Obama Orders Potential Election Cyber Attack Probe

On Friday, Reuters reported that President Obama ordered a "full review of cyber attacks and foreign intervention" in the 2016 presidential election, according to homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco. The president also stipulated that it be delivered before he leaves office next year on Jan. 20. Monaco noted that while there have been cyber attacks in previous elections, saying, "We've seen in 2008 and in this last election system malicious cyber activity." However, she added that Obama wanted to investigate if they hit a "new threshold" in 2016.

"The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process," Monaco stated at a Christian Science Monitor-organized event, "and to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders, to include the Congress."

The news of Obama's ordered investigation into cyber attacks on the 2016 election cycle came one day after the Washington Post reported that Senate Republicans were "preparing to launch a coordinated and wide-ranging probe into Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. elections and its potential cyberthreats to the military."

Republican senator and one-time presidential nominee contender Lindsey Graham has vowed to pursue investigations into Russian hacking, including possible interference with the election. He told CNN he believes Russia "did interfere with our elections." He also said, "It's pretty clear to me that Wikileaks was designed to hurt (Democratic presidential nominee Hillary) Clinton and it could be us tomorrow."

As many have already noted, should Senate Republicans pursue these investigations into Russia's potential influence on the election, it would likely cause tensions with President-election Donald Trump, who has appeared to foster significantly friendlier relations with Russia and Vladimir Putin.