Posted on 07/22/2017 2:34:00 PM PDT by Jyotishi
Michael Hayden, a former director of the NSA and the CIA, on Friday called Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election the "most successful covert influence operation in history."
"Frankly, [the Russian meddling] is the most successful covert operation in history," Hayden told a national security panel in response to a question from moderator Yahoo News Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff. Hayden said the original cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee was not that surprising -- and even from an intelligence perspective, impressive.
"I just have to admit as a former director of NSA, [Russia's hack and theft of email] is honorable state espionage," Hayden said to audience laughter, speaking at the Aspen Security Conference.
Isikoff interjected, asking if the Russian dissemination of the emails through WikiLeaks should still be considered "honorable state espionage."
"If we as NSA could have an insight into … Russia through the same techniques, game on," Hayden said. "But now you make the great distinction: What the Russians then did with the information. And then that turned [it] into what we call a covert influence operation."
Hayden argued that the release of stolen Democratic emails on WikiLeaks was the Kremlin's egregious act, not the hacks to obtain the information.
"This is, at its heart, not a cyber issue. At its heart, this is a Russia issue," Hayden said. "The cyber-thing was a preliminary action in order to get some raw materials, … but that's not what made this different. That's not what made this egregious."
Isikoff asked why the U.S. government has yet to clearly delineate a "red line" when it comes to cybersecurity violations from other countries even though the cyberthreat has existed for years.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, also on the panel, responded that the Defense Department had issued a guideline which said attacks warrant a response if they result in loss of life or serious economic damage.
"The truth is the technology and the techniques that can be used have actually evolved more rapidly than our thinking about it," Chertoff said. "The value of norms would be it would start to create a basis for law-abiding countries to know when they can respond to a cyber act as if it were an act of war."
The U.S. lacks a standard of proof, which makes it difficult to prove who's responsible for a cyber attack, Chertoff said.
"If we confront the Russians, their response is, ‘Well, you don't have 100 percent proof, so we reject it,'" Chertoff said. "We have to establish a consensus about how much is enough."
Isikoff then pivoted to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis, which he said has resulted in 4.9 million refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, noting that former FBI agent Ali Soufan called it "the greatest humanitarian disaster of our lifetime."
National Counterterrorism Center Director Nick Rasmussen, another panel participant, said he wouldn't want to draw "a straight line" connection between someone being displaced by the Syrian civil war and that person becoming a potential recruit for terrorists.
But Rasmussen said that Soufan's description still holds. "First and foremost, it's a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, but it does have a long-term security piece to it that we're going to be managing for a number of years," he said.
The counterterrorism expert also said the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah poses a threat to the U.S. The Iranian-backed organization is recognized by the intelligence community as one of the most capable terrorist groups in the world, with access to technology and state sponsorship, he said.
But FBI arrests of individuals with ties to Hezbollah in the U.S. suggests that there's a presence of Hezbollah operatives in the homeland, Rasmussen said.
"We've known they look to lay infrastructure in all parts of the world to give itself options, to develop a playbook," Rasmussen said.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation in the House and Senate on Thursday that would increase sanctions on Hezbollah for its actions in Syria and near the Israeli border.
Hayden and Chertoff are two honorable men, in my opinion.
The thing that gets me about this is that no one is alleging that the contents of the released emails were not true. So if the Russians were responsible (very doubtful), what they did was reveal the TRUTH about what the Democrats were doing. Heck, anyone stupid enough to put the sort of stuff the Democrats were discussing in an email trail is too stupid to be making decisions for the country!
He may be correct. When the US meddles in elections people get killed. Nothing subtle about it.
Every time some scandalous thing is leaked about the democrats they will keep jumping up and down yelling— Russia, Russia, Russia. We were framed by Russia!
And Assange has denied it was Russia or “state sponsored”
Why wouldn’t he just respond as he normally does with “Wikileaks does not reveal its sources” ?
And what about Seth Rich?
Hayden is part of the Deep State, a liar and a half. He belongs in bed with the Clintons and Obamas
Yuck
He is just plain lying. Members of the Deep State all lie to protect each other.
There’s a simple process for Wikileaks. Someone who is trusted by the organization but turns over the data to Wikileaks. Sorry, but that is how it works. Denying is stupid.
The truth is what lost the election for The Witch.
Why doesn't anyone ask her about the veracity of the emails?
Julian Assange and Craig Murray say they were leaked and allude to Seth Rich being the leaker.
The only "evidence" put forth showing Russian involvement is put forth by a sketchy company with a poor track record, paid by the DNC. Crowdstrike.
The FBI was denied access to the DNC servers and made their finding solely on Crowdstrike's say so.
Tell the lie often enough and it becomes the truth.
It was so covert that there is absolutely no evidence of it at all.
Now that’s covert!
The CIA on the other hand has been caught stumbling about while meddling in elections in other countries too many times to count.
And has unintentionally left a trail of failed coups, insurrections, cultural upheavals, destroyed economies and dead people in most places where it has tried to implement regime change.
Let’s try to understand this...... the release of TRUE information about the nefarious doings of the Democrats and MSM is so terribly nefarious and against the interests of the USA????
Hayden and the Deep State types truly are SCUM.
Again, wiki leaks denies the emails are from Russia.
Ambassador was a suspected spy. It is quite possible his phone was a hot mic..and some intelligence agency picked up the convo. How probable I dont know..but possible.
Seth Rich was MURDERED! a few days after the Wikileaks were released. Coincidence? He was shot twice in the back while he was walking down a Washington street in the middle of the night. NOTHING WAS STOLEN FROM HIM! NOTHING! This does not look like a street crime, it looks like an assassination. Why would someone want to assassinate Seth Rich? 1) Revenge if he gave the documents to Wikileaks. 2)To shut him up. Dead men tell no tales. If he is dead he will not be called to testify before Congress, or the FBI or anyone. 3) As a warning to anyone who is thinking of doing the same thing.
“This is ALL about removing Trump....period. Total B.S.”
Agree! And, many ‘Republicans’ are sitting on their hands or adding fuel to the fire vs taking a stand and calling out the Dems for their selective memory!
That makes sense but it seems Russia would want to try to work with Trump — especially in Syria. I can understand why they wouldn’t want Hillary to win. Her middle east policy was a disaster. obama, Hillary, McCain, etc., wanted to overthrow Egypt, Libya, Syria, etc.
Bravo.
Completely agree.
The Dems and media/deepstate have been allow to run rampant with this false make believe narrative that (a) Russia somehow did “hack” the election, then (b) fed their fruits to Wikileaks, and (c) a brilliant plan was developed (by whom?) to reveal certain parts (Podesta e-mails? Huma e-mails? etc.) at just the right time. And Media was dumb enough to fall for it (not a chance).
Assange has repeatedly said his always genuine and correct material was NOT acquired from a state actor (such as Russia) and he strongly hinted that Jeff Rick simply pulled it off a thumb drive at DNC where he was a legitimate workers, faithful to Bernie.
P.S. On Hayden. He is a pure criminal When he was NSA/CIA he pushed the envelope on surveillance. He was collecting on everyone before Patriot Act allowed it. His excuse was Congress is too dumb to know or care. He should be in jail.
‘..Tell the lie often enough and it becomes the truth.’
Exactly! imho, this is where the collusion and interference is...the American media colluded with the Democrats to try to elect Mrs. Clinton! And, sadly many people still believe the lies because very few Republicans and pundits counter and ‘call out’ the liars.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.