The Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is not embracing the Washington Post’s flimsy assertions that the CIA has definitive intelligence linking the Russian government to hacking the U.S. election to benefit Donald Trump, according to a new Reuters story.
Clapper’s assessment, through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), backs a Monday story by True Pundit that detailed CIA officials vehemently disputing the Washington Post’s thinly-sourced allegations as an “outright lie.”
The ODNI oversees the CIA along with 15 other top U.S. intelligence agencies. The ODNI operates within the Executive Branch. It is tasked with gathering and analyzing intelligence and international due diligence, both independently and collaboratively, to carry out and supervise foreign relations and national security activities.
From Reuters:
The overseers of the U.S. intelligence community have not embraced a CIA assessment that Russian cyber attacks were aimed at helping Republican President-elect Donald Trump win the 2016 election, three American officials said on Monday.
While the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) does not dispute the CIA’s analysis of Russian hacking operations, it has not endorsed their assessment because of a lack of conclusive evidence that Moscow intended to boost Trump over Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, said the officials, who declined to be named.
The position of the ODNI, which oversees the 17 agency-strong U.S. intelligence community, could give Trump fresh ammunition to dispute the CIA assessment, which he rejected as “ridiculous” in weekend remarks, and press his assertion that no evidence implicates Russia in the cyber attacks.
Trump’s rejection of the CIA’s judgment marks the latest in a string of disputes over Russia’s international conduct that have erupted between the president-elect and the intelligence community he will soon command.
“ODNI is not arguing that the agency (CIA) is wrong, only that they can’t prove intent,” said one of the three U.S. officials. “Of course they can’t, absent agents in on the decision-making in Moscow.” — READ MORE