The Washington Post reveals a shocking look into the Obama administration's struggle to deal with Russia's meddling in the democratic process.
According to the Post's report, an envelope arrived at the White House early last August with specific instructions that only four people read the contents within: President Barack Obama, and three of his senior aides. After the package was read, it was to be returned immediately to the CIA. What was in this package? The first revelations of Russia's intentions.
The document contained information that cited Russian President Vladimir Putin's instructions to meddle in the 2016 presidential elections. Furthermore, the envelope identified his specific instructions — to defeat, or irreparably damage, the Democratic Presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton and help get Trump elected, according to the Post.
This information came after the July 22 release of nearly 20,000 emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee on Wikileaks, an incident that was not taken as seriously as it should have been, Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser, told the Post.
"In many ways … we dealt with this as a cyberthreat and focused on protecting our cyber infrastructure," Rhodes told the Post in an interview. "Meanwhile, the Russians were playing this much bigger game, which included elements like released hacked materials, political propaganda and propagating fake news, which they'd pursued in other countries."
For the next five months after receiving the report, the Obama administration would debate their options for handling Russia, all the while following the same protocols that were put in place for the raid on Osama bin Laden. The debate left the White House deeply divided, pitting Republicans against Democrats and even allowing for one member to doubt the report's credibility, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
In the end, Obama approved a package that resulted in the expulsion of 35 diplomats and the closure of two Russian compounds, idea that reportedly had "nothing to do with the election," Greg Miller, national security reporter, told the Post in a video.
"The punishment did not fit the crime," Michael McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Russia for the Obama administration from 2012 to 2014, told the Post. "Russia violated our sovereignty, meddling in one of our most sacred acts as a democracy — electing our president. The Kremlin should have paid a much higher price for that attack. And U.S. policymakers now — both in the White House and Congress — should consider new actions to deter future Russian interventions."
Obama's strategy throughout his eight years in office was, in the words of the Post, "don't make things worse." This strategy meant remaining cautious and deliberate.
Later, Obama would also explain and defend the choice made during his presidency, saying "At a time when anything that was said by me or anybody in the White House would immediately be seen through a bipartisan lens, I want to make sure that everybody understood that we were playing this thing straight."
Election day came and went without any evidence of Russian interference on the voting process. The results, however, were shocking to everyone. The Obama administration "realize[d] that the next president may be disinclined to follow through on aggressive steps to follow through on punishment," Miller told the Post.
The full impact of Russia's interference in the 2016 Presidential elections suddenly became unimportant as the new administration took office. Soon, the reports of Trump's collusion with Russia would turn into reports of Trump's actions and possible interference with the FBI's investigation.
Before he left, Obama signed off on a long-term cyber operation that allowed intelligence agencies to deploy "implants" in Russian networks that are deemed to be "important to the adversary and that would cause them pain and discomfort if they were disrupted," a former U.S. official told the Post.
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
