5 charts that show where Americans stand on the Russian hacking controversy
- Updated
Despite Donald Trump's dismissiveness, the nation's intelligence chief has said that U.S. agencies are confident Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Here's where Americans stand on the issue, according to recent polls:
- EILEEN SULLIVAN and RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press
- Updated
WASHINGTON (AP) — Brushing aside Donald Trump's dismissiveness, the nation's intelligence chief insisted Thursday that U.S. agencies are more confident than ever that Russia interfered in America's recent presidential election. And he called the former Cold War foe an "existential threat" to the nation.
Did Russian hacking sway the results? There's no way for U.S. agencies to know, said James Clapper, the director of national intelligence.
Asked about the possible effect of the disclosure of private information stolen by hackers, Clapper said, "The intelligence community can't gauge the impact it had on the choices the electorate made." But he did say Russian hacking "did not change any vote tallies."
After a briefing on Friday, Trump said he is confident Russians did not affect the outcome of the U.S. presidential election but he didn't say whether he now accepts the intelligence assessment that Moscow did meddle in the race.
But do Americans agree with the assessment? According to recent polls, 59 percent of Americans think Russian hacking had no effect on the election.
- EILEEN SULLIVAN , Associated Press
- Updated
Top U.S. intelligence officials say Russia poses a major and growing threat to U.S. government, military, diplomatic and commercial operations — as well as America's critical infrastructure.
Clapper and other intelligence officials say Russia is among at least 30 nations that are developing capabilities to launch cyberattacks.
According to a poll conducted in October before the presidential election, most Americans agree that Russia is a threat.
- Associated Press
- Updated
Although Trump has expressed skepticism that Russia was behind the election hacking, Clapper indicated the agencies he leads would not back down in their assessment, even if that threatens a prolonged crisis of confidence with their next commander in chief.
But will Americans trust the information coming from those agencies? Despite Trump's doubts, it looks like most will:
Trump has criticized U.S. intelligence findings, even citing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's contention that Russia did not provide him with hacked Democratic emails.
But in new tweets early Thursday, he backed away and blamed the "dishonest media" for portraying him as agreeing with Assange, whose organization has been under criminal investigation for its role in classified information leaks. "The media lies to make it look like I am against 'Intelligence' when in fact I am a big fan!" Trump wrote.
In fact, Trump has been skeptical to the point of dismissive about the certainty of the assessment of Russian hacking, bringing up past failures, specifically intelligence reporting the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in the lead-up to the war there.
Trump has derided the intelligence community on Twitter, his comments widely reported by The Associated Press and other news organizations.
Clapper said Thursday, "I think there is an important distinction here between healthy skepticism, which policymakers — to include policymaker No. 1 — should always have for intelligence, but I think there's a difference between skepticism and disparagement."
- Associated Press
- Updated
Clapper declared Russia "an existential threat to the United States." That's strong rhetoric that harkens back to the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union, language President Barack Obama has avoided.
For his part, Trump has embraced the possibility of warmer U.S.-Russian ties. When it comes to his treatment Russian foreign relations, most Americans think Trump is being too accommodating.
Nearly the opposite is true of Chinese relations.
More like this...
- EILEEN SULLIVAN and RICHARD LARDNER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Brushing aside Donald Trump's dismissiveness, the nation's intelligence chief insisted Thursday that U.S. agencies are more confident than ever that Russia interfered in America's recent presidential election. And he called the former Cold War foe an "existential threat" to the nation.
Did Russian hacking sway the results? There's no way for U.S. agencies to know, said James Clapper, the director of national intelligence.
Asked about the possible effect of the disclosure of private information stolen by hackers, Clapper said, "The intelligence community can't gauge the impact it had on the choices the electorate made." But he did say Russian hacking "did not change any vote tallies."
After a briefing on Friday, Trump said he is confident Russians did not affect the outcome of the U.S. presidential election but he didn't say whether he now accepts the intelligence assessment that Moscow did meddle in the race.
But do Americans agree with the assessment? According to recent polls, 59 percent of Americans think Russian hacking had no effect on the election.
- EILEEN SULLIVAN , Associated Press
Top U.S. intelligence officials say Russia poses a major and growing threat to U.S. government, military, diplomatic and commercial operations — as well as America's critical infrastructure.
Clapper and other intelligence officials say Russia is among at least 30 nations that are developing capabilities to launch cyberattacks.
According to a poll conducted in October before the presidential election, most Americans agree that Russia is a threat.
- Associated Press
Although Trump has expressed skepticism that Russia was behind the election hacking, Clapper indicated the agencies he leads would not back down in their assessment, even if that threatens a prolonged crisis of confidence with their next commander in chief.
But will Americans trust the information coming from those agencies? Despite Trump's doubts, it looks like most will:
Trump has criticized U.S. intelligence findings, even citing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's contention that Russia did not provide him with hacked Democratic emails.
But in new tweets early Thursday, he backed away and blamed the "dishonest media" for portraying him as agreeing with Assange, whose organization has been under criminal investigation for its role in classified information leaks. "The media lies to make it look like I am against 'Intelligence' when in fact I am a big fan!" Trump wrote.
In fact, Trump has been skeptical to the point of dismissive about the certainty of the assessment of Russian hacking, bringing up past failures, specifically intelligence reporting the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in the lead-up to the war there.
Trump has derided the intelligence community on Twitter, his comments widely reported by The Associated Press and other news organizations.
Clapper said Thursday, "I think there is an important distinction here between healthy skepticism, which policymakers — to include policymaker No. 1 — should always have for intelligence, but I think there's a difference between skepticism and disparagement."
- Associated Press
Clapper declared Russia "an existential threat to the United States." That's strong rhetoric that harkens back to the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union, language President Barack Obama has avoided.
For his part, Trump has embraced the possibility of warmer U.S.-Russian ties. When it comes to his treatment Russian foreign relations, most Americans think Trump is being too accommodating.
Nearly the opposite is true of Chinese relations.
More like this...
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