The U.S. said publicly for the first time that intelligence agencies are “confident that the Russian government directed” the hacking of American political groups and leaked stolen material in order to interfere with the Nov. 8 election.
"These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process," the Office of Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement on Friday. "We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities."