White House employees were instructed not to publish a statement about the possible involvement of Russia in hacker attacks on the computer networks of the US government.
According to AP, US officials were ready to publish this statement on the afternoon of December 18, but the decision was withdrawn “at the last moment.” However, it does not explain what caused the US administration to change its mind.
Bloomberg previously reported that a group of hackers, backed by a foreign government, was able to gain access to the US Treasury and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in order to steal data from these departments. The agency accused Russia of involvement in the cyber attack.