With less than a month left in his presidency, President Barack Obama wasn’t done calling the shots.
On Dec. 29, the president announced strong sanctions against Russia for its involvement in the Democratic National Committee hacks. A breach that revealed private conversations among Democratic Party leaders and stole the group’s research data about President-elect Donald Trump in an effort to deliver him the presidency.
Obama’s executive order retaliation includes the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats stationed in the U.S. and the closure of two compounds that intelligence officials believe the Russian government used to gather intelligence. Obama says that the Russian intelligence operatives were “acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status.”
In early October, the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced a joint statement that both organizations believe Russia to be behind the attacks.
The statement cites that “these thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.” It also maintains that it would have been nigh impossible for Russia to tamper with actual ballot count on Election Day.
Despite Obama’s obvious displeasure with Russia’s involvement, Trump seems unperturbed and looks forward to moving away from the issue, telling reporters,“I think we ought to get on with our lives.”
“…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,” said Trump in an official statement response to President Obama’s sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reaction to Obama’s sanctions has been minimal. In an effort to mend ties with America (more specifically, the incoming Trump administration), Putin will not expel American diplomats from Russia.
Instead of reacting in kind, Putin invited the children of American diplomats stationed in Russia to a Kremlin holiday party.
As Trump and Putin carry favor with one another, there has been increased speculation of a secret relationship between the two leaders. Trump has long praised Putin for being a strong leader, which has led to disapproval from both political parties that believe Russia to be a threat to U.S. affairs.
Last week, BuzzFeed released a 35-page report that alleges strong ties between Trump and the Kremlin. None of the claims within the report have been verified, but were deemed important enough that President Obama and Trump were both given a summary of the document.
The document, which had been floating around among certain elected officials and intelligence agencies originated as a hunt for dirt on Trump by one of his political opponents in 2015. An outside agency led by a former high-ranking British intelligence official conducted the investigation.
Though the claims within the report are unsubstantiated, there are other reasons to believe that negligence played a role in the investigation. For example, there are typos and other incorrect information that is uncharacteristic of a professional report.
At Trump’s first press conference since July, he denounced BuzzFeed, calling the outlet a “failing pile of garbage.” He also labeled CNN as “fake news” and refused to take a question from one of its reporters.
Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president on Friday, Jan. 20.
Information from the Tampa Bay Times, the Washington Post, BuzzFeed, BBC and WIRED was used in this article.
