Russia and Putin · 2016 campaign · № 20
Asked whether he doubted 17 intelligence agencies on Russian hacking, answered 'Yeah, I doubt it'
“She has no idea whether it's Russia, China, or anybody else.”
- Said
- , Third presidential debate, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
- Subject
- Hacking, third debate
- Type
- Intelligence and security
- Topic
- Elections
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
Clinton said 17 civilian and military intelligence agencies had concluded that the cyberattacks came 'from the highest levels of the Kremlin' and were designed to influence the election. Trump interjected 'And our country has no idea,' and when she asked whether he doubted the agencies, 'Yeah, I doubt it. I doubt it.' Clinton said he would 'rather believe Vladimir Putin than the military and civilian intelligence professionals'. Moderator Chris Wallace asked whether he condemned any Russian interference; Trump said 'Of course I condemn' and 'I never met Putin. This is not my best friend,' then said 'Putin has outsmarted her and Obama at every single step of the way.' The Department of Homeland Security and the Director of National Intelligence had stated on October 7 that 'only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities'; the declassified intelligence community assessment of January 6, 2017 concluded with high confidence that Putin had ordered an influence campaign aimed at the election.