Obama's lack of response may have
emboldened Russia election meddling: former officials
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[June 21, 2018]
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia may have
stepped up efforts to meddle in the 2016 U.S. election after President
Barack Obama's administration did not retaliate strongly to reports of
its activities, former aides to the Democratic president told U.S.
senators on Wednesday.
Victoria Nuland, a top State Department official dealing with Russia
under Obama, told the Senate intelligence committee that Moscow seemed
to have slowed its influence campaign after Obama made "a stern and
personal warning" to Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2016.
But she said the campaign seemed to accelerate during October, using
social media platforms to spread false narratives as the Nov. 8 Election
Day approached.
"I think it's probably the case that the Russians expected deterrent
measures and didn't see them, and so felt they could keep pushing,"
Nuland said.
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The panel held the hearing as part of its investigation that began after
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Moscow sought to influence the
presidential campaign to boost Republican Donald Trump's chances of
winning the White House.
Russia denies seeking to influence the election. Trump has repeatedly
dismissed investigations of Russian meddling as a "witch hunt."
The committee's Republican chairman, Senator Richard Burr, said he plans
more hearings with Obama's national security advisor, Susan Rice, and
the former heads of the FBI and Department of Justice.
Nuland and Michael Daniel, who was Obama's cybersecurity coordinator,
said U.S. agencies and technology companies did not share enough
information to effectively combat foreign election hacking.
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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland waves as she
arrives at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus April 20,
2016. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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"We didn't have sufficient integration of information to understand
how their campaign was structured," Nuland said.
They said the threat from Russia to November's U.S. mid-term
elections and the 2020 presidential campaign remains.
Daniel said the administration was focused in 2016 on activity aimed
at state and local election systems, and did not become fully aware
until later of the extent of the foreign influence operations.
Nuland said the Obama administration held back from a strong
response for reasons including a reluctance to seem to be
influencing the contest between the Republican Trump and Democrat
Hillary Clinton, Obama's former secretary of state.
"There was already by late July and early August accusations by
candidate Trump that the election would be rigged. And I think there
was a concern that if this wasn't handled properly, any move
publicly would be seen as President Obama playing into those
accusations," she said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
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