Outgoing US President Barack Obama has said that he underestimated the impact of the misinformation campaign and computer hacking on a democracy. He said following revelation of a US intelligence conclusion that Russia meddled in the presidential election.
Obama, as he leaves office in 12 days, told ABC News that he does not think that he underestimated Russian President Vladimir Putin, alleged by the US intelligence community to have ordered the effort to undermine the American system of democratic elections and the candidacy of President-elect Donald Trump’s unsuccessful opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.
He said he released an abbreviated version of the US intelligence report on the Russian hacking to make sure that we understand this is something that Putin has been doing for quite some time in Europe. Initially in the former satellite states where there are a lot of Russian speakers, but increasingly in Western democracies.