Trump on suspected Russian court hack: "Are you surprised?"
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President Donald Trump downplayed the significance of Russia's reported involvement in a hack of the U.S. federal court filing system during a press conference Wednesday.
- "Are you surprised?" he told a reporter. "They hack in, that's what they do. They're good at it."
Why it matters: These are Trump's first comments about the recently reported cyberattack, and they come ahead of Trump's scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
Driving the news: The New York Times reported Tuesday that federal investigators suspect Russia is behind the massive breach of a computer system that manages federal court documents, including highly sensitive records.
- Politico first reported on the breach last week. Hackers are believed to have targeted the same security flaws that were exploited in a 2020 breach of the same filing system.
What they're saying: During a press conference at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, a reporter asked Trump if he had seen reports that Russia broke into the court systems and whether he planned to bring it up during his meeting with Putin.
- "I guess I could, but are you surprised?" Trump said. "They hack in, that's what they do. They're good at it, we're good at it — we're actually better at it. But no, I have heard about it."
The big picture: Trump appointees in the intelligence community have spent recent weeks downplaying Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election — claiming the Obama administration suppressed evidence to perpetrate a "hoax" against Trump.
- The Obama administration never alleged Russia changed vote tallies, but determined that Russia had spread misinformation and taken other steps in order to help Trump.
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