not a brazen attack on our democracy. The brazen attack on our democracy was what the hacking exposed, that being a corrupt and unethical DNC conspiring with the Clinton Campaign and the collusion between the DNC, the Clinton Campaign, the media and the Obama administration to help Hillary defeat Sanders in the primary election and Trump in the general election. Thank you, Russia, or whoever did the hacking. You did Americans a great favor.
the dangerous demented president again of accusing Russia in hacking are election this is full of you know what, there was no hacking because Hillary won the popular vote if there was hacking she would not have had the popular vote, the presidents and the press are trying to push this false issue because they can’t take the defeat.
With Trump’s encouragement and cooperation (like his lie that 3 million illegals voted), Russia attacked the core value of American democracy in an attempt to create dissension within the US, discredit American democracy in the eyes of the world, and install a Putin stooge in the White House. Most of the commenters on this board seem perfectly fine with all three of those goals.
wrong Obama turn this country into a diverse country and destroyed our American democracy with a lot of diversity and division, as I said a demented deranged president.
How, exactly, did obama turn the u.s. into a diverse country, and how does diversity destroy our democracy? Have you been reading alt-right websites?
as I said in the big Q comment this election God put trump in the white house to bring back our judeo Christian values that this country was founded on, because the devils disciple in the white house was ruining our Christian values so God hacked this election so devils disciple number 2 would not get elected. THANK YOU GOD.
Wow!
So, I was right. You do get your information from alt-right websites.
wrong about the website got it from the bible about Moses facing the same problem.
Feckless Obama at it again. He allowed plenty of American industries to be hacked by the Chinese. The Office of Management and Budget office that handles personally identifiable information for security clearances for Federal personnel, military personnel, and contractors was hacked, too and he did absolutely nothing. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) gets hacked through their own incompetence, e-mails are disclosed proving the DNC’s corruption in favoring Clinton over Sanders, and Obama comes unglued at the seams. The election didn’t get hacked, that’s just fake news. DNC malfeasance was exposed. Wikileaks and the hackers that did this deserve the Nobel Peace Prize far more than Obama.
Russia will extract revenge on the Obama administration in two ways. First, they will expel 35 US diplomats who are intelligence operatives. Secondly, if Russia did do the hacking, they will release through WikiLeaks all the emails and documents they may have hacked from all agencies of the Obama administration. Obama beware.
Thank the Russians for exposing how pilau the Democrats are.
Obama has been having his own cold war with Russia. Why doesn’t he just nuke them? Oh I forgot that would cut into his golf and vacations.
Obama’s gonna sanction the the Russians for supposed hacking of our elections. Iran kidnaps our armed service personnel and no retaliation. China hijacks our drone and no retaliation. Something wrong with this picture.
You looking for evidence? The article stated that it will be released before Obama leaves office. So you’ll have the report to read in about 3 weeks. Can’t wait to read it huh?
Is it the Russians fault that our cyber security sucks. Hate to break it to everyone but we do the same to Russia every chance we get. Which calls into question, why the sanctions?? Because Obama side lost the election because if it? If Hillary would he call for the sanctions? Doubt it…
Si I’ll ask the question being asked all over here…Wheres the evidence that the US is hacking Russian sites?
I thought Father Damien was behind the “hacking”.
Lets talk about this administration had the votes for the 2012 election tallied in Spain by one of Soros’ companies.
America to obama, “You and your ilk LOST, get over it!!!”
Looks like Obama only deports the legal aliens.
Good for Obama. Glad he has the guts to make this decision.