Trump Spokesman Sean Spicer: ‘Irresponsible’ to Blame Russia for Hacks
Trump’s press secretary spars with CNN anchor over election hacks.
Donald Trump's incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer got in a heated back and forth with CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota on Monday morning, accusing her of being "unbelievably irresponsible" for jumping to "conclusions" about Russia's role in the hacking of DNC and Hillary Clinton campaign staff during the 2016 election. Spicer also asserted that Trump has not yet been briefed by members of the intelligence community about the hacks. "The idea that you're asking anybody what their reaction should be to a non-final report is unbelievable," he told Camerota.
Asked by the anchor if Republican senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain are also "unbelievably irresponsible" for calling on Congress to "impose stronger sanctions" on Russia than those put in place by President Obama, Spicer shot back, "They're not the ones who instituted the sanctions" and indicated that the Trump administration would support their call for additional hearings on the hacks. As Camerota shook her head in disbelief that Trump's team is not "even having conversations about the possibility" that Russia was responsible, as the CIA has stated, Spicer said, "I know this is frustrating for you that we are doing this in a logical way, but no, we are actually going to get all of the information, get briefed properly and then make a decision. We're not going to put the cart before the horse."
On Saturday, Trump told reporters that he knows “things that other people don’t know” about Russia’s role in the election hacks, suggesting that the real culprit was "somebody else" and that he would reveal this new information on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. "I know a lot about hacking," the president-elect said. "And hacking is a very hard thing to prove."
— Matt Wilstein
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.