Presss. voanews.com
President
Barack Obama on Thursday hit Russia with new sanctions over its computer
hacking and interference in the November presidential election and other
Russian actions, including harassing U.S. diplomats in Moscow. Obama called his actions "a necessary
and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of
established international norms of behavior."
Among the
actions the president ordered were sanctions against nine Russian individuals
and entities: two Russian intelligence services, the GRU and FSB; four officers
of GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU. In
addition, Evgeniy Bogachev and Aleksey Belan were also sanctioned. The Treasury
Department called them "notorious criminals" who were responsible for
the cybertheft of more than $100 million from U.S. banks and other American
firms.
35
expulsions
Thirty-five
Russian government officials in Washington and in the consulate in San
Francisco were given 72 hours to leave the United States for "acting in a
manner inconsistent with their diplomatic status and consular activities."
Russian
officials also will be denied access to what the U.S. State Department calls
two Russian government-owned recreational compounds in Maryland and New York.
This was ordered after U.S. diplomats in Moscow were harassed and even
physically assaulted.
"In
addition to holding Russia accountable for what it has done, the United States
and friends and allies around the world must work together to oppose Russia's
efforts to undermine established international norms of behavior and interfere
with democratic governance," Obama said in announcing the sanctions.
The
official said there had been no debate within the Obama administration over
whether Russia indeed interfered in the presidential election, primarily by
hacking Democratic Party emails to try to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign and
boost Donald Trump's chances of winning the November 8 election.
The
official said the White House believed Russia would try to interfere in
elections in other countries. He also said he had no reason to believe Russia
would not try the same thing in future U.S. contests. The next major American
election will be in 2018, for the entire House of Representatives and a number
of Senate seats.
No
surprise
The Obama
administration had warned the Kremlin numerous times in public and private that
it knew what Russian hackers were up to and that Thursday's sanctions should
not come as a surprise to anyone. It also
said it was inconceivable that Russian President Vladimir Putin knew nothing
about it. A Kremlin spokesman said
Russia was considering an "appropriate" retaliation and accused the
United Sates of trying to destroy ties with Moscow.
There has
been no response to the sanctions so far from Trump. The U.S. president-elect
has made no secret of his desire for closer ties to Russia, and it is possible
he could reverse Obama's actions. But a State Deportment official said Thursday
that reversing Obama's orders would be "inadvisable," adding that it
made no sense to invite Russian intelligence officials back into the United
States.
Trump
press secretary Sean Spicer called for proof that Russia interfered in the
election. "A lot of folks on the left that continue to undermine the
legitimacy of [Trump's] win, that's unfortunate," Spicer said Thursday.
"If the U.S. has clear proof of anybody interfering in our elections, we
should make that known."
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