US politics divided over Russia

The Democratic National Committee is setting up a “war room” to prepare for upcoming political battles with President-elect Donald Trump.

The controversy surrounding allegations of Russian interference in the US election will certainly continue to overshadow the relationship between President-elect Donald Trump and many Republican lawmakers (GOP) after he takes office on January 20.

Deepening the rift

Trump has so far defended Moscow, even taking to Twitter to back WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's claim that Russia was not the source of the hacked Democratic Party emails.

Daniel Vajdich, a researcher at the Atlantic Council (USA), said that Mr. Trump's sudden siding with Assange was a counterattack against the Democratic Party. In addition, this was probably a move to "preemptively strike" the opponent after information that the National Democratic Committee (NDC) began recruiting a number of figures who had participated in Mrs. Clinton's election campaign.

According to The Hill, the NDC is setting up a so-called “war room” to prepare for upcoming political battles. The top priorities of the NDC are to press Congress to investigate allegations of Russian interference in the US election as well as prevent the GOP from repealing the Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare), “scrutinize” personnel appointments and conflicts of interest related to Mr. Trump’s business.

US President-elect Donald Trump and his wife at the Mar-a-lago club in Palm Beach, Florida on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2016. Photo: REUTERS

In contrast to Mr. Trump, the attitude of many GOP lawmakers toward the WikiLeaks founder is not friendly at all. According to The Hill, House Speaker Paul Ryan and other leading lawmakers have called Mr. Assange an enemy of the United States. Senator Tom Cotton told MSNBC that he trusts the US intelligence community more than people like Assange. Meanwhile, Senator Lindsey Graham warned Americans not to be fooled by Assange.

US politics will certainly become more turbulent after detailed intelligence reports on the incident were presented to President Barack Obama on January 5 and to Mr. Trump a day later (local time).

“Compelling evidence”

Several sources told Reuters that US intelligence agencies have gathered “compelling evidence” that Russia provided emails stolen from the NDC to WikiLeaks through a third party.

Nearly a month before the November 8, 2016 election, US officials concluded that Russia ordered the cyberattack. However, intelligence gathered after the election helped the Obama administration become more certain of Moscow’s “full role” in the attack and leak of documents. This led to Obama imposing sanctions on Russia in response on December 29, 2016.

NPR revealed that the Obama administration will release a public version of the intelligence report on the incident early next week. While waiting for the report's contents, the new US Congress has also begun its own investigation. According to the Financial Review (Australia), senior US intelligence officials testified before the US Senate Armed Services Committee on January 5, answering questions related to their assessment that Russia interfered in the US election to help Mr. Trump win.

Another important content is to discuss measures to deal with the threat of cyber attacks that are threatening the United States. In addition, on January 4, 5 Democratic senators proposed a bill calling for the establishment of an independent committee to investigate the incident.

Not content to sit still, Mr. Trump and his top advisers are planning to restructure the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, an agency he says is increasingly bloated and politicized. Mr. Trump is also considering a plan to reform the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which would reduce staff at the agency’s headquarters in Virginia and appoint more intelligence officers to positions around the world.

According to The Wall Street Journal, this is not a surprising move because Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed doubts about the capabilities of US intelligence agencies in recent months when mentioning the accusation that Russia sent people to hack and steal emails of the Democratic Party.

According to Laborer