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Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said a widespread data leak across the US government was “extraordinarily damaging” and that President Donald Trump has a “blind spot” when it comes to Russia, which US officials believe was behind the attack. .
“We have come to recognize that the president has a blind spot when it comes to Russia,” Romney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” one of a series of television interviews on Sunday morning.
US officials and researchers say they believe at least half a dozen US government agencies have been infiltrated and thousands of companies infected with malware in what appears to be one of the largest such hacks ever discovered.
Trump only acknowledged the piracy on Saturday nearly a week after Reuters first reported it, downplaying its importance and questioning whether the Russians were to blame.
The hacking disclosures come at a vulnerable time as the US government grapples with a controversial presidential transition and the coronavirus health crisis.
US Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told ABC that the cyber attack could be ongoing and officials had not yet determined its full scope.
Both Warner and Romney said the United States must respond to the incident.
President-elect Joe Biden’s team, a Democrat, will consider various options to punish Russia for his alleged role once he takes office, from financial sanctions to cyberattacks on Russian infrastructure, people familiar with the matter say.
– Reuters
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