Russia has categorically denied any involvement with any US hacking attacks, saying that the US allegations that it ran a hacking campaign to influenc
Russia has categorically denied any involvement with any US hacking attacks, saying that the US allegations that it ran a hacking campaign to influence the American presidential elections are reminiscent of a witch-hunt. Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was tired of the accusations. He said a report released by US intelligence agencies detailing the allegations was groundless. It is the first official reaction from Russia since President-elect Donald Trump received the report on Friday. The unclassified report contains allegations that Russian President, Vladimir Putin had ordered the hacking of Democratic Party emails to damage Donald Trump’s Democrat rival, Hillary Clinton, and influence the election.
“Groundless accusations which are not supported by anything are being rehearsed in an amateurish, unprofessional way. We don’t know what information they are actually relying on,” Peskov said in a statement.
“The claims amounted to a witch-hunt”, he added.
Donald Trump has also disparaged the hacking claims, which he has repeatedly rejected since winning the presidential election in November.
But his incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, told Fox News Sunday that the president-elect had accepted the findings of the report, which was presented to him by intelligence chiefs on Friday.
“He’s not denying that entities in Russia were behind this particular campaign,” Priebus added.
He however did not clarify whether Trump believed the report’s assertion that Russian President Vladimir Putin had directly ordered the hack.
Trump has said that he would ask, within 90 days of taking office, for a plan on how to stop cyber attacks. But he declined to single out Russia, saying it was one of several countries, outside groups and people who are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democratic National Committee. With less than two weeks until his inauguration,Trump is under increasing pressure from both Democrats and Republicans to respond to the allegations. Recall that the outgoing President, Barack Obama has already expelled 35 Russian diplomats from US soil over the hacking. Russia said it would not reciprocate.
