The President took to social media on Friday night to vent about Russia hacking allegations that have been circulating even prior to his swearing in.
Through his tweet, Donald Trump pretty much confirms speculations about hacking that occurred during last year’s election.
Just last week, Bloomberg confirmed that hackers working for Russian military intelligence were trying to take over the computers of 122 local election officials just days before the Nov. 8 election. Ultimately, systems in a total of 39 states were hit.
Bill Priestap, the FBI’s top counterintelligence official, told the Senate Intelligence committee this week that
the Russians “used fake news and propaganda and they also used online amplifiers to spread the information to as many people as possible.”
“The Russian government …orchestrated cyber attacks on our nation for the purpose of influencing our election — plain and simple,” Priestap said.
While the Bloomberg report confirmed that the Obama administration did have knowledge of the hacking, the White House was ultimately unwilling to risk public confidence in the election’s integrity.
“Last year, as we detected intrusions into websites managed by election officials around the country, the administration worked relentlessly to protect our election infrastructure,” said Eric Schultz, a spokesman for former President Barack Obama.
“Given that our election systems are so decentralized, that effort meant working with Democratic and Republican election administrators from all across the country to bolster their cyber defenses,” he continued.
The President’s recent tweet contradicts one of his previous posts that called the hacking claims “a big Dem HOAX!”
On Thursday he hinted towards it, saying, “By the way, if Russia was working so hard on the 2016 Election, it all took place during the Obama Admin. Why didn’t they stop them?”
It’s no surprise that now that the pressure is on, Trump is looking to point fingers in any direction, especially towards his favorite scapegoat — Obama.