Intelligence chiefs fear hackers with links to the Kremlin were ‘behind the leaking of Democrat emails’ that damaged Hillary Clinton’s campaign
Admiral from the National Security Agency claims 'This was a conscious effort by a nation-state to attempt to achieve a specific effect'
A US security chief said there should not be “any doubt in anybody’s mind” that another nation tried to swing the presidential election.
Admiral Michael Rogers, of the National Security Agency, is believed to have aimed the barb at Russia.
Intelligence officials fear the Kremlin was behind the leaking of 20,000 Democrat emails, damaging trust in Hillary Clinton.
Critics say that the drip-drip effect of the released emails eroded public trust in Clinton and contributed to her crushing defeat at the hands of Donald Trump.
Admiral Rogers, leads the US Cyber Command, said:
“There shouldn’t be any doubt in anybody’s minds. This was not something that was done casually.
“This was not something that was done by chance. This was not a target that was selected purely arbitrarily. This was a conscious effort by a nation-state to attempt to achieve a specific effect.”
At least two different hacker groups associated with the Russian government were found inside the networks of Democratic Party over the past year.
They are believed to have read emails, chats and downloaded private documents.
Many of those files were later released by Wikileaks and its head Julian Assange – who is still holed up inside the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
Obama’s administration publicly accused Russia of being behind the hacks in October.
A statement from the Department of Homeland Security said: “The US intelligence community is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails.
“These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied his country was behind the hacks.