Russian hackingU.S. imposes sanctions on Russia for interfering in 2016 U.S. election

The United States on Thursday has unveiled a series of retaliatory measures against Russia for its interference in the U.S. 2016 presidential campaign. The goal of the Russian hacking campaign was to help Donald Trump win the election and, more generally, compromise and corrupt the American political process.

The Russian campaign was conducted by the FSB, the Russian domestic security service, and the GRU, the Russian military intelligence branch, and was similar in its scope and methods to the political interference campaigns Russia has conducted in several European countries. In all these cases, Russia used its considerable cyber capabilities to help right-wing populist and ethno-nationalist candidates and parties – some of them avowedly racist. All the candidates and parties which Russia has supported are fiercely anti-immigration and anti-Muslim, and all of them want to distance their countries from NATO, the EU, and the United States.

Russia sees the policies advocated by the populist and nationalist leaders and parties it is supporting as undermining the two pillars of post-Second World War U.S. strategy: the Western alliance, created to contain the Soviet union (and, later, Russia), and the liberal international economic order, which has served the economic and political interests of the United States.

NextGov reports that the retaliatory measures include the expulsion of thirty-five Russian diplomats and the closure of two Russian compounds based the United States.

In a statement, President Barack Obama said Americans should “be alarmed by Russia’s actions” and pledged further action. The announcement comes weeks after the president said he would respond to cyberattacks by Moscow “at a time and place of our choosing.”

U.S. intelligences services have concluded that Russia ordered the cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Hillary Clinton’s campaign, other political organizations, and voter rolls in twenty-three states.

“I have issued an executive order that provides additional authority for responding to certain cyber activity that seeks to interfere with or undermine our election processes and institutions, or those of our allies or partners,” Obama said.

“Using this new authority, I have sanctioned nine entities and individuals: the GRU and the FSB, two Russian intelligence services; four individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU’s cyber operations.

“In addition, the secretary of the treasury is designating two Russian individuals for using cyber-enabled means to cause misappropriation of funds and personal identifying information.”

Obama added: “These actions are not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicized.”

Democratic lawmakers welcomed the president’s action.

“I hope the incoming Trump administration, which has been far too close to Russia throughout the campaign and transition, won’t think for one second about weakening these new sanctions or our existing regime,” incoming Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said in a statement.

“Both parties ought to be united in standing up to Russian interference in our elections, to their cyberattacks, their illegal annexation of Crimea and other extra-legal interventions.”

Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, called for further action by the new Congress when it convenes in January.

“The executive branch has acted,” he said, “but it is imperative the legislative branch now pick up the ball and move it forward. Congressional sanctions can complement and strengthen these new executive sanctions.”

Trump and some Republican lawmakers have rejected reports of Russian interference in the election. Trump went so far as to indicate that he believes Vladimir Putin’s denial of Russian interference, while describing the unanimous conclusion of the U.S. intelligence community as “politically motivated.”

On Wednesday, asked by reporters at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida whether the United States should sanction Russia over hacking activities, he said: “I think we ought to get on with our lives.

“I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what’s going on.”