Trump Still Won’t Criticize Russia: Claims Massive Cyber Hack "May Be China" But Offers No Evidence - Forbes

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Topline

President Donald Trump finally broke his public silence Saturday concerning the massive cyber strike perpetrated on the United States, but downplayed its severity and— repudiating his own high-level intelligence officials and the U.S. Secretary of State— claimed that China may be responsible for the attack instead of Russia, which he has traditionally been loath to ever criticize.

Key Facts

"The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality," Trump tweeted Saturday morning, adding, "everything is well under control,” and "Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!)"

In an interview Friday night, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared, "we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity."

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an urgent warning, characterizing the hacks "a grave risk" to the federal, state and local governments, and that the sophisticated attack compromised federal agencies and "critical infrastructure."

Earlier this week, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) likened the hack to "Russian bombers repeatedly flying undetected over the entire country."

Trump wrapped up his Saturday morning tweet by insinuating the hack may have been connected to baseless voter fraud conspiracy theories, writing, “there could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big.”

Critical Quote:

"This is looking like it's the worst hacking case in the history of America," a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Thursday. "They got into everything."

Key Background:

The cyberattack is believed to have begun as early as March but was not detected until early December. Microsoft disclosed Thursday that it had identified more than 40 government agencies infiltrated by the hackers. The Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, the National Institutes of Health, and the Treasury, Energy and Commerce Departments are among the federal agencies believed to have been compromised. According to the New York Times, U.S. intelligence agencies have informed Congress that they believe the strike was carried out by the S.V.R., an elite division of Russian operatives. President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that his administration "will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office" and that they would impose "substantial costs" on those responsible for the cyber attack. The Russians have denied any involvement. Up until Saturday morning, Trump had received criticism for remaining silent on the cyber strike. On Friday, a White House spokesperson insisted the president was "working very hard" and was "up to speed" on the attack.

Tangent:

Throughout his four years in office, critics have accused Trump of being too submissive to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Most notably, Trump has continually downplayed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. In a 2017 tweet, Trump claimed he had discussed forming a joint "impenetrable Cyber Security unit" with Putin. This past September, when Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned, the heads of state in other leading nations quickly condemned the attack and pressed Putin to provide answers. Trump, on the other hand, said, "I don't know exactly what happened," adding, "We have not had any proof yet, but we will take a look."