Thread: Obama Hits Russia With New Sanctions for Election Hacking

President Barack Obama on Thursday hit Russia with new sanctions over its computer hacking and interference in the November presidential election and other Russian actions, including harassing U.S. diplomats in Moscow.

Obama called his actions "a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior."

Among the actions the president ordered were sanctions against nine Russian individuals and entities: two Russian intelligence services, the GRU and FSB; four officers of GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU.

In addition, Evgeniy Bogachev and Aleksey Belan were also sanctioned. The Treasury Department called them "notorious criminals" who were responsible for the cybertheft of more than $100 million from U.S. banks and other American firms.


35 expulsions

Thirty-five Russian government officials in Washington and in the consulate in San Francisco were given 72 hours to leave the United States for "acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status and consular activities."

Russian officials also will be denied access to what the U.S. State Department calls two Russian government-owned recreational compounds in Maryland and New York. This was ordered after U.S. diplomats in Moscow were harassed and even physically assaulted.

"In addition to holding Russia accountable for what it has done, the United States and friends and allies around the world must work together to oppose Russia's efforts to undermine established international norms of behavior and interfere with democratic governance," Obama said in announcing the sanctions.

A senior White House official said Thursday's publicly announced actions were not the end of the American response. He said there would be other measures that wouldn't be publicized.

The official said there had been no debate within the Obama administration over whether Russia indeed interfered in the presidential election, primarily by hacking Democratic Party emails to try to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign and boost Donald Trump's chances of winning the November 8 election.

The official said the White House believed Russia would try to interfere in elections in other countries.

He also said he had no reason to believe Russia would not try the same thing in future U.S. contests. The next major American election will be in 2018, for the entire House of Representatives and a number of Senate seats.


No surprise

The Obama administration had warned the Kremlin numerous times in public and private that it knew what Russian hackers were up to and that Thursday's sanctions should not come as a surprise to anyone.

It also said it was inconceivable that Russian President Vladimir Putin knew nothing about it.

A Kremlin spokesman said Russia was considering an "appropriate" retaliation and accused the United Sates of trying to destroy ties with Moscow.

There has been no response to the sanctions so far from Trump. The U.S. president-elect has made no secret of his desire for closer ties to Russia, and it is possible he could reverse Obama's actions. But a State Deportment official said Thursday that reversing Obama's orders would be "inadvisable," adding that it made no sense to invite Russian intelligence officials back into the United States.

Trump press secretary Sean Spicer called for proof that Russia interfered in the election.

"A lot of folks on the left that continue to undermine the legitimacy of [Trump's] win, that's unfortunate," Spicer said Thursday. "If the U.S. has clear proof of anybody interfering in our elections, we should make that known."

Obama Hits Russia With New Sanctions for Election Hacking

Looks like bambam's making some big moves on his way out.

The Obama administration on Thursday announced its retaliation for Russian efforts to interfere with the US presidential election, ordering sweeping new sanctions that included the expulsion of 35 Russians.



US intelligence services believe Russia ordered cyber-attacks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Hillary Clinton’s campaign and other political organizations, in an attempt to influence the election in favor of the Republican candidate, Donald Trump.

In a statement issued two weeks after the president said he would respond to cyber-attacks by Moscow “at a time and place of our choosing”, Obama said Americans should “be alarmed by Russia’s actions” and pledged further action.

“I have issued an executive order that provides additional authority for responding to certain cyber activity that seeks to interfere with or undermine our election processes and institutions, or those of our allies or partners,” Obama said in the statement, released while he was vacationing with his family in Hawaii.

“Using this new authority, I have sanctioned nine entities and individuals: the GRU and the FSB, two Russian intelligence services; four individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU’s cyber operations.

“In addition, the secretary of the treasury is designating two Russian individuals for using cyber-enabled means to cause misappropriation of funds and personal identifying information.” He also announced the closure of two Russian compounds in the US.

Obama added that more actions would be taken, “some of which will not be publicized”.

On Thursday, Trump, who has previously dismissed reports of Russian interference in the election, said in a statement: “It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things.”


He added, however, that “in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation.”

In a conference call with reporters, senior White House officials said the president-elect’s transition team was informed of the sanctions before they were announced on Thursday. Trump and Obama spoke on Wednesday, they said.

The officials added that the actions were a necessary response to “very disturbing Russian threats to US national security”.

“There has to be a cost and a consequence for what Russia has done,” a senior administration official said. “It is in a extraordinary step for them to interfere in the democratic process here in the United States of America. There needs to be a price for that.”

In Moscow, a Putin spokesman said Russia regretted the new sanctions and would consider retaliatory measures.

