Barr says US government hack appears to be Russia despite Trump trying to deflect suspicion from Moscow

It was outgoing attorney general’s third major contradiction of the president on his way out the door

Attorney General William Barr has said he supports intelligence assessments that Russia is behind the massive cyber-espionage operation against the US that Donald Trump has tried to blame on China.

Asked whether Russia was responsible for the massive SolarWinds hack, Mr Barr contradicted the president’s attempts to deflect focus for the hack away from the Kremlin.

“From the information I have, I agree with secretary [Mike] Pompeo’s assessment, it certainly appears to be the Russians but I’m not going to discuss it beyond that,” Mr Barr said.  

Mr Trump on Saturday contradicted his secretary of state’s assessment that Russia was behind the attack that the US’s top cybersecurity agency has warned poses a “grave” risk.

“The Cyber Hack is far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed and everything is well under control,” Mr Trump tweeted.

“Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because Lamestream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China (it may!).”

Mr Pompeo said a day earlier that Russia was “pretty clearly” behind the operation that affected US agencies including Defence, State, Treasury, Homeland Security and Commerce, as well as the Department of Energy’s National Security Administration, which is responsible for the country's nuclear arsenal.

“This was a very significant effort and I think it’s the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity,” Mr Pompeo said in the interview with radio talk show host Mark Levin.

Mr Barr agreed with that assessment in his last major public appearance before leaving the Justice Department on Wednesday following his resignation last week.

While Mr Barr rarely contradicted Mr Trump openly during his tenure, the SolarWinds hack was the third of three major breaks with the president during his last press conference on the way out the door.

He also said that there was no reason to appoint a special counsel to the investigations into either Hunter Biden or allegations of voter fraud, while also saying there was no basis for wholesale seizure of voting machines by the federal government.

Mr Trump’s suggestion that the cyber-attack could have been perpetrated by China, and targeted at voting machines, was seen as a pretence for appointing a special counsel to investigate election results in swing states where Dominion Voting System machines counted ballots.

Asked if the president has the legal authority to order the seizure of voting machines across the country, Mr Barr pushed back on the Trump campaign’s efforts.

“I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government, you know wholesale seizure of machines by the federal government,” Mr Barr said.

The attorney general was speaking at a press conference to mark the 32nd anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing of Flight 103 that killed 270 people in Scotland in 1988.

The Justice Department has announced charges against a Libyan man alleged to have constructed the bomb.