She rules out appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Hunter Biden or the alleged electoral fraud denounced by the president
The attorney general of the United States, William Barr, on Monday pointed to Russia as the probable responsible for the recent cyber attack suffered by the United States and stands next to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who also pointed to Moscow, while President Donald Trump believes that the attack could have come from China.
“I agree with Secretary Pompeo’s assessment. Of course it seems that it was the Russians, but I am not going to discuss this issue further,” Barr said at a press conference collected by CNN.
Pompeo on Friday in a radio interview pointed to Russia for the attacks: “We can say that it is quite clear that the Russians were responsible for these actions.” However, he said he could not give more details of them due to the ongoing investigation.
Already on Saturday, Trump posted on Twitter that “Russia is always suspicious when something happens, but China could also be behind these cyber attacks.” Trump assured that the responsibility of China is not considered “mainly for economic reasons” and downplayed the attacks. Thus, he pointed out to the media for giving more importance than is reasonable to these attacks, since “everything is under control.”
The Information Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), part of the Department of Homeland Security, has confirmed attacks on critically important state agencies and infrastructure “since at least March.”
US media are targeting attacks on the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department, as well as other government agencies and private entities. On Friday the Department of Energy acknowledged having been affected. Authorities have recommended disabling the SolarWinds program, which could have been the source of the attack.
The attackers have “demonstrated patience, operational security and capacity for complex work with these intrusions,” explained the CISA, which has recognized that eliminating the origin of the attack will be “very difficult.”
REFUSES TO INVESTIGATE HUNTER BIDEN
On the other hand, Barr has stated that he believes there is no reason to appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, son of President-elect Joe Biden, or the alleged electoral fraud that Trump denounces.
“I think there is no investigation (on Hunter Biden) so far. I think it is being handled responsibly and professionally within our Department,” he said. “Until this moment I do not see any reason to appoint a special prosecutor and I do not plan to do so before leaving office,” he added.
The investigation into the finances and taxes of Hunter Biden and his movements abroad is being developed by the Delaware State Attorney’s Office.
Regarding the elections, Barr has said that there is “no basis” for the federal administration to confiscate the counting machines, an idea raised by Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. “If I believed that in this phase the appropriate tool would be a special prosecutor, I would have appointed him, but I have not done so and I will not do it,” he stressed.
