After weeks of speculation, the Obama administration has formally accused the Russian government of using cyber attacks to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a joint statement Friday that officially blames Moscow for the series of systems hacks and email leaks that have harassed political organizations and high-profile U.S. officials for several months now, including the Democratic National Committee in June, former secretary of state Colin Powell in September, and others.
"The U.S. intelligence community is confident that the Russian government directed the recent compromises of emails from U.S. persons and institutions," the statement reads. "We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
-
The secrets of lab-grown chocolateUnder The Radar Chocolate created 'in a Petri dish' could save crisis-hit industry
-
Trade war with China threatens U.S. economyFeature Trump's tariff battle with China is hitting U.S. businesses hard and raising fears of a global recession
-
Corruption: The road to crony capitalismFeature Trump's tariff pause sent the stock market soaring — was it insider trading?
-
Hegseth reportedly shared war plans in 2nd group textSpeed Read The defense secretary sent information about an attack in Yemen to a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother
-
Judge threatens Trump team with criminal contemptSpeed Read James Boasberg attempts to hold the White House accountable for disregarding court orders over El Salvador deportation flights
-
Biden slams Trump's Social Security cutsSpeed Read In his first major public address since leaving office, Biden criticized the Trump administration's 'damage' and 'destruction'
-
El Salvador refuses to return US deporteeSpeed Read President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador said he would not send back the unlawfully deported Kilmar Ábrego García
-
Trump says electronics tariff break won't lastSpeed Read The tariff exemptions on smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices are temporary, the administration says
-
Man charged in arson attack on Pennsylvania's ShapiroSpeed Read Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were sleeping when someone set fire to his Harrisburg mansion
-
White House pushes for oversight of Columbia UniversitySpeed Read The Trump administration is considering placing the school under a consent decree
-
Supreme Court backs wrongly deported migrantSpeed Read The Trump administration must 'facilitate' the return of wrongfully deported migrant Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador, Supreme Court says
