NEWSWATCH: “Why doubts still cloud Russian hacking allegations; Evidence that the government has presented so far linking Russian operatives to the DNC hack is questionable, fueling skepticism and doubt about Moscow’s role.” – Christian Science Monitor/Paul F. Roberts

“Since the White House blamed #Russia for hacking US political organizations to undermine the presidential election, administration critics, skeptics, and cybersecurity experts have pushed the government to reveal its evidence. … much of what has come out of Washington … has only raised more questions about the government’s claims. A joint analysis of recent hacking activity by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) … generated confusion about the scope of the political hacking campaign, leading many experts to doubt the agencies’ abilities to investigate sophisticated, multilayered digital attacks. … Even as Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and National Security Agency Director Michael Rogers said at a Senate hearing … they are more certain than ever that Russia orchestrated the political hacking campaign, critics seem … unconvinced. … President-elect Donald Trump … reiterated … Assange’s claim in a tweet: ‘Julian Assange said ‘a 14 year old could have hacked Podesta’ – why was DNC so careless? Also said Russians did not give him the info!’ … Others point to another, older incident of bad intelligence from DHS and FBI. In 2011, the agencies … were investigating a purported Russian hack that caused a water pump to fail …. Like the Burlington Electric hack … further investigations … proved those initial reports were wrong. The pump in question simply reached the end of its life and burned out.”

Click here for Christian Science Monitor/Paul F. Roberts: “Why doubts still cloud Russian hacking allegations; Evidence that the government has presented so far linking Russian operatives to the DNC hack is questionable, fueling skepticism and doubt about Moscow’s role.”