Barack Obama knew about Russia hacking attempts since 2014 and did nothing because he feared retribution

  We have known through previous reports that Barack Obama knew Russia was trying to interfere in the 2016 election and did nothing to stop it but now we are learning he knew about Russia’s meddling as early as 2014. Here is more:

The Obama administration as early as 2014 received several warnings that Moscow was intensifying its intelligence operations to disrupt the U.S. political system and other Western democracies, Politico reported Monday, citing more than half a dozen current and former officials. The NSC, intelligence agencies, and the State Department received reports of Russia stepping up its operations after the Kremlin’s cyber attack against Ukrainian election systems in 2014.

  Why with this knowledge was Barack Obama not concerned with the attack on democracy the Russians posed? The answer is apparently two-fold: he did not think the Russians could influence the outcome of an election and he was afraid to “piss off the Russians.” He was afraid of Russian retaliation.

 This apparently did not sit well with US Intelligence Officials:

U.S. intelligence officials were frustrated with the Obama administration’s response to Russia’s cyber espionage and disinformation campaigns to disrupt Western democracies, arguing the administration’s reluctance to respond more forcefully stemmed from fear of Russian retaliation.

More than a dozen current and former national security officials from across the government told Politico how ineffective the White House and key agencies were in authorizing counter measures against Russian interference. Those officials said that responses such as shutting down suspected Russian intelligence sites or taking counter-intelligence action never went anywhere due to administrative roadblocks.

“[Intelligence officials] had a list of things they could never get the signoffs on,” one official said. “The truth is, nobody wanted to piss off the Russians.”

And more:

Wanting to counter suspected Russian interference in American politics, these officials said that the Obama administration was aware of Russia’s activities but did not want to retaliate forcefully. As it became clear that Russia was meddling in the 2016 election, officials recommended expelling diplomats or striking back through cyber measures but were denied.

Some outside the White House blamed the National Security Council’s micromanagement, but NSC officials pointed the finger at the State and Defense Departments. Those agencies were reportedly afraid of Russian retaliation.

“The frustrations [about lack of forceful action] are justified and, frankly, were shared by the White House,” a former official told Politico. “The options were being discussed. They weren’t being implemented.”

  Barack Obama was right on one count, which has been lost in the aftermath of the 2016 election and despite the reporting in the wake of the election, Russia was not able to influence the outcome of the election.

  But I believe there is a third reason for Barack Obama’s inaction and that is the fact that he, and almost everybody else in America, thought that there was no way Hillary Clinton was going to lose the election so he made a political decision not to do anything to detract from the coronation but a funny thing happened and Donald Trump pulled off the impossible. Now the Democrats, for purely political reasons, are putting their focus where it should have been three years ago in order to delegitimize the outcome of the election. They cannot have it both ways…

malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium