Chinese hackers have targeted US election infrastructure, the White House national security adviser warned Sunday.
“They want to see the president lose,” Robert O’Brien told CBS News’ Face The Nation. “China – like Russia, like Iran – they’ve been dealing with cyberattacks and phishing and that sort of thing with respect to our electoral infrastructure, with respect to websites and that kind of thing.”
“It’s a real concern,” O’Brien said, noting that hackers were trying to gain access to government websites as “affecting operations, whether it be on TikTok or Twitter and other spaces.”
He said President Trump had made enemies by “being smarter about China than any president in history.”
“Whether it’s China, Russia or Iran, we will not address it,” O’Brien promised in his first TV interview since recovering from the coronavirus.
“And there will be dire consequences for any country that seeks to interfere with our free and fair elections,” he said.
‘Whether their leaders prefer Joe Biden to Donald Trump, it does not matter. We are Americans.
“We will not decide in foreign countries who will be our next president. That’s outrageous. ”
In a seemingly direct message to the accused nations, he reiterated, “Do not participate in our elections … Do not do it, because there will be serious consequences.”
O’Brien said the Trump administration had made it “very clear” to Russia to stay out of the election, despite a report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday that the Kremlin had sought Joe Biden’s bid to ‘denigrate’, while giving an “impetus” to Trump’s campaign.
“There is almost nothing the Russians can sanction,” O’Brien said, insisting that “no administration has been smarter” on the nation since its apparent break-in in the 2016 election.
“We have sanctioned the witches of the Russians – individuals, companies, the government,” he said.
‘We have literally outnumbered Russian spies. We have closed all their consulates on the West Coast. We are closing diplomatic facilities. “There is not much left to do with the Russians,” he said.
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