House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes told The Washington Examiner he has not seen any evidence that Russia tried to help President-elect Donald Trump win the election.
The California Republican, who has access to sensitive material, did not rule it out, however, nor did he claim that Moscow was not behind the hacking.
Indeed, he said the Russians are very sophisticated in the sort of computer hacking needed to breach government systems and carries out this type of espionage on an ongoing basis.
"This is something that Hillary Clinton knew damn well when she set up her private server, that the Russians could have the capability to get into there," he said.
Nunes has long been a critic of what he considers President Barack Obama's weak response to Putin's aggressions. Following the president's announcement of actions against Russia last week, The Fresno Bee reported that Nunes said:
"The House Intelligence Committee has been urging President Obama for years to take strong action to deter Russia's worldwide aggression, including its cyber-hacking operations. Now, with just a few weeks left in office, the President has suddenly decided that some stronger measures are indeed warranted. This kind of indecision and delay helps to explain why now, at the end of Obama's eight-year presidency, America's influence has collapsed among both our allies and our enemies."
Last month Nunes released a statement about the probe into the cyber attacks
"Seeing as cyber attacks, including Russian attacks, have been one of the House Intelligence Committee's top priorities for many years, we've held extensive briefings and hearings on the topic," he said. "At this time I do not see any benefit in opening further investigations, which would duplicate current committee oversight efforts and Intelligence Community inquiries."
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