1. ‘Russians were responsible’
“Based on uniform intelligence assessments, the Russians were responsible for hacking the DNC,” Barack Obama told reporters. But he declined to say whether he thought Russia won the election for Trump.
Summary
“I’m finding it a little curious that everybody’s acting surprised that this [hacking] would have undermined the election of Hillary Clinton because you guys wrote about it every day,” Obama said. “This was an obsession that dominated the news coverage.”
'No tampering'
I can assure the public that there was not the kind of tampering with the voting process that was a concern and will continue to be a concern. That the votes that were cast were counted, they were counted appropriately. We have not seen evidence of machines being tampered with.
– Barack Obama
2. Clinton blames ‘personal beef’
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of having a “personal beef” against her. She cited criticism she made as secretary of state that Russia’s 2011 parliamentary elections were rigged as the motive.
3. CIA says FBI accepts Russian hacking
CIA director John Brennan told staff he had met with the head of the FBI and the director of national intelligence and “there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election.”
Somebody please loop in the next president
Are we talking about the same cyberattack where it was revealed that head of the DNC illegally gave Hillary the questions to the debate?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2016
4. Michelle Obama speaks with Oprah
I feel that Barack has been that for the nation in ways that people will come to appreciate. Having a grown-up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil ‘hey it’s going to be OK, let’s remember the good things that we have, let’s look at the future, let’s look at all the things that we’re building’.
– Michelle Obama
5. Obama describes ‘cordial’ Trump chats
They have been cordial, and in some cases have involved me making some pretty specific suggestions about… maintaining the effectiveness, integrity, cohesion of the office, our various democratic institutions. And he has listened. I can’t say that he will end up implementing.
– Barack Obama
6. Become a Guardian member
It might take just a minute to catch up on the latest campaign news. But good journalism takes time and costs money. If you like the Guardian’s politics coverage, please consider joining us by becoming a member for only $6.99 a month. Thanks for reading!
7. Obama defends Syria policy
Acknowledging a slaughter in Aleppo, Obama defended his policy, saying, “unless we were all in and we were willing to take over Syria, then we were going to have problems.” He said Russia and Iran had “blood on their hands.”
...and another thing:
Charity fundraising page auctioning off coffee date with Ivanka Trump taken down without explanation after scrutiny https://t.co/T6P3wVMAMk pic.twitter.com/ysbsKhiMeg
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) December 16, 2016
