“The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the DNC e-mails that were leaked.”

President Obama

More than 20 U.S. intelligence, military and diplomatic veterans are calling on President Obama to release the evidence backing up allegations that Russia aided the Trump campaign – or admit that the proof is lacking. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today

During his last press conference, President Obama was asked the following question by Jeff Mason from Reuters:

QUESTION: Thank you, sir. Are you concerned, Mr President, that commuting Chelsea Manning’s sentence will send a message that leaking classified material will not generate (inaudible/ tough sentences to) groups like WikiLeaks? How do you reconcile that in light of WikiLeak’s connection to Russia’s acting in (inaudible/ last year) election?

While answering this question, Obama offered the following information:

The conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the DNC e-mails that were leaked.

“Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections”

In the report released on 6 January 2017, the IC wrote:

“We assess with high confidence that the GRU relayed material it acquired from the DNC and senior Democratic officials to WikiLeaks. Moscow most likely chose WikiLeaks because of its self-proclaimed reputation for authenticity. Disclosures through WikiLeaks did not contain any evident forgeries.”

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Comment from Craig Murray (Former UK Ambassador)

Murray posted the following comment on his blog:

In his final press conference, beginning around 8 minutes 30 seconds in, Obama admits that they have no evidence of how WikiLeaks got the DNC material. This undermines the stream of completely evidence-free nonsense that has been emerging from the US intelligence services this last two months, in which a series of suppositions have been strung together to make unfounded assertions that have been repeated again and again in the mainstream media.

Most crucially of all Obama refers to “The DNC emails that were leaked”. Note “leaked” and not “hacked”. I have been repeating that this was a leak, not a hack, until I am blue in the face. William Binney, former Technical Director of the NSA, has asserted that were it a hack the NSA would be able to give the precise details down to the second it occurred, and it is plain from the reports released they have no such information. Yet the media has persisted with this nonsense “Russian hacking” story.

Obama’s reference to the “the DNC emails that were leaked” appears very natural, fluent and unforced. It is good to have the truth finally told.

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Interview of Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern

Immediately after President Barack Obama’s January 18 press conference, RT International asked Ray McGovern for reaction.  Ray drew attention to Obama’s bizarre admission (…) Ray McGovern suggested that the reason WikiLeaks might have been “not witting” might be that it was quite sure it was not a “conduit” for a hack or leak by the Russians or anyone else. RELATED POST: CIA Playing the “Russia Card”. Again…

REFERENCES

Obama’s Last News Conference: Full Transcript and Video — NYT JAN. 18, 2017