Obama vows to punish Russia over election-related hacks

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged to punish Russia for hacking of Democratic groups and figures during the election season with actions that’ll occur in secret and others that’ll be made public.

“Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you,” Obama said in a press conference.

The President stopped short of explicitly blaming Russian president Vladimir Putin for directing the alleged hacks, but said that, “not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin.”

Obama met Putin during a summit in China in September and told him to “cut it out” and or else “there would be some serious consequences if he didn’t,” he said. After that meeting, the hacking attempts stopped but Wikileaks had already been given copies of stolen documents.

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