Trump On Russian Sanctions: "We Ought To Get On With Our Lives"
By Tyler Durden
With the Obama administration set to unveil a fresh round of sanctions against Russia as soon as today, allegedly in retaliation for the Kremlin’s “hacking” of the US elections, President-elect Trump had a few words of his own what he thinks the best steps for the US are: move on.
“I think we ought to get on with our lives,” Trump told reporters Wednesday night outside of Mar-A-Lago, his Florida resort, also casting doubt on the government’s assessment that Russia hacked U.S. political organizations.
As has been extensively reported over the past 6 weeks, U.S. intelligence agencies have “concluded”, without providing one piece of evidence, that the Russian government orchestrated cyber attacks against the Democratic National Committee and other American political groups and then leaked information to interfere in the Nov. 8 elections. Russia has denied the accusations. Trump has said he wants to improve relations with Russia and has praised its president, Vladimir Putin.
“I think we ought to get on with our lives,” Trump told reporters in Florida, with boxing promoter Don King standing by his side. “I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what is going on.” Hillary Clinton would certainly agree with that.
Before leaving for his last Hawaiian vacation, Obama said on Dec. 16 that the U.S. will retaliate against Russia at an unspecified time, in a “thoughtful, methodical way.” The response may be covert, public or both, he said. Ironically, overnight it was leaked to every press outlet, that the retaliation would take place at a very specific time: today.
Earlier Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said during a trip to the Latvian capital that Russia and Putin should expect new sanctions for meddling in the election.
In Florida, Trump was asked by reporters about efforts to disclose intelligence about Russian interference in the election. “They should do the best they can, figure it all out,” he said.
Trump said he hasn’t spoken to Lindsey Graham. “I don’t know what he’s doing. I haven’t spoken to Sen. Graham,” Trump said. “As you know, he ran against me.”
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