Barr disputes Trump in citing Russia behind cyberattack

Outgoing Attorney General William Barr on Monday said it “certainly appears” Russia is behind a massive cyberattack on US federal government agencies, an accusation that is in contrast with President Donald Trump, who has avoided condemning Moscow for the incident.

“I agree with Secretary Pompeo’s assessment. It certainly appears to be the Russians, but I’m not going to discuss it beyond that,” Barr said at a news conference, referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s comments last week that “we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.”

It’s the latest notable break by Barr from Trump’s political agenda. At the same news conference, he said there was no need to appoint a special counsel to investigate President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter, and the attorney general has disputed Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud.

Barr’s comments also underline Trump’s extraordinary willingness to dispute top officials in his own administration who have pointed to Russia as a suspect when condemning nefarious activity.

In his first public comments on the cyberattack over the weekend, Trump suggested that “it may be China” that’s responsible, even though White House officials had drafted a statement assigning blame to Russia for the attack and were preparing to release it Friday afternoon before being told to stand down, people familiar with the plans have told CNN. Officials initially weren’t told why the statement was pulled back.

The statement, the people said, placed blame on Russia for orchestrating the attack but left open the possibility that other actors were involved.

Officials in the Trump administration have said the cyberattack “poses a grave risk” to networks across both the public and private sector.

This story is breaking and will be updated.