Obama White House reportedly pushed to delay congressional statement on Russian hacking

On Friday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif), the ranking Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees, released a statement accusing Russian intelligence of "making a serious and concerted effort to influence the U.S. election," adding that "such actions could come only from very senior levels of the Russian government." The White House first asked Schiff and Feinstein to remove a part due to classification concerns, then had sought to delay that statement, first for one day, then three, says Ali Watkins at BuzzFeed News, citing "sources familiar with the matter," apparently both from Congress.

The White House has not publicly accused Russia of hacking Democratic organizations, though intelligence sources have blamed Russia for months, and one of the congressional sources told Watkins, "You can't have the White House telling a legislative body how to operate.... And [we] thought it was important." Watkins did not speculate directly on what might be motivating Obama, nor did her sources, but she did note that "one intelligence official told BuzzFeed News that, by confirming Russia’s role in the hacks, it could effectively validate the public’s concern over the security of the upcoming election. 'Do you really want that shitstorm?' the official said." Read more at BuzzFeed News.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up