Pompeo explains why it's 'wiser' for Trump to keep quiet about suspected Russia hack

Mike Pompeo.
(Image credit: TAMI CHAPPELL/AFP via Getty Images)

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday night during an appearance on the Mark Levin Show that "we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged" in a recently discovered cyberattack that breached dozens of federal agencies and companies. He added that while "we're still unpacking precisely" what happened, "this was a very significant effort," marking a slight change in tone for the secretary who had previously suggested the hack may not have been out of the ordinary.

The New York Times notes that Pompeo is the first member of the Trump administration to suggest the Kremlin was behind the attack, even after intelligence agencies have told Congress they suspect Russia's own elite intelligence agency, the S.V.R, was behind it. Russia has denied involvement.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.