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The White House on Thursday announced a series of retaliation sanctions against Russia for meddling with the US election process.
The Obama administration said it will eject 35 Russian operatives from the US and also levy sanctions against two Russian intelligence agencies.
The administration's announcement comes after months of controversy related to the Russian government intervening in the November election to, according to the US intelligence community, help elect Donald Trump.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed Russian involvement in the election. On Wednesday the president-elect dismissed possible sanctions, saying we should "get on with our lives."
"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," Trump said from his resort in Florida.
US intelligence officials have said they are "confident" Vladimir Putin's government was behind a series of hacks of the Democratic National Committee and key operatives, which intended to interfere with the election process.
“We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,” the joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security reads.
The Russian foreign ministry denied the allegations, instead accusing the White House of trying to fan “unprecedented anti-Russian hysteria.”
Trump's communication director Sean Spicer on Thursday accused the left of trying to undermine the legitimacy of Trump's win but added that "if the US has clear proof of anybody interfering in our elections we should make that known."
The controversy dates back to June, when the Democratic National Committee and a cybersecurity firm said that Russian government hackers had breached the computer networks of the DNC and targeted Hillary Clinton.
In the months leading up to November's election, Clinton continued to accuse Russia of interfering with the election to help elect Trump. In September, she called out Trump for "urging the Russians to hack more."
"So I am grateful that this is being taken seriously and I want everyone—Democrat, Republican, independent—to understand the real threat that this represents," she said at the time.
Earlier this month, the CIA concluded that Russia intervened in the election through a series of hacks to bolster Trump’s chances of winning, the Washington Post reported.
Trump’s transition team dismissed the CIA report and questioned the veracity of the agency. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” a statement released by Trump’s advisors said. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’” (In fact, Trump’s margin of victory in the electoral college was not particularly large when compared to previous elections.)
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.
LINK: Clinton Campaign Manager: Russia Is Secretly Helping Trump
LINK: Russia Says There’s “No Proof” It’s Been Messing With The Election Through Hacking
LINK: Trump: We Should "Get On With Our Lives" Regarding Alleged Russian Hacking
LINK: Meet Fancy Bear The Russian Group Accused Of Hacking The US Election
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