Clinton campaign chief: Don’t reduce Russian sanctions

Hillary Clinton’s former campaign manager worries reducing sanctions against Russia over election season hacking would weaken the U.S. hand against what he believes will be the inevitable hacks of the future.

“It’s dangerous to look at what happened to our campaign as extreme,” Robbie Mook said in an interview with The Hill.

“There needs to be an understanding there will be a proportionate response when someone attacks our democracy. Obama made that clear with the sanctions. I am hopeful Donald Trump will maintain that understanding and those sanctions against Russia,” he said.

{mosads}Hacks of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta were a major part of the 2016 campaign. Intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia was behind the hacks, and that Moscow ran a sophisticated campaign that was intended to hurt Clinton’s chances of winning the White House.

Shortly before leaving office, President Obama placed economic sanctions against Russian government agencies and individuals believed to be involved in the attack. He also kicked 35 diplomats out of the country.

Trump has suggested at different times that the sanctions could be reduced in the name of improving relations with Russia, rewarding good behavior or a reduction in nuclear armament. His desire for friendlier relations with Russia has lead to speculation that a reduction in sanctions might come sooner than later. But before a phone call last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said it would be premature to consider to discuss lifting sanctions.

Months after Clinton’s devastating loss, Mook is doing outreach to urge agencies and political parties to be better prepared for hacks.

He will appear at the cybersecurity trade show RSA in San Francisco with Christy Wyatt, chief executive of the firm Dtex, to discuss what the learned from a tumultuous campaign.

Whether or not hacking stole the election – a debate that will continue on barstools until at least the 2024 primaries – the breaches have certainly stung both parties.

The Democratic National Committee hack revealed that DNC officials tipped the scales in favor of Clinton and against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the primary. The revelations led to the resignation of Debby Wasserman Schultz, then the DNC head.

Questions surrounding the Trump campaign’s ties with Russia have dogged him throughout his nascent presidency because of Vladimir Putin’s believed involvement with the breach.

Mook and other Democrats have criticized the press for publishing information from the leaks, which contributed to months of damaging headlines for Clinton.

“I don’t think you can be surprised the press printed the tantalizing documents, but in the future I hope they would focus as much on what was being released as on the fact they were stolen to influence the election,” Mook said.

He later explained that he was “glad it is now being seen as a national security matter.”

At the RSA event, he said he will advocate for both government management and political parties to think through their response to a breach in advance – something he does not think most executives have done in any organization.

“Campaign managers need to be aware that hacking is likely and that it’s now part of the political landscape,” he said.