Why Obama Didn’t Retaliate for Russian Hack

“The Obama administration didn’t respond more forcefully to Russian hacking before the presidential election because they didn’t want to appear to be interfering in the election and they thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win and a potential cyber war with Russia wasn’t worth it,” multiple high-level government officials told NBC News.

Said one official: “They thought she was going to win, so they were willing to kick the can down the road.”

“The administration did take action in response to the hack prior to the election. In September, President Obama privately confronted Vladimir Putin about the hacks at the G-20 summit in China. He warned the Russian President of unspecified consequences if the hacks continued.”