Dem Rep Puts Some of the Russian Hacking Blame on Obama

If Russian hacks did influence the 2017 presidential election, at least one Democrat says President Obama deserves some of the blame.

When pressed by "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd on Sunday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) agreed that Obama should have had a more aggressive response to Russia after the WikiLeaks hack of the Democratic National Committee, in addition to earlier North Korea cyber attacks. Because the president failed to act, Schiff argued that Russia was encouraged to meddle in the election. 

“I do think it was a mistake,” Schiff said. ”I think it was a mistake even earlier frankly not to react more forcefully when North Korea hacked us because I think those that lack of deterrence invited the Russians to meddle and consider they could do this with impunity.”

Those hacks made public Clinton campaign chair John Podesta's emails, as well as emails from DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The latter was pressured to resign after several emails exposed her bias toward the Clinton campaign. 

Looking forward, Schiff said that he supported an investigation into the hacking.