A top national security official told lawmakers on Tuesday he had not been directed by Donald Trump to disrupt Russian efforts to meddle in US elections, and that Vladimir Putin had come to the conclusion there was “little price to pay” for such actions.
Adm Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency and chief of US Cyber Command, told the Senate armed services committee: “Clearly, what we’ve done hasn’t been enough.”
Asked if he had been granted the authority by Trump to counter Russian cyber-attacks at source, Rogers said: “No, I have not.”
He added: “I need a policy decision that indicates there is specific direction to do that. The president ultimately would make this decision in accordance with a recommendation from the secretary of defense.”
Trump has dismissed investigations into Russian interference in the US election – and potential collusion between Trump aides and Moscow – as a partisan exercise.
The president spent part of Tuesday morning tweeting quotes from conservatives who defended his campaign on Fox News. The president capped off the tweet storm by writing: “WITCH HUNT!”
Trump has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the consensus of the US intelligence community and its allies that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election in an attempt to defeat his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
The president also insisted last week that “the facts” proved he had been tougher on Russia than his predecessor, Barack Obama.
Rogers had a different view, suggesting to lawmakers that the Russians “haven’t paid a price, at least, that has significantly changed their behavior”.
Rogers cited Trump’s decision in January to delay the implementation of new sanctions against Russia that Congress passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis last year.
“I believe that President Putin has clearly come to the conclusion there’s little price to pay here, and that therefore I can continue this activity,” Rogers said.
“Everything, both as the director of NSA and what I see on the cyber command side, leads me to believe that if we don’t change the dynamic here, this is going to continue and 2016 won’t be viewed as something isolated
For more read the full of article at The Guardian
