Washington
US President Donald Trump on Saturday accused The New York Times of "a virtual act of treason," after it reported the US is stepping up digital incursions into Russia's electric power grid.
Current
and former government officials have described the classified
deployment of American computer code inside Russia's power grid and
other targets, the Times reported.
The action
is intended partly as a warning but also to leave the US poised to
conduct cyber strikes in the event of a major conflict between the US
and Russia, the newspaper said.
TWEET
Trump
tweeted that the accusations were "NOT TRUE," calling the media
"corrupt" and repeating accusations that journalists are "the enemy of
the people."
"Do you believe that the Failing New York Times just did a story
stating that the United States is substantially increasing Cyber
Attacks on Russia," he wrote.
"This is a virtual act of Treason by a once great paper so desperate for a story, any story, even if bad for our Country."
The Times
report came after an investigation by US special counsel Robert Mueller
of alleged hacking by Russia's GRU intelligence agency and social media
manipulation by Russia's Internet Research Agency to benefit Trump's
election campaign.
MULLER REPORT
Mueller detailed a disturbing number of contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia ahead of the 2016 poll.
Trump claimed the report cleared him of wrongdoing.
On
the question of obstruction of justice, the report did not conclude
Trump committed a crime, but Mueller wrote that "it also does not
exonerate him."
In its Saturday report, the Times
described "broad hesitation to go into detail with Mr Trump about
operations against Russia for concern over his reaction – and the
possibility that he might countermand it or discuss it with foreign
officials."
NO SECURITY CONCERNS
The Times
also cited National Security Council officials as saying they had no
security concerns about the newspaper's reporting on the digital
incursions, perhaps indicating that some of the intrusions were meant to
be noticed by the Russians.
The New York Times,
Washington Post and other publications have issued numerous
investigative reports into Trump and his administration, with probes
also under way by Congressional committees.
In February
the publisher of the Times, A.G. Sulzberger, said Trump's attacks on
the press were "reckless" and "dangerous" and threatened to encourage
violence against journalists.
"America's founders
believed that a free press was essential to democracy because it is the
foundation of an informed, engaged citizenry," he said in a statement.
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