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Obama has ordered a review on election hacking

Obama has ordered a review on election hacking

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U.S. President Obama Meets With Angela Merkel
Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images

President Obama has directed US intelligence agencies to produce a report on attempts to influence the 2016 election through hacking, according to an Obama homeland security adviser.

Report may not be publicly released

Adviser Lisa Monaco told reporters that the country may have “crossed into a new threshold” of hacking threats, and said “it is incumbent upon us to take stock of that,” according to Politico, who attended the announcement.

Monaco reportedly said the review is expected to be complete before Obama leaves office in January. The results, however, may not be released to the public. Monaco said only that members of Congress and other “stakeholders” will be shown the report.

Russia has been widely credited with attempts to interfere in last month’s election. Evidence linked the country to stolen emails from the Democratic National Committee, the release of which led to the resignation of chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the director of national intelligence later explicitly blamed Russia for the hack. The country was also linked to emails stolen from Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.

Despite evidence, Trump has denied Russian involvement

Monaco reportedly alluded to a “growing threat” of such attacks, which the incoming Trump administration will be forced to reckon with. But for his part, the president-elect has denied the possibility of Russian involvement in the DNC hack, despite substantial evidence to the contrary. “It could be Russia. And it could be China,” he said just this week. “And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.”