Mr. Putin and his lead intelligence agency, the S.V.R., were not mentioned in the statement issued Tuesday. But the broad conclusion that Russia was the likely source of the penetration of American systems had already been announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the attorney general at the time, William P. Barr.
Tuesday’s statement was carefully worded, in a nod to Mr. Trump’s personal skepticism of Russian culpability.
But however carefully worded, the formal conclusion sets the stage for retaliation, most likely by President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. after he takes office. Mr. Biden, unlike Mr. Trump, has declared that whoever was behind the operation would pay a steep price.
The statement said that a still unidentified cyberactor, most “likely Russian in origin, is responsible for most or all of the recently discovered, ongoing cybercompromises of both government and nongovernmental networks.”
It added: “At this time, we believe this was, and continues to be, an intelligence gathering effort. We are taking all necessary steps to understand the full scope of this campaign and respond accordingly.”
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/politics/us-russia-hacking.html
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