Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has previously claimed that the Democratic National Committee email leaks were not linked to Russia. The Washington Post has now cited that a second senior official conceded that intelligence agencies lacked the proper proof that Kremlin officials were directing the hackers. The Kremlin have also rejected the hacking accusations, while the hackers are said to be one step removed from the Russian Government.

Former UK ambassador Craig Murray is a close associate of Assange. He calls the CIA claims a bunch of “bull****,” and insists that the CIA are absolutely fabricating the whole thing. “I know who leaked them,” said Murray. “I’ve met the person who leaked them, and they are certainly not Russian and it’s an insider. It’s a leak, not a hack; the two are different things. If what the CIA are saying is true, and the CIA’s statement refers to people who are known to be linked to the Russian state, they would have arrested someone if it was someone inside the United States. America has not been shy about arresting whistle blowers and it’s not been shy about extraditing hackers. They plainly have no knowledge whatsoever.”

The White House announced Friday that Obama has ordered intelligence officials to conduct a board review of the cyber-attacks that occurred during the election season. Obama wanted the report complete prior to January 20, when he leaves office.

White House Spokesman Eric Schultz said that the review will look at tactics, targets, key actors, and the US government’s responses from recent email hacks. The review will also look at incidents reported in prior elections. Intelligence agencies are expected to dig deep into possible patterns of increased malicious cyber activities over the election season. “The president wanted this done under his watch because he takes it very seriously,” said Schultz. “We are committed to ensuring the integrity of our elections.”

US intelligence agencies were previously skeptical that the leaks had the ability to systematically manipulate the elections results. The CIA has now concluded that Russian operatives did intervene in the Presidential election, boosting Donald Trump chances of winning. Trump’s transition team rebuked the claims citing that “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.” An Intelligence Agency official insists a major clue showing Russia’s intent to influence the election in favor of Trump was that only Clinton suffered damage from the leaks.

Sources:

TheGuardian.com

BizPacReview.com