US Senate lays out assessment on Russia’s interference in election

World Today

Michael Rogers,Marcel Lettre II,James ClapperFrom left, Defense Undersecretary for Intelligence Marcel Lettre II, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Agency and Cyber Command chief Adm. Michael Rogers listen while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “Foreign Cyber Threats to the United States.” (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Before a Senate committee, U.S. intelligence officials laid out their assessment into the email hacking of the Democratic Party. They say Russian operatives authorized by the highest levels of the Kremlin broke into Democratic email accounts and passed the emails on to Wikileaks.

CGTN’s Jim Spellman reports.

 

The intel community is stopping short of attributing motive to the attack. The emails are thought to have hurt Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the election and helped Republican Donald Trump.

Trump has repeatedly questioned the findings of the intel community and rejects any suggestions that hacking de-legitimizes his victory.

Top intel officials say there’s a difference between skepticism and what they call “disparagement” of intelligence information.

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, says his organization did not get the emails from Russia and Russia denies being behind the hack.

The U.S. says there is no evidence Russia or anyone else tampered with the actual vote tally on Election Day.