Diplomatic expulsions are normally met with exactly reciprocal action. In this case, however, Moscow may pause for thought. With Trump, who has spoken positively about Russia and Vladimir Putin, just three weeks away from the White House, Russia may feel it is inadvisable to kick out 35 US diplomats.

However, Russian authorities on Thursday ordered the Anglo-American School of Moscow closed, according to CNN, citing a US official briefed on the matter. The school serves children of US, British and Canadian embassy personnel, and would effectively make a Russian posting difficult for US diplomats with families.

Konstantin Kosachyov, chairman of the international affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, was quoted by the RIA news agency as saying the US move represented “the death throes of political corpses”.

The Twitter feed of the Russian embassy in London, meanwhile, called the Obama administration “hapless” and attached a picture of a duck with the word “LAME” emblazoned across it.

On the White House call, officials were asked about the prospect of Trump overturning the sanctions. They acknowledged that a future president could reverse course but warned against such an “inadvisable” step.

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“We have no reason to believe that Russia’s activities will cease,” a senior official said. “One reason why I think it is necessary to sustain these actions is because there’s every reason to believe Russia will interfere with future US elections.”

On Capitol Hill, Democrats applauded the president’s action, called for further measures and emphasized bipartisan support for a thorough investigation into Russian hacking.

“I hope the incoming Trump administration, which has been far too close to Russia throughout the campaign and transition, won’t think for one second about weakening these new sanctions or our existing regime,” incoming Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

“Both parties ought to be united in standing up to Russian interference in our elections, to their cyber attacks, their illegal annexation of Crimea and other extra-legal interventions.”

Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, called for further sanctions from the new Congress when it convenes in January.

GOP leaders were quick to frame the new sanctions as too little, too late.

“While today’s action by the administration is overdue,” House speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement, “it is an appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia. And it serves as a prime example of this administration’s ineffective foreign policy that has left America weaker in the eyes of the world.”

Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, two of Russia’s fiercest critics, echoed Ryan but also called for tough Congressional sanctions.

“Ultimately, [the sanctions] are a small price for Russia to pay for its brazen attack on American democracy,” the two men said in a joint statement. “We intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose stronger sanctions on Russia.”

The 35 Russian diplomats being expelled are “intelligence operatives”, Obama said. The state department has declared them “persona non grata” and they will be given 72 hours to leave the country.

Starting on Friday at noon, the White House said, Russia will be denied access to compounds in Maryland and New York that have been used for intelligence-related purposes.

A statement from the state department said the diplomatic expulsions were a response not only to hacking but to “a pattern of harassment of our diplomats overseas, that has increased over the last four years, including a significant increase in the last 12 months”.

The statement said the harassment has included “arbitrary police stops, physical assault, and the broadcast on state TV of personal details about our personnel that put them at risk”.

For some time, US diplomats in Russia have anecdotally reported being followed and harassed by police.

In June, a US diplomat was wrestled to the ground by a policeman as he scrambled to get inside the embassy. Russian authorities said the man was a CIA agent operating under diplomatic cover.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-election-hack

Trump press secretary Sean Spicer called for proof that Russia interfered in the election.

"A lot of folks on the left that continue to undermine the legitimacy of [Trump's] win, that's unfortunate," Spicer said Thursday. "If the U.S. has clear proof of anybody interfering in our elections, we should make that known."

Yes where is the proof ? Julian Assage says it was not Russia :

WikiLeaks operative claims Russia did NOT provide Hillary Clinton emails | Daily Mail Online

Previous sanctions against Russia hit the European farmers and the EU hard as Russia retaliated with their own sanctions :

EU farmers hit by Russian sanctions get 165 million euros new aid | Reuters

EU to give 500 million euros to farmers hit by Russia sanctions | Reuters

Russia to close American school, warns of further actions, in wake of U.S. sanctions

Russian authorities on Thursday announced the closure of the Anglo-American School of Moscow, hours after the Kremlin vowed to retaliate against recent U.S. sanctions.

The nonprofit day school, which enrolls international students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, will be closed along with the U.S. Embassy vacation dacha in Serebryany Bor on the outskirts of Moscow, according to a CNN report.

The news came less than two hours after a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin swore to take action after the Obama administration’s decision to impose sanctions on Russia over its repeated cyberattacks during the 2016 presidential race.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Thursday that Obama’s actions constituted "aggressive foreign policy," while alluding to forthcoming blowback.

more Russia to close American school, warns of further actions, in wake of U.S. sanctions - POLITICO

Kremlin: New sanctions underline Obama admin’s ‘unpredictable & aggressive’ foreign policy

The new US sanctions against Russia are another manifestation of the unpredictable and aggressive foreign policy by the Obama administration, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin press-secretary, said.

