Trump Says Media Is Exaggerating Extent of Recent Cyberattack on U.S.

President Donald Trump responded to the unprecedented cyberattack on multiple American government departments and private businesses, saying that the attack is “well under control” and being exaggerated by the “Fake News Media.”

Trump, who had not publicly commented on the attack until Saturday morning, placed blame on China, contradicting some U.S. government officials – including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo – who have said that Russia was the most likely actor to have launched it.

“The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control,” Trump tweeted Saturday morning, adding that the media was afraid to acknowledge that it could have been China, not Russia, who carried out the attack. . .

….discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!). There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it an even more corrupted embarrassment for the USA. @DNI_Ratcliffe @SecPompeo

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2020

The attack used an array of sophisticated tools to tap into dozens of government and private networks, including the Pentagon, the Treasury and U.S. nuclear laboratories. Intelligence agencies told Congress that the attack was likely carried out by the S.V.R., a top Russian intelligence agency that descended from the K.G.B.

In a joint statement released Wednesday, the F.B.I., Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said that they were “investigating and gathering intelligence in order to attribute, pursue, and disrupt the responsible threat actors.” (Read more from “Trump Says Media Is Exaggerating Extent of Recent Cyberattack on U.S.” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE