Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says the Russian government’s interference with the United States election went far beyond the now highly publicized hacks of Democratic email accounts, which were merely one part of a multilayered campaign of propaganda and deception.
The intelligence leader outlined various methods wielded by Moscow to interfere with U.S. institutions during Thursday morning testimony on cyberattacks before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The testimony comes at a point of tension between the U.S. intelligence community and Donald Trump. The president-elect, set to meet with intelligence brass on Friday, has repeatedly cast doubt on the U.S. government’s conclusion that Russian state-sponsored cyberattacks sought to influence the election.
At the hearing, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Clapper if he could address not only classified information but also the relevance of publicly available information in seeing the full picture of Russia’s activities.
“While there has been a lot of focus on the hacking, this is actually part of a multifaceted campaign that the Russians mounted,” Clapper told the committee.
Clapper pointed to the Kremlin-funded TV channel RT, previously called Russia Today. “Of course RT, which is heavily supported, funded by the Russian government, was very, very active in promoting a particular point of view, disparaging our system,” he continued.
He said Russia would exploit any crack in the United States’ integrity — such as the nation’s alleged hypocrisy about human rights — through social media, fake news, propaganda and so on.
The totality of Russia’s effort, regardless of its ultimate impact, was a concern to Clapper as both an intelligence official and as a U.S. citizen, he said.
Earlier in the testimony, Clapper said the campaign against the U.S. also entailed the kind of “classical propaganda” that Russia has long used, especially when “promulgating disinformation.”
Marcel Lettre, the under secretary of defense for intelligence, said the U.S. needs to look at ways to “impose costs” against adversaries for such actions on a case-by-case basis as they arise. The U.S. can work to deter and respond to attacks through methods like President Obama’s recent sanctions, but they can be much broader as well, he said.
“From the military’s perspective, we’re concerned not only with Russia’s cyberhacking but also with a range of aggressive actions by Russia across multiple regions of the globe. So we look to impose costs on Russia by a range of measures across multiple regions in partnership with our allies, through NATO, where we can to push back Russian actions and deter future actions.”
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., did not appear too impressed with this “case-by-case” tactic. “It’s not a strategy,” he said.
Earlier, McCain suggested that if Russia had in fact succeeded in altering the outcome of an election that it would constitute an attack on the United States. He asked Clapper if he agreed with that assessment.
“Whether or not that constitutes an act of war I think is a very heavy policy call that I don’t believe the intelligence community should make,” Clapper replied, “but would carry in my view great gravity.”
You boys got 15 days to start your war with Russia, better keep that hot iron under your arses.
This guy looked Congress and the American people right in the eyes.
And lied to our faces.
I trust nothing emanating from his pie hole.
He should have been tried criminally for that previous behavior.
I give zero. Absolutely zero weight to his analysis.
If the Russians truly did this stuff, which is certainly possible.
And I’m sure we try to do the same to them.
There needs to be a better representative of the intelligence community than this known lying asshole.
“The intelligence leader outlined various methods wielded by Moscow to interfere with U.S. institutions during Thursday morning testimony on cyberattacks…”
HEY D#CKWAD, DIDN’T YA GET THE MEMO?????
http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/fbi-never-even-examined-dnc-servers-allegations-russian-hacking/179506
LYING SACK OF SH#T!!!!!
The intelligence leader outlined various methods wielded by Moscow to interfere with U.S. institutions during Thursday morning testimony on cyberattacks before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Hey, Claps. What did the ruskies actually hack? We have not been told of anyone infiltrating the “diebold” machines mechanism.
The only thing we know is that hitlery and weanies emails were released,
And that was a bernie and podesta eye opening expirience.
I have been told that this was not a hard task to perform due to the incompetence of the individuals involved.
Nothing to see here people, move along.
James Crapper is a proven liar. Why should we believe a word he says? What credibility does he have?
More generally, what credibility does the US government have when Crapper was never criminally charged for his blatant perjury? He didn’t even lose his job. That is a clear indication to anyone with a brain that the US system is thoroughly corrupt. We live in a banana republic.
Everybody in government lies.
Governments would collapse if people in government told the truth for any amount of time. Why should anyone be surprised he is lying?
Yeah. I agree with your point.
But an intelligence “Director” should be able to lie…and pull it off.
This guy is not only lied, and by doing so committed a crime.
But he was so shitty at lying that within a day or two EVERYONE on the planet knew absolutely that he was lying.
I’m not surprised he lied.
I’m surprised he wasn’t fired ASAP and criminally charged.
Because it was so obvious and blatant that he was lying.
And the blanket, hoover up everything, domestic spying has been shown by Binney, and many others, to be detrimental to proper intelligence operations.
Nixon – I am not a crook.
Clapper – We are not spying on everyone about everything inside America.
A ” crappy” lying POS.