Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Russia for the SolarWinds hack that compromised numerous federal agencies and U.S. corporations, while President Trump said he was skeptical of a growing consensus in Washington about the country’s role.
“This was a very significant effort, and I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity,” Mr. Pompeo said in a Friday night interview with radio host Mark Levin.
The remarks made him the first Trump administration official to explicitly say Russia was responsible for the breach, which officials have said is one of the worst intelligence failures on record.
Mr. Trump in Saturday tweets played down the link to Russia, as well as the severity of the breach, differing with his top diplomat, who has been a loyal ally.
“The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control. “Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens,” Mr. Trump said, adding there was the “possibility that it may be China (it may!)”