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US President Donald Trump has contradicted his secretary of state and on Saturday suggested without evidence that China, not Russia, could be behind the cyberattack against the United States and tried to minimize its impact.
In his first comments about the breach, Trump mocked the focus on the Kremlin and downplayed the intrusions, which the nation’s cybersecurity agency warned pose a “serious” risk to the government and private networks.
“The Cyber Hack is much bigger in the fake news media than it is today. I have been fully informed and everything is well under control, ”Trump tweeted.
He also claimed that the media is “petrified” of “discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may be!)”.
There is no evidence to suggest that this is the case.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday night that Russia was “quite clearly” behind the cyber attack on the United States.
Cyber Hack is much bigger in fake news media than it is today. I have been fully informed and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority song when something happens because Lamestream is, mainly for financial reasons, petrified of …
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2020
…. discussing the possibility of it being China (it could be!). There could have also been a hit to our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupt embarrassment to the US. @DNI_Ratcliffe @SecPompeo
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2020
White House officials were prepared to issue a statement Friday accusing Russia of being “the main actor” in the attack, but were told at the last minute to stand down, according to an official.
It’s unclear if Pompeo got that message before his interview, but officials are now scrambling to figure out how to square the disparate scores.
Pompeo said the government was still “unpacking” the cyber attack and that some of it would likely remain classified.
“But suffice it to say, there was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code within US government systems. And now there are systems from private companies and companies and governments around the world.
“This was a very significant effort and I think it is true that now we can say quite clearly that it was the Russians who participated in this activity,” he said in the interview with radio host Mark Levin.
Throughout his presidency, Trump has refused to blame Russia for well-documented hostilities, including its interference in the 2016 election to help him get elected.
Although Pompeo was the first Trump administration official to publicly blame Russia for the attacks, cybersecurity experts and other American officials have made clear over the past week that the operation appears to be the work of Russia.
There has been no credible suggestion that any other country, including China, is responsible.
It’s unclear exactly what the hackers were looking for, but experts say it could include nuclear secrets, plans for advanced weaponry, research related to the Covid-19 vaccine, and information for files on government and industry leaders.
Russia has said it “has nothing to do” with piracy.
While Trump downplayed the impact of the attacks, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has said it compromised both federal agencies and “critical infrastructure.”
Homeland Security, the agency’s parent department, defines such infrastructure as any asset “vital” to the US or its economy, a broad category that could include power plants and financial institutions.
A US official, speaking on Thursday, described the attack as severe and extremely damaging.
“It appears to be the worst case of piracy in the history of the United States,” the official said. “They got into everything.”
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