US president-elect Donald Trump questioned yesterday why the White House did not act more quickly on evidence of Russian hacking in the presidential election, as media reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself was personally involved in the operation.
"If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?" Trump asked on Twitter.
US intelligence officials have a "high level of confidence" that Putin was involved in directing how material acquired by hackers was leaked, NBC News reported, citing unnamed officials with access to the information.
Russian hackers accessed the email of the Democratic National Committee and top party officials, including Hillary Clinton's campaign chairperson, John Podesta. The emails were published by WikiLeaks in the months leading up to the November elections.
US intelligence officials in October pinned the hacking on the Russian government and said the move was intended to interfere with the US election. Media reports this month said the CIA had concluded the Russians intended to help Trump win the election.
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest would not directly confirm that US intelligence had concluded Putin was involved, but pointed to the October statement's reference to involvement of "Russia's senior-most officials."
He noted the statement was "not particularly subtle" and that it was "pretty obvious" they were referring to the top government official.
Trump's team has dismissed discussion of the issue as an effort to delegitimise his win, but Earnest said it would be wise for them to support a full, nonpartisan investigation.
Trump clearly knew during the campaign that Russia was involved in hacking that was benefiting him and hurting opponent Hillary Clinton, Earnest said, pointing to widespread discussion of the matter and Trump's remarks urging the hackers to find missing emails from Clinton's private server.
The White House has defended its decision not to take more forceful action as it sought to avoid the appearance of using the intelligence for its own political purposes.
Earnest would not discuss possible ramifications for Russia, except to say it was considering a "range of proportional responses."
Secretary of State John Kerry said he would not comment on the intelligence assessments, but defended Obama's handling of the hacking in authorising intelligence officials to make a public statement in October while being sensitive not to appear to interfere in the election.
"The president understood and made clear it's a serious matter," Kerry said. "It was a serious matter then, it's a serious matter now as even more information comes out."
- dpa
