President Obama Promises to Respond to Russian Election Hacks

As Russian hacks continue to make headlines across the country, President Barack Obama promises to respond to the cyberattacks.

In an interview with NPR, President Obama says America needs and will to take action against Russia for the hacks. In addition, Obama explained that he spoke directly with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin about the issue.

Vladimir Putin
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MOSCOW, RUSSIA – DEC 17: The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin an annual press conference in Center of international trade in Moscow on 17 of December 2015, Russia (MediaGroup_BestForYou / Shutterstock.com)

However, President Obama did not reveal how the United States is going to respond to the hacks. Or, if the action will take place prior to his last day in office on January 20th.

Wikileaks
Stock Photo: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 2: Wikileaks billboard of julian assange and “Giving us the truth when everyone else refuses to.” on La Cienega Blvd APRIL 2, 2011 in Los Angeles. (Richard Frazier / Shutterstock.com)

Nearly 20,000 hacked e-mails were published by Wikileaks prior to the election. But, everyone is not in agreement as to the source of the leaks or whether the leaks came from Russia.

In an interview with Fox News, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange explained that the source behind the e-mails did not come from the Russian government. With that being said, Assange’s comments explicitly contradict intelligence agencies reports.

Hillary Clinton
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CHARLOTTE, NC, USA – JULY 5, 2016: Hillary Clinton makes a impactful gesture as she delivers a speech at a joint campaign event in the Charlotte Convention Center with President Barack Obama. (Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com)

At this point in time, the US intelligence committees including a CIA investigative report suggest that Russia is behind the Democratic National Committee hacks. Several intelligence agencies argue that there is evidence to suggest that hackers linked to the Russian government were behind the hacks with the objective to make Donald Trump President. On the other hand, no evidence has been released to the public.

This news comes after Donald Trump called the DNC hacks originating from Russia as “ridiculous”. Trump also called the Russian hack as an excuse to explain how he won the election against Hillary Clinton.

But, President-elect Trump did not stop there. Trump also took to Twitter on Thursday, saying “If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?”

Donald Trump
Stock Photo: Profile view of Donald J Trump, presidential candidate, at the Boca Raton, FL Rally on March 13th, 2016. (Windover Way Photography / Shutterstock.com)

But, before President-elect Donald Trump becomes President several electoral college members demand more information regarding the hacks. Ten electoral college members, nine democrats and one republican, wrote an open letter to the Director of National Intelligence James Clapper calling for additional information regarding Russia’s relationship in the election before, they cast their votes later on this month.

The electoral college members also called for Donald Trump to release evidence showing his campaign did not seek or receive help from the Russian government to win the election.