The Obama administration considers the hack of Sony Pictures’ website and the threat to launch a Sept. 11-style threat on theaters a “serious national security issue” and one that the FBI and several U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Thursday said the hack is the subject of daily White House meetings led by a top Department Homeland Security adviser that include military, diplomatic and law enforcement officials.
He would not say, however, whether the administration believes the government of North Korea is responsible for the threat.
“I’m not prepared to ascribe any accountability for this specific act and who might have been the sophisticated actor” behind it, Earnest said.
The hacker threatened to launch a terrorist attack on theaters that screened the comedy film “The Interview,” in which two bungling journalists, played by James Franco and Seth Rogen, are enlisted to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Sony was set to open the film on Christmas Day, but on Wednesday pulled the plug on releasing it on any platform.
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Earnest said the decision to pull the film was made by Sony and the U.S. government played no role it.
“The president and the administration stand squarely on the side of artists and other private citizens who seek to freely express their views,” he said.
On Wednesday several major theater chains announced they were pulling the movie, pressuring Sony to abandon the film — even an online release.
Some in Hollywood immediately pushed back at the decision.
Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin accused the U.S. of succumbing to “an unprecedented attack on our most cherished, bedrock principle of free speech by a group of North Korean terrorists who threatened to kill moviegoers in order to stop the release of a movie.”
Rob Lowe, who appears in the movie, took to Twitter to express his frustration: “Wow. Everyone caved. The hackers won. An utter and complete victory for them. Wow.”
