Obama issues new sanctions over Russia's election meddling
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury responded to Russia's alleged interference in the U.S. presidential election by announcing sanctions against six individuals and five entities — including two Russian intelligence services and three companies — thought to be involved in "malicious cyber-enabled activities." The economic penalties followed President Obama's issuance of an executive order expanding the government's authority to address cybersecurity issues in the wake of the FBI and CIA's determination that Russian cyberattacks in the U.S. presidential election were intended to help Donald Trump.
"These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior," Obama said in a statement. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security backed up the sanctions with a 13-page report explaining how it was determined that Russian government-sponsored hackers were behind the breaches targeting various Democratic Party organizations and officials. The sanctioned individuals and entities will be added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's list of Specifically Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons.
Also Thursday, the U.S. expelled 35 diplomats and closed two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland in response to "Russian harassment of American diplomats," a senior U.S. official told Reuters. Somewhat predictably, the Russian government was not pleased by the Obama administration's actions Thursday, and responded quite unabashedly via the official Twitter account for its embassy in the U.K. — see the message here.
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
-
Political cartoons for October 27Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include improving national monuments, the NBA gambling scandal, and the AI energy vampire
-
Donald Trump’s week in Asia: can he shift power away from China?Today's Big Question US president’s whirlwind week of diplomacy aims to bolster economic ties and de-escalate trade war with China
-
The Icelandic women’s strike 50 years onIn The Spotlight The nation is ‘still no paradise’ for women, say campaigners
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June