It’s been nearly 8 months since Election Day 2016, but despite an overwhelming consensus among U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials, the President of the United States still won’t admit that Russia and Vladimir Putin were behind the cyberespionage and misinformation campaign that was launched to get him elected president.
Trump’s latest denial came this morning, when he claimed, “I think it very well could be Russia but I think it could very well have been other countries,” but “nobody really knows for sure.”
For the record, here’s a list of the at least 12 top current and former U.S. officials who do know for sure and have testified to Congress that Vladimir Putin launched a concerted effort to get Trump elected president:
- Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats
- CIA Director Mike Pompeo
- Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe
- NSA Director Mike Rogers
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Robert Cardillo
- Bill Priestap, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper - Former CIA Director John Brennan
- Former FBI Director James Comey
- Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson
- Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates
- Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Greece
CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, NSA Director Mike Rogers, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Robert Cardillo: “Yes,” we believe that the intelligence community correctly assessed that Russia was responsible for the 2016 election hacks.
- CIA Director Mike Pompeo: “It’s pretty clear about what took place here, about Russian involvement in efforts to hack information, and to have an impact on American democracy. I’m very clear-eyed about what that intelligence report says.”
- CIA Director Mike Pompeo: “I’ve seen nothing to cast any doubt on the findings in the [intelligence community’s] report.”
James Comey, former FBI Director: “The Intelligence Community with high confidence concluded it was Russia. In many circumstances, it’s hard to do attribution of a hack, but sometimes the intelligence is there. We have high confidence…that the Russians did the hacking of the DNC and the other organizations.”
- James Comey, former FBI Director: It was “a fairly easy judgment” for the intelligence community to discern Russia and Vladimir Putin’s preference for Trump.
Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security: “I do recall that, looking at the intelligence, it was a pretty clear case, perhaps beyond a reasonable doubt, Mr. Gowdy, that the Russian government was behind the hacks into the DNC, based on everything I was seeing.”
James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence: “[The intelligence community] found that the Russian government pursued a multifaceted influence campaign in the run-up to the election, including aggressive use of cyber capabilities.”
- James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence: “To me, the transcendent issue here is the Russian interference in our election process, and what that means to the erosion of the fundamental fabric of our democracy.”
- James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence: “You could rationalize that [Trump’s denials that Russia was behind the hacks] helps the Russians by obfuscating who was actually responsible.”
Bill Priestap, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division: “Russia used information to try to undermine the legitimacy of our election process. Russia sought to do this in a simple manner: they collected information via computer intrusions and via their intelligence officers, and they selectively disseminated emails they hoped would disparage certain political figures and shed unflattering light on political processes.”
John Brennan, former CIA Director: “I was convinced in the summer that the Russians were trying to interfere in the election. And they were very aggressive; it was a multifaceted effort.”
- John Brennan, former CIA Director: “I think [Russia and Putin] felt that…Trump might be more amenable.”
Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Greece under President George W. Bush; Janis Sarts, Director, NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence; Vesko Garcevic, former Montenegrin Ambassador to NATO; and Constanze Stelzenmüller, Robert Bosch Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, Brookings Institution: There’s “no doubt” Putin ordered the Russian hacks and attempts to influence the 2016 election.
- Nicholas Burns, former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and Greece under President George W. Bush: “There is no doubt about Russia’s systematic campaign to undermine our 2016 presidential election, the Montenegrin, Dutch, French, and German elections this year; and Russia seeking to diminish the confidence that the citizens of all these countries have in their democracies.”
Published: Jul 6, 2017