Russia's interference in this year's election will not go unanswered, the White House says, as President Obama is considering a "proportional" response to the meddling.
“The president has talked before about the significant capabilities that the U.S. government has to both defend our systems in the United States but also carry out offensive operations in other countries,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters traveling with Mr. Obama on Air Force One to Greensboro, where he was holding a town hall-style meeting with students and campaigning for Hillary Clinton.
“There are a range of responses that are available to the president, and he will consider a response that is proportional,” Mr. Earnest said.
That response will not be announced in advance and likely never be made public, Earnest told reporters. The administration, according to the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, believes that the hacking had to come from the top. "Only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities," Clapper said in a statement, not naming but implying President Vladimir Putin as directing the hacks which seem directed at either undermining a potential Hillary Clinton presidency, or getting Donald Trump elected.
With a President Clinton under a shadow of doubt in her own country, potentially considered illegitimate by a chunk of the electorate and under question, Putin could see advantages. A weak adversary—and Putin clearly sees the U.S. as an adversary—could strengthen his hand. A Trump presidency has all the advantage for Putin—he'd have a lackey in the White House that shares his authoritarian vision of the world.
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