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Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG, ADAM GOLDMAN and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
MARCH 1, 2017
WASHINGTON In the Obama administrations last days, some White House officials scrambled to spread information about Russian efforts to undermine the presidential election and about possible contacts between associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump and Russians across the government. Former American officials say they had two aims: to ensure that such meddling isnt duplicated in future American or European elections, and to leave a clear trail of intelligence for government investigators.
American allies, including the British and the Dutch, had provided information describing meetings in European cities between Russian officials and others close to Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin and associates of President-elect Trump, according to three former American officials who requested anonymity in discussing classified intelligence. Separately, American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications of Russian officials, some of them within the Kremlin, discussing contacts with Mr. Trumps associates.
Then and now, Mr. Trump has denied that his campaign had any contact with Russian officials, and at one point he openly suggested that American spy agencies had cooked up intelligence suggesting that the Russian government had tried to meddle in the presidential election. Mr. Trump has accused the Obama administration of hyping the Russia story line as a way to discredit his new administration.
At the Obama White House, Mr. Trumps statements stoked fears among some that intelligence could be covered up or destroyed or its sources exposed once power changed hands. What followed was a push to preserve the intelligence that underscored the deep anxiety with which the White House and American intelligence agencies had come to view the threat from Moscow.
It also reflected the suspicion among many in the Obama White House that the Trump campaign might have colluded with Russia on election email hacks a suspicion that American officials say has not been confirmed. Former senior Obama administration officials said that none of the efforts were directed by Mr. Obama.
more...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/us/politics/obama-trump-russia-election-hacking.html
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)What are they waiting for?
babylonsister
(171,065 posts)still_one
(92,190 posts)media essentially put it on the back burner
Even this NY Times story inflects a flavor, without overtly saying it, that this was just politics as usual.
No it wasn't politics as usual. This was a very serious breech. Flynn left because that was the tip of the iceberg.
The NY Times have reported this as their headline, but I don't see other news outlets following suit.
I certainly hope there is follow through
It is very serious
babylonsister
(171,065 posts)guess who might be really SAD about it. Win/win.
Yes, I hope everyone spills what they know. I haven't given up on hoping he will be brought down.
still_one
(92,190 posts)Lucinda
(31,170 posts)I know that we all would have liked this to break fully before the inauguration, but I get how important the timing of all this info coming out is to tempering any violent response to removing Trumpy from office. If anything ever had to be air tight/ irrefutable, this is it.
babylonsister
(171,065 posts)Lucinda
(31,170 posts)the corroboration is nice!