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Obama Orders Review of Election Hacking

by Associated Press

   President Barack Obama has ordered intelligence officials to conduct a
   broad review on the election-season hacking that rattled the
   presidential campaign and raised new concerns about foreign meddling in
   U.S. elections, a White House official said Friday.

   White House counterterrorism and Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco
   said Obama ordered officials to report on the hacking of Democratic
   officials' email accounts and Russia's involvement. The report is due
   to be submitted to the president before he leaves office next month.
   Monaco did not say if the report would be made public.

   U.S. intelligence officials accused Russia of being behind the breaches
   as part of an effort to interfere with the presidential campaign. In
   the months leading up to the election, email accounts of Democratic
   party officials and a Hillary Clinton campaign aide were breached,
   emails leaked to Wikileaks and embarrassing and private emails posted
   online.

   Many Democrats believe the hackings benefited Republican Donald Trump's
   bid. During the campaign, Trump downplayed the possibility that Russia
   was involved.

   Since Trump's victory, Democratic lawmakers on the Senate intelligence
   committee have been pushing Obama to declassify more information about
   Russia's role.

   Rep. Adam Schiff, senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee,
   said he welcomed Obama's call for a review.

   "Given President-elect Trump's disturbing refusal to listen to our
   intelligence community and accept that the hacking was orchestrated by
   the Kremlin, there is an added urgency to the need for a thorough
   review before President Obama leaves office next month," Schiff,
   D-Calif., said in a statement. If the administration doesn't respond
   "forcefully" to such actions, "we can expect to see a lot more of this
   in the near future," he said.