Media ignores that Obama effectively ended 'Russia hacking' story in final press conference saying emails were 'leaked' rather than 'hacked.' Further, he said US has no evidence of how WikiLeaks got DNC material-Craig Murray.org, AntiMedia.org, Consortium News

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1/19/17, "Obama Makes Incredible Admission About WikiLeaks in Final Press Conference," theantimedia.org, Alice Salles

"President Barack Obama’s last press conference was a success, but only if you consider journalistic incompetence worthy of praise.

During the one-hour affair, Obama answered questions ranging from the commutation of whistleblower Chelsea Manning’s sentence to personal queries concerning his and First Lady Michelle Obama’s approach when talking to their daughters about the 2016 election — not quite a hard-hitting last inquiry for an outgoing president who, as the Los Angeles Times recently noted, managed to keep U.S. military forces “at war for all eight years of [his] tenure.”

But despite the media’s toothless strategy — showing the established press doesn’t understand its own role in a free society — the outgoing president made at least one admission most of the media has also ignored. 

Around the eight-minute mark of the press conference, Obama says he hasn’t “commented on WikiLeaks generally,” and that the 

“conclusions of the intelligence community with respect to the Russian hacking were not conclusive as to whether WikiLeaks was witting or not in being the conduit through which we heard about the [Democratic National Committee] DNC e-mails that were leaked.”

To Craig Murray, an author, broadcaster, and human rights activist, Obama’s comment clarified that the U.S. government has “no evidence of how WikiLeaks got the DNC material.”
 
Obama’s statement is important, Murray continues, because it “undermines the stream of completely evidence-free nonsense that has been emerging from the [U.S.] intelligence services this last two months, in which a series of suppositions have been strung together to make unfounded assertions that have been repeated again and again in the mainstream media.”

Referring to the emails “that were leaked” and not the servers that were hacked, Murray adds, Obama appears to agree with several experts on this subject, making it clear the entire ordeal revolving around the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election is but a smokescreen. 

“I have been repeating that this was a leak, not a hack, until I am blue in the face,” Murray added. But he isn’t the only one. William Binney, a whistleblower who previously worked as Technical Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), has also stated this incident wasn’t a hack. It was a leak.

If it had been a hack, Binney said, the NSA would be able to provide the public with details regarding the actual attack. But from the reports presented so far, that’s clearly not the case. 

Adding that Obama’s reference to the leaked material “appears very natural, fluent and unforced,” Murray celebrates, saying that it “is good to have the truth finally told.”"

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Added: "Obama admits that they have no evidence of how WikiLeaks got the DNC material."

1/19/17, "Stunning Admission from Obama on Wikileaks," craigmurray.org.uk

"In his final press conference, beginning around 8 minutes 30 seconds in, Obama admits that they have no evidence of how WikiLeaks got the DNC material. This undermines the stream of completely evidence-free nonsense that has been emerging from the US intelligence services this last two months, in which a series of suppositions have been strung together to make unfounded assertions that have been repeated again and again in the mainstream media.

Most crucially of all Obama refers to “The DNC emails that were leaked”. Note “leaked” and not “hacked”. I have been repeating that this was a leak, not a hack, until I am blue in the face. William Binney, former Technical Director of the NSA, has asserted that were it a hack the NSA would be able to give the precise details down to the second it occurred, and it is plain from the reports released they have no such information. Yet the media has persisted with this nonsense “Russian hacking” story.

Obama’s reference to the “the DNC emails that were leaked” appears very natural, fluent and unforced. It is good to have the truth finally told."

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Added:

1/20/17, "Obama Admits Gap in Russian ‘Hack’ Case," Consortium News, Ray McGovern

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Added: "More than 20 US intelligence, military, and diplomatic veterans are calling on President Obama to release the evidence backing up allegations that Russian aided the Trump campaign--or admit that the proof is lacking."

1/17/17, "A Demand for Russian ‘Hacking’ Proof," Consortium News

"As President for a few more days, you have the power to demand concrete evidence of a link between the Russians and WikiLeaks, which published the bulk of the information in question. Lacking that evidence, the American people should be told that there is no fire under the smoke and mirrors of recent weeks."...


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