US President Barack Obama has ordered the expulsion of 35 Russians diplomats suspected of being spies in response to evidence that Russia hacked Democratic Party officials during this year’s presidential election.
According to Telegraph, the diplomatic officials from the Russian embassy in Washington and its consulate in San Francisco were deemed “persona non grata” and told to leave the country within 72 hours.
Obama expels 35 Russian diplomats President Obama also announced it was closing two compounds owned by the Russian government, and used for intelligence operations, in New York and Maryland, from noon on Friday, December 30.
US intelligence services believe Russia ordered cyber-attacks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Hillary Clinton’s campaign and other political organisations, in an attempt to influence the election in favour of Donald Trump, the Republican candidate.
Obama in a statement said: “I have issued an executive order that provides additional authority for responding to certain cyber activity that seeks to interfere with or undermine our election processes and institutions, or those of our allies or partners.”
“These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests in violation of established international norms of behavior.
“All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions. Using this new authority, I have sanctioned nine entities and individuals: the GRU and the FSB, two Russian intelligence services; four individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU’s cyber operations.
“In addition, the secretary of the treasury is designating two Russian individuals for using cyber-enabled means to cause misappropriation of funds and personal identifying information.”
Obama added that more actions would be taken, “some of which will not be publicised”.
USA Today reports that Russia is likely to respond in kind by kicking out U.S. officials from its country; the U.S. has claimed that its diplomats in Russia have been harassed for years in any case.
U.S.intelligence agencies have accused the Russians of getting involved in the election in order to help Trump win the presidency, accusations that Putin and other Russian officials have denied. These agencies are conducting a formal investigation, and Congress is likely to conduct a probe of its own.
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