Top U.S. intelligence officials doubled down Wednesday on assessments that the Kremlin led a campaign to influence the 2016 election, with the country’s intel chief blaming Russia for more than just data “hacking.”
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said the Intelligence Community is now “even more resolute” in its October assessment that only the Russian government’s “senior-most” officials could have authorized the activity—and “hacking was only one part of it,” he said.
“It also entailed classical propaganda, disinformation, [and] fake news,” he stated before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. He added that the “multifaceted” efforts continue today.
The hearing, which also included NSA director Admiral Michael Rogers and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, comes ahead of the release of an intelligence report on election cyber interference requested by President Obama. The report, due out next week, will detail a number of Kremlin motives for the cyberattacks, according to Clapper.
“The public should know as much about this as possible,” he said.
The intel officials also condemned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has denied that Russia provided his site with the Democrats’ emails, and whose allegations Trump cited in a tweet Wednesday.
“He has in the interest of, ostensibly, openness and transparency … in his prior exposures, put people at risk,” Clapper said. “I don’t think those of us in the intelligence community have a whole lot of respect for him.”
Clapper and Rogers affirmed that Assange should not be seen as credible.
Thursday’s hearing highlighted mounting tension between Trump and intelligence officials, as Clapper and other intelligence chiefs ready to brief the incoming president on the interference Friday.
Trump took a shot at the intelligence community Tuesday, speculating that officials’ allegations of Russian interference were weak. “The ‘Intelligence’ briefing on so-called ‘Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!” he tweeted.
Addressing Trump’s remarks broadly, Clapper said there was “a difference between skepticism and disparagement.”
“I think there is an important distinction here between healthy skepticism which policymakers—to include policymaker number one—should always have … but I think there’s a difference between skepticism and disparagement,” he said.
South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham, who has called for greater retaliation against the Kremlin, warned that the president-elect will challenge the intelligence assessments.
“You’re going to be challenged tomorrow by the president-elect. Are you okay with being challenged?” Graham said. “Absolutely,” Clapper responded.
At the outset of the hearing, committee chairman John McCain underscored the need to crack down on the attacks and understand the facts surrounding those coming from the Russian government.
“As both President Obama and President-elect Trump have said, our nation must move forward. But we must do so with full knowledge of the facts,” he said.
The Obama administration’s hesitance to punish Russian aggression over the years invited the Kremlin’s cyberattacks, McCain added. The Arizona senator criticized the administration for lacking a strategy for deterring such attacks.
