Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is the first U.S. official to publicly say Russia was involved.

Pompeo Points the Finger

Pompeo's finger point is in regards to the disclosure that Hackers Broke Into the US Treasury, Nuclear Agency, Microsoft, and 18,000 Companies. 

Security Breaches

• US Treasury
• Energy Department
• Department of Homeland Security
• State Department
• Health and Human Services 
• At least 18,000 corporations who downloaded SolarWinds updates
• While 80% of the victim companies were based in the U.S., Microsoft said that targets were also hit in the U.K., Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Spain, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Pretty Clearly the Russians

‘We can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians,’ says Pompeo in a radio interview.

“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.

“There was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of U.S. government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well,” Mr. Pompeo said.

Government officials and cybersecurity experts have concluded that Russia is likely responsible for the hack in part due to the extreme skill involved as well as other classified clues, according to people familiar with the matter. A handful of senators who have received briefings in recent days have openly referred to it as a Russian operation.

Mr. Pompeo gave no indication of how President Trump, who leaves office on Jan. 20, might respond. Mr. Trump hasn’t addressed the hack publicly, drawing criticism from Democratic lawmakers and some cybersecurity experts.

“There are many things that you’d very much love to say, ‘Boy, I’m going to call that out,’ but a wiser course of action to protect the American people is to calmly go about your business and defend freedom,” Mr. Pompeo said.

What Does Trump Say?

Russia, Russia, Russia

Hackers broke into the US Treasury , Energy Department, Department of Homeland Security, State Department,  Health and Human Services, and  at least 18,000 corporations.

We do not know how long this has been going on other than at least 4 years, and we do not know what corporate business the hackers stole.

Yet, Trump downplays this as did Pompeo. 

Voting Machines

The reference to voting machines came up on Twitter yesterday.

Tin Foil Hats

Questions Abound

1. With Trump's preposterous comments out of the way, is it "clear" Russia did it? 
2. How about "pretty clear"? 
3. Is "pretty clear" good enough to openly place blame?
4. Could it be China?
5. Could it be the NSA? 
6. What about the "handful of senators who have received briefings in recent days who have openly referred to it as a Russian operation"?

In regards to point number 5, please recall the NSA tapping into German Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone.

Also recall the NSA breaking into Iranian nuclear operations turning on Iran's centrifuges to such a high rate that it it destroyed them. 

We know about the centrifuges because the US bragged about it. We only know about Merkel's phone because of Edward Snowden.

Denial 

The US was spying on US citizens and global leaders alike while openly denying such operations. 

Mistrust

The US intelligence tell us what they want us to believe as opposed to what is actually taking place. 

Let that sink in because it happens time and time again. The NSA openly lies to Congress as well. 

Hiding Evidence

We have no evidence. Ironically, we do have a clear evidence of hiding evidence.

“There are many things that you’d very much love to say, ‘Boy, I’m going to call that out,’ but a wiser course of action to protect the American people is to calmly go about your business and defend freedom,” Mr. Pompeo said. 

What the hell does that mean? 

• We have no evidence but we pretend we do so you will have more confidence in us 
• We believe it is in out best interest to not let you know what is going on. If so, who are they protecting and why?

So when a pack of Senators tells us they were briefed "Russia Did It", what do we really know?

What We Really Know

There are only three things we really know about this security disaster. 

1. US officials, except for Trump, want us to believe Russia did it.
2. Trump wants us to believe China may have done it.
3. We cannot genuinely trust what anyone says. 

In short, we do not know what they know or even what they believe. We only know what they want us to believe.

That does not mean Russia did it. Nor does it mean Russia did not do it.

The preponderance of evidence may very well point to Russia, but no one seems willing to disclose the evidence. 

The NSA was caught spying on allies and foreign corporations, then lied to Congress about it.

That does not inspire faith in what we are being told now.