DNC chair contradicts Obama on duration of Democratic hacks: 'They came after us daily, hourly'


President Obama said at a press conference Friday that when he met one-on-one with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year, he told Putin to put a stop to hacking attacks on the Democratic National Committee. After that, Obama said, he "did not see further tampering of the election process."
But speaking on ABC's This Week on Sunday, interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile offered a different timeline while speaking with Martha Raddatz:
Raddatz: President Obama also said Friday that the cyber attacks stopped after he warned Putin at an international conference in September. You've been briefed on the party’s computer system. Is that right, they stopped?Brazile: No, they did not stop. They came after us absolutely every day until the end of the election. They tried to hack into our system repeatedly. We put up the very best cyber security — what I call infrastructure — to stop them, but they constantly — they came after us. [...] They came after us daily, hourly. And there were times when we thought they would penetrate us and we would have another breach. [ABC News]
Brazile demurred to say why Obama would claim the attacks stopped if they didn't — or whether she believes he was misinformed about the situation. "We never felt comfortable," she emphasized. "We didn't know what was coming next. And, you know, this is not just about computers. This is harassment of individuals, it's harassment of our candidates, harassment of our donors." Watch her comments in context below. Bonnie Kristian
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.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Cytomegalovirus can cause permanent birth defects
The Explainer The virus can show no symptoms in adults
-
Summer in Seattle: Outdoor dining like nowhere else
Feature Featuring a patio with a waterfront view, a beer garden, and more
-
Ari Aster revisits the pandemic, Adam Sandler tees off again and Lamb Chop gets an origin story in July movies
the week recommends The month's film releases include 'Eddington,' 'Happy Gilmore 2' and 'Shari & Lamb Chop'
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities