© Reuters/ Gary CameronCIA Director John Brennan
The chairman of the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has slammed the CIA's refusal to brief Congress on allegations of Russian hacking. "It is disappointing that the CIA would provide information on this issue to the
Washington Post and NBC but will not provide information to elected members of Congress," Homeland Security Chairman Senator Ron Johnson said on Friday.
Citing concerns over a "growing threat to our security" said to be posed by "the cyberattack capabilities of America's rivals and adversaries," Johnson said he arrived to Washington this week and requested that the intelligence agency
provide a briefing on Russia's alleged involvement in the recent US presidential elections.
"The CIA refused this request," Johnson's statement
read, with the senator expressing his "disappointment" over who the CIA decides to share its information with first of all.
On Thursday, the House Intelligence Committee had planned a meeting with the agency on the issue, but the CIA failed to participate. Its director,
John Brennan, declined to provide a briefing, saying
he was occupied with a review ordered by the president, according to Fox News.
The US Intelligence Community had claimed it was busy working on a review on the topic of
'foreign influence on US elections' requested by President Barack Obama. The Director of National Intelligence said
his community would brief senators and "make those
findings available to the public consistent with protecting intelligence sources and methods"
after it finishes the Obama-ordered review. "We will not offer any comment until the review is complete," the statement
said.
Earlier this week,
NBC reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "personally involved" in the alleged hack
that damaged Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign. Back in October, the same news outlet released a report suggesting that the
CIA was planning a "clandestine" cyberattack on Russia, to "embarrass" its leadership for its alleged efforts to influence the US presidential elections.
US Vice President Joe Biden also announced on NBC that Washington would respond to alleged hack attacks with
countermeasures, saying "revenge" would come "at the time of our choosing, and under the circumstances that will have the greatest impact."
President Obama echoed his vice president's threats on Friday. Speaking to National Public Radio (NPR), the US leader
once again accused Moscow of compromising the "integrity" of the US elections through the Democratic National Committee (DNC) email hacks. Washington would take retaliatory action "at a time and place of our own choosing," Obama said.
The statement was
made without a "final report" from US intelligence agencies. Yet the allegations of Moscow's involvement appear to be of no doubt to the president, as he expects the report to shed light on the "motivations" behind the alleged cyberattack. "When I receive a final report, you know, we'll be able to, I think, give us a comprehensive and best guess as to those motivations," he said.
Comment: Congress should read the alternative news and see what is really going on. There are slim chances the report to the president will be factual (he knows full well it is not Russia) versus an agency spit-back of Obama-dictates to undergird his political purposes, which are: to foment a war nobody else wants, cover his tracks and provide Trump the worst possible circumstances going into office.