We begin today’s roundup with The New York Times and its editorial in support of the new sanctions against Russia:
While it is definitely too late, and may also be too little, there should be no doubt about the correctness of President Obama’s decision to retaliate against Russia for hacking American computers and trying to influence the 2016 presidential election.
It would have been irresponsible for him to leave office next month and allow President Vladimir Putin to think that he could with impunity try to undermine American democracy. That would have been a particularly dangerous legacy given President-elect Donald Trump’s alarming affinity for Mr. Putin and stubborn refusal to accept the conclusion of American intelligence agencies that Russia’s cyberattacks were aimed at helping him and hurting Hillary Clinton. The president-elect told reporters dismissively before Mr. Obama’s decision was announced that Americans should “get on with our lives” and forget about the hacking scandal. So much for that wishful thought.
John Wagner and Karoun Demirjian at The Washington Post detail Donald Trump’s response:
President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday played down the ramifications of any Russian interference in the U.S. election, saying it is “time for the country to move on to bigger and better things” in a statement issued just hours after President Obama announced sweeping sanctions against Moscow.
Trump, who has for weeks voiced skepticism about Russia’s role in the hacking of Democratic email accounts and other hostile actions, said he would seek to learn more about the situation next week. [...] Trump’s posture put him at odds with Republican congressional leaders, who have condemned Russia for its actions, with some suggesting tougher measures than what Obama detailed Thursday afternoon. The president’s retaliation included the removal of 35 Russian government officials and sanctions against state agencies and individuals tied to the hacks.
Conservative David Frum tears into Trump on Russia:
“It’s all just an attempt to delegitimize Donald Trump.” That’s the argument you hear from Trump supporters each time new information comes to light about how hard Russian spy services worked to damage Hillary Clinton. You heard it again on Thursday.
The Trump supporters are 100 percent right: The information is delegitimizing. The president-elect of the United States reportedly owes his office in considerable part to illegal clandestine activities in his favor conducted by a hostile, foreign spy service. It’s hard to imagine a crisis of presidential legitimacy more extreme than that. But that’s no argument against airing this information. It’s precisely why the information must be aired. [...]
Without Trump’s own willingness to make false claims and misuse Russian-provided information, the Wikileaks material would have deflated of its own boringness. The Russian-hacked material did damage because, and only because, Russia found a willing accomplice in the person of Donald J. Trump.
And of course, no Trump response would be complete with an absurd take from Kellyanne Conway. From Daniella Diaz and Eli Watkins at CNN:
"I will tell you that even those who are sympathetic to President Obama on most issues are saying that part of the reason he did this today was to quote 'box in' President-elect Trump," Conway told CNN's Kate Bolduan on "OutFront." "That would be very unfortunate if politics were the motivating factor here. We can't help but think that's often true."
She added: "That is not the way that peaceful exchanges work in this democracy."
Moreover, the Trump confidant painted the focus on Russia's potential involvement in Democratic Party hacking as something of a distraction. "All we heard through the election was 'Russia, Russia, Russia,'" Conway said. "Since the election, it's just this fever pitch of accusations and insinuations."
And of course, some other Trump ally responses are just as absurd. Hayler Miller at The Huffington Post reports on Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) and his position:
If it were up to Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), the media would start taking its cues from Russian hackers.
The Republican congressman appeared on MSNBC with Hallie Jackson on Thursday to deny that Russia hacked into U.S. government servers in an attempt to tip the election for Donald Trump, despite the fact that both the FBI and CIA agree it happened.
“There’s no suggestion that Russia hacked into our voting systems or anything like that,” Franks said Thursday. “If Russia succeeded in giving the American people information that was accurate, then they merely did what the media should’ve done.”
Jackie Kucinich and Noah Shachtman at The Daily Beast have more:
Many Congressional Republicans quickly issued backhanded compliments to the outgoing administration, saying the measures were appropriate—but too little, too late. Trump, for his part, issued a statement that was little more than an eyeroll.
“It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things,” Trump said. “Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation.”
One of his earliest supporters in Congress, Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, went even further. In a brief interview with The Daily Beast, he repeatedly called the sanctions “silly,” “stupid,” and “dumb.”
“For the president to invoke sanctions that can be reversed with a stroke of a pen by Trump on day one, I think it’s pretty stupid,” Hunter said.
But then, there are some Republicans who look to be a thorn in Trump’s side:
Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two hawks on U.S. policy toward Russia, said they will lead the push in the upcoming Congress for sanctions on Moscow that are stronger than those the Obama administration announced Thursday.
"The retaliatory measures announced by the Obama administration today are long overdue. But ultimately, they are a small price for Russia to pay for its brazen attack on American democracy. We intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose stronger sanctions on Russia," the senators said in a joint statement Thursday.
On a final note, Nick Wadhams and Justin Sink at Bloomberg analyze Trump’s position in the aftermath of the sanctions:
President Barack Obama is forcing his successor, Donald Trump, into a difficult choice: reverse the sanctions the departing president just imposed on Russia for hacking e-mails in the U.S. election or put at risk his campaign vow to improve relations with Vladimir Putin. [...]
While the sanctions and expulsions, imposed by executive order, can be undone with the stroke of a pen, Trump may find it politically difficult to do so as key Republicans in Congress expressed support for Obama’s move. U.S. intelligence agencies also issued a report Thursday on their evidence that Russia was behind the hacking that produced a stream of leaks damaging his campaign opponent, Hillary Clinton. [...]
“This likely will box in the Trump administration, if not legally then certainly politically, because it’s going to be hard for the administration to come in and say on day one all the reports were untrue, the FBI was wrong, the CIA was wrong,” said Eric Lorber, a senior adviser at the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It will be difficult for the incoming administration to make that argument to the American people and say the sanctions should be completely done away with."