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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">Tom Cotton tries to blame Russian hacks on Obama and Clinton — but NSA chief refuses to take the bait</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><a href="https://www.rawstory.com/author/travis/" class=""><b class="">TRAVIS GETTYS</b></a></span><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><b class="">,
</b></span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><b class="">Raw Story,
</b><a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/09/" class=""><span style="line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);" class=""><b class="">09 MAY 2017</b></span></a><b class=""> </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) suggested former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were to blame for Russian interference in the
presidential election.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">The Arkansas Republican questioned Adm. Mike Rogers, director of the National Security Agency, during a hearing Tuesday of the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he asked the official
why his agency disagreed with the assessments of two other intelligence agencies that Russia intended to aid Donald Trump.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>Rogers told the committee that evidence points to the likelihood that Russia tried to help boost Trump over Clinton, but he could
not sign off on that explanation because he didn’t believe enough evidence had been found to prove it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">Cotton conceded most of that evidence was classified and could not be discussed in the hearing, but he pointed to campaign statements Trump had made about boosting defense spending and North
American oil exploration.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>“None of those things seem to be favorable to the Kremlin,” Cotton said. “Did your agency take those things into account?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>Rogers said the NSA had considered those remarks, and then Cotton recited a litany of statements and actions hyped for years by
conservative media that he suggested showed weakness by former President Barack Obama.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">“President Trump promised to reverse those policies, Secretary Clinton largely campaigned on continuity,” Cotton said. “That doesn’t sound to me something that the Kremlin would be happy about.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"></span>Rogers said the intelligence seemed clear that Russia preferred Trump, even if he couldn’t say with certainty that Putin worked
on behalf of the Republican candidate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">“Do you think, given that eight-year history of the Obama administration, that Russian intelligence and leadership felt emboldened to undertake the hacks of those e-mail systems and release
them?” Cotton said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; font-family: Times; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><img alt="7c833864-4d0b-496a-983f-8aa07df382a9.gif" apple-inline="yes" id="B7CFECAD-C4A9-45D1-AC83-214A98C8E518" src="cid:A76AE8A8-1FB1-4161-8CF9-E28FE1BCB47F" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre">
</span></span><span style="font-kerning: none; background-color: #ffffff" class="">Rogers declined to take the bait.</span></div>
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<span style="font-kerning: none" class="">“Now, you are in to political judgment, sir, and that’s not my area,” Rogers said.</span></div>
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