President Obama vowed that the United States will “take action” in response to Russia’s believed interference in the presidential election.
“I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections, that we need to take action and we will — at a time and place of our own choosing,” Obama said in an interview with NPR set to air in full on Friday.
“Some of it may be explicit and publicized, some of it may not be,” Obama added.
{mosads}Obama has requested agencies in the Intelligence Community to conduct a full review of Russia’s cyberattacks before he leaves office.
“When I receive a final report, you know, we’ll be able to, I think, give us a comprehensive and best guess as to those motivations,” he said.
“But that does not in any way, I think, detract from the basic point that everyone during the election perceived accurately – that in fact what the Russian hack had done was create more problems for the Clinton campaign than it had for the Trump campaign.”
Obama added that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was aware of Obama’s response to his involvement.
“I spoke to him directly about it,” Obama told NPR.
The Washington Post first reported last week that the CIA believes the Russian government’s hacks into the Democratic National Committee and other organizations throughout the 2016 presidential election were an explicit attempt to help Donald Trump win.
NBC also reported on Wednesday that Putin was personally involved in the election interference.
In the week since the report, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for further investigations and briefings.
On Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ramped up her calls for an independent bipartisan probe into Russia’s hacking.
“Elections determine the future our children will inherit,” Pelosi said Thursday in a statement. “Given the alarming magnitude, seriousness and scope of Russia’s efforts to undermine U.S. elections, we must have an independent, bipartisan investigation to protect the integrity of our democracy.”