WASHINGTON _ President Barack Obama said the U.S. must retaliate against Russia for the election-season hack into Democrats' emails and that his administration will do so on its own time frame _ perhaps in secret.
"Some of it may be explicit and publicized, some of it may not be," Obama said during an interview that aired on National Public Radio on Friday morning.
"I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections ... we need to take action," Obama told NPR host Steve Inskeep. "And we will, at a time and place of our own choosing."
Intelligence officials have said they have little doubt that the hacks were part of a Russian effort to influence the outcome of the election. The hacks revealed internal communications of the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Russian officials deny involvement and say the U.S. should show more proof or let the subject drop. Obama has ordered his intelligence network to run a full review before Republican Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
"There are still a whole range of assessments taking place among the agencies," Obama told Inskeep. "And so when I receive a final report, we'll be able to (have) a comprehensive and best guess as to those motivations.
"But that does not in any way, I think, detract from the basic point that everyone during the election perceived accurately _ that in fact what the Russian hack had done was create more problems for the Clinton campaign than it had for the Trump campaign," Obama said.
"There's no doubt that it contributed to an atmosphere in which the only focus for weeks at a time, months at a time were Hillary's emails, the Clinton Foundation, political gossip surrounding the DNC," Obama said.
The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence plans to investigate Russia's actions, committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said Friday.
The committee will interview senior officials "of both the outgoing and incoming administrations," issuing subpoenas if necessary, Burr said in a written statement.
Much of the committee's work is likely to be behind closed doors, however, although it may open up some of the hearings "to help inform the public about the issues," Burr said.
The Senate Armed Services Committee, under its chairman, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, also plans to investigate.
