Krauthammer: Obama Attempting To Undermine Trump Using Russia Like Trump Did With Birther Attack 

Back to Videos

Krauthammer: Obama Attempting To Undermine Trump Using Russia Like Trump Did With Birther Attack

Posted By Ian Schwartz
On Date January 2, 2017

Charles Krauthammer on the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) being hacked by the Chinese:

BRET BAIER, SPECIAL REPORT: Here is what the incoming Trump administration is saying. They are pointing to the Chinese hack of OPM where they took millions and millions of identification numbers, Social Security numbers of government employees. Here's a story from The New York Times: "The Obama administration has determined that it must retaliate against China for the theft of personal information of more than 20 million Americans from the databases of the Office of Personnel Management but it is still struggling to decide what it can do without prompting and escalating cyber conflict. In public, Mr. Obama has said almost nothing and officials are under strict instructions from naming China as the source of that attack."

The Trump folks, Charles, are pointing to that, saying they chose not to say anything there and yet here they are expelling diplomats and talking openly about it.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I think their case that this is largely political on the part of Obama is true. But that doesn't mean that the Russians weren't behind it and that the U.S. ought to make a strong response. When you heard Assange say, 'we did not receive our information from a state actor,' that's completely meaningless.

All they have to have is a single cut out between the Russians and them and they can say that. Of course it came from the Russians. I'm sure it's all in the Intel. I think it would be a mistake for us to release this. But the Trump people are absolutely right. This is a president who has appeased the Russians from day one. He cancels the missile defense system as he comes into office, Obama did. He then lies down, does nothing about Syria, essentially nothing about Ukraine. Does nothing about all the trespasses of the Russians vis-a-vis the U.S. They learned about the hacking 18 months before today. They do nothing at a time when it would actually have an effect.

And all of a sudden with a month to go, he decides to do this. The timing and the severity of what he did is clearly -- this is Obama's revenge on Trump for the birther thing. Trump, he perceives, Obama perceives, tried to undermine his legitimacy. There's no better way left for Obama to undermine the legitimacy of Trump than to apply -- you're absolutely right, there's no connection to the actual election but most Americans think this is about the election, to imply that Trump won because of this. That's what all of this is about and that's why I think that Trump is right in protesting this. Nonetheless, we as a country can't take our example from Obama as he did for 18 months. We can't let it go. And we should punish the Chinese and we should next time.