“In our point of view such actions of the US current administration are a manifestation of an unpredictable and even aggressive foreign policy,” Peskov told the journalists.

“We regret the fact that this decision was taken by the US administration and President Obama personally,” he said.

“As it said before, we consider this decision and these sanctions unjustified and illegal under international law,” the presidential spokesman added.

The US restrictions won’t be left unanswered by Moscow, Peskov said, promising “adequate, reciprocal” reaction “that will deliver significant discomfort to the US side in the same areas.”

However, he added that “there’s no need to rush” with the countermeasures against Washington.

"Considering the current transition period in Washington, we still expect that we’ll be able to get rid of such clumsy actions… of behaving like a bull in a china shop, and that we’ll be able to make mutual joint steps to enter on the path of normalization of our bilateral relations," the spokesman said.

more https://www.rt.com/news/372191-kreml...ion-sanctions/

Obama really is a twat.

Big companies pay a fortune to hackers to find out where their network has a problem. I think the U.S. owes a lot of money instead of sanctions.
Maybe a nice little "Thank You" from that dumb ass Bimbo Prez would be a start.
And don't forget to send off the 80 year old Mc Cain to a nursing home.

Originally Posted by baldrick

I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what is going on. We have speed, we have a lot of other things, but I’m not sure we have the kind, the security we need.

it's quite reasonable thinking, even though poorly said

but you are a plumber and just found out the Internet, so like a facebook teenager are blinded by it

Originally Posted by misskit

“In our point of view such actions of the US current administration are a manifestation of an unpredictable and even aggressive foreign policy,” Peskov told the journalists.

I think US foreign policies are so weak and so discredited by the world, that it shows how desperate Obama has become with it

it's nothing more than flexing muscle when you have none, and it looks ridiculous

Russia is not the enemy, when will America stop pointlessly demonizing them yet remain best mates with evil regimes like Saudi.

that's the problem with the US schizo policies, no logic

I think Obama is just a bit butt hurt due to Russia and Turkey sorting out a ceasefire in Syria thus sidelining the U.S. But no doubt the U.S. will ship some more arms to their Al Queada and ISIS mates to try and fuk it up.

Putin decides not to retaliate tit for tat. I suppose he'll just sit out the 20 days until Trump turns up for work.

Russia has also said the report of a US school in Russia being forced to close as retaliation is not true.

Nice to see a mature response from Putin, saying no seppos will be expelled and American children invited to a party. Yet again Putin making Obama look like a right twat.

Originally Posted by baldrick

we seem to be moving to a world controlled by strongmen as those closet homosexuals continue to consolidate their patronage networks

the privelaged are happy but the poor become larger

the hypocritical egotists will need to try and shut down the internet as the days of tv and radio are over

...which is exactly so many people oppose the authoritarian left, it's fake freedom, and mock-liberal elitest crypto-fascism, and it's failed heros.

...giving him the Nobel Peace Prize before he inflicted his imbecilic foriegn policy isn't much of a fig leaf for the human misery and wreckage Obama has left in his wake.

Originally Posted by Neverna

Putin decides not to retaliate tit for tat. I suppose he'll just sit out the 20 days until Trump turns up for work.

Russia has also said the report of a US school in Russia being forced to close as retaliation is not true.

Exactly. This just plays into Russia's hands, and make Obama look even more of a failure. All Obama is demonstrating is his complete inability to negotiate with people he disagrees with and place the pieces on the board to facilitate delivering an positive result. Trying to make a tantrum look like standing up to someone? Who was it who fanned the flames of the "Arab Spring" and then did nothing to help - seriously irresponsible. Obama has be completely pwned by Putin, who is now driving the bus.

Originally Posted by CaptainNemo

This just plays into Russia's hands, and make Obama look even more of a failure. All Obama is demonstrating is his complete inability to negotiate with people he disagrees with and place the pieces on the board to facilitate delivering an positive result.

Can you imagine things in a few years.... "Obama sanctioned the Russians over their actions affecting the election but Trump let them off the hook!" There's no way it plays out in Trump's favor in the long run.

^^ Obama failure? Prominent Republicans are supporting Obama's sanctions. Ryan, Rubio, Graham, and McCain are all saying it's about time Obama did something.

how long before we see a barechested drumpf and putin riding horses together

I suppose there is already a gay porn movie called bareback mountain

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

and just found out the Internet

my dear semen stained fluffer , you couldn't post selfies on the DEC10

Originally Posted by misskit

^^ Obama failure? Prominent Republicans are supporting Obama's sanctions. Ryan, Rubio, Graham, and McCain are all saying it's about time Obama did something.

Did something for what? How exactly is Russia a threat to America? It's warmongering America who is the threat.