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 is such a moron. He says the Russians did such a good job, we didn’t even know they did it. And this fool was a leader.
Trump should have Sessions appoint a second special prosecutor to investigate Seth Rich’s death & the DNC server,....it could be broadened to include Clinton fundraising crimes, unmasking for political espionage purposes, the Lynch/Clinton Obstruction of Justice, leaking of classified info out of the Deep State, Mueller & Comey’s ties to the DNC....turn the FBI lose on real criminality....
Uh, no... Hillary was just one of the most inept campaigners in history...
Sure, Russia wanted Trump to win despite Trump’s promise to do all he could to bring the price of oil down and expanded fracking while Clinton wanted oil prices and all energy cost to rise. Not to mention Trump’s stance on a stronger military. Hmm, what frequency are liberals on?
Absolutely correct... “covert” is a code word for we can’t figure out what they did and how they did it. i.e. we’re making it up.
Yes, yes. Collusion by our own press! That’s the real crime!
Hayden, is that the little guy who looks like Elmer Fudd? Karl Rove? Truman Capote?.......I just don’t know....(snort)
So covert that those obsessed with it will never get to the bottom of it. We need a lot more details of this alleged "covert operation" from Hayden.
That sums it up.
In history? Really? Soviet acquisition of US nuclear secrets and consequent acceleration of their nuclear program wasn't as important as the DNC’s emails? A former head of the CIA said this?
“Hayden told a national security panel in response to a question from moderator Yahoo News Chief Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff.”
...
“Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, also on the panel”
https://www.chertoffgroup.com/about-us/our-team
MEET OUR TEAM
MICHAEL HAYDEN
Principal
(Chertoff) - Once A Clinton Nemesis During Whitewater, Now A Clinton Supporter
October 6, 2016
You are both absolutely correct. Which is why I believe they refused to allow the FBI to have access to their computers. For that would have shown that their was no hacking done to their computers as they have and continue to claim. If it truly was the most successful covert operation in history as he claims then how do we even know about it? What it actually is, is the greatest slight of hand diversion to lay blame on others for something unrelated with implications national security to take focus off of what the content of the emails revealed. BTW, I have no doubt that all of those computers were destroyed by now, thus rendering a reliable investigation impossible.
Guess Hayden should know since Wikileaks is a CIA op.
I think that could take a lot of the bite out of Mueller.
The embarrassing thing is how many leftists believe a novice guy with one cracked email account and a couple hundred bot Tweeters could outfox HRC’s $2 billion professionally run election machine staffed by only the top seasoned pros.
While Sessions has recused himself directly from this case, he still runs Justice and has plenary supervising authority. How about if he issued a preservation order on ALL electronic devices used by all the investigators and staff, including private email accounts. The emails would be copied and turned over to a new investigative body, which would be singularly tasked to ascertain the indentity of the leaker(s) who are divulging privileged information. Guarantee full prosecution.
Are you talking about the investigation being run by Robert Muwller?
bkmk
I completely agree.
No. I’m talking about an investigation OF mueller and his team by main Justice.
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.