Donald Trump blames former President Barrack Obama for not tackling the 2016 election case very well. He made these claims in a FOX News interview on Friday. He said he just got a report that President Obama was aware of the interference prior to the elections, and did not investigate the matter. Trump stated that President Obama was briefed by the CIA long before the election. He asked why Obama didn’t address the issue if he was aware of it?
Trump expressed himself on Twitter as usual.
Just out: The Obama Administration knew far in advance of November 8th about election meddling by Russia. Did nothing about it. WHY?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2017
Obama tried to stop Putin
The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Obama administration put in efforts to sanction the Russian President Vladimir Putin over his role in diverting the 2016 election to favor Donald Trump.
A former top official in the Obama administration told the Post that it was difficult for him to explain what happened, adding that the administration “sort of choked” in their bid to arrest the situation.
Following the CIA’s findings that Russia hacked into U.S. election software, in a bid to help Trump win the election, the Obama administration sought for ways in which to punish or sanction Russia. They considered hacking into Russian infrastructure, releasing provocative materials that might humiliate Putin and other means, according the Post reports.
The Post also stated that The Obama administration had warned Russia on several occasions, citing one Obama issued personally to President Putin in September.
Top Democrats accuse Putin
The reports hinted that Obama only meted light punishment to Russia such as; shutting down two Russian compounds, expulsion of some diplomats, and lightly considered economic sanctions. He also started the planning process of hacking into Russia’s infrastructure before he left office.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat told CNN on Friday that he believed President Vladmir Putin was involved in the cyber-attack because nothing of such magnitude could happen in his country without him being aware of it.
Merkley also said that Putin’s aim was to make Hillary Clinton lose the elections.
Merkley, alongside other Democratic Senators, said Russia applied diverse techniques during the elections, including hacking and bots to infiltrate social media with fake news, and the creation of 1000 trolls.
Merkley reiterated that Obama tried to be diplomatic in handling the issue in other not to create a false impression that he was trying to influence the elections to favor Hillary Clinton. He said it was quite a sensitive situation.
