President-elect Donald Trump offered a short response to President Barack Obama’s retaliatory measures against Russia.
“It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things,” Trump said in a two-sentence statement released just after 6 p.m. EST. “Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation.”
Trump’s insistence that “it’s time to move on” may rankle some in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, many of whom contend that Russia deliberately attempted to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Obama announced a series of measures Thursday, which include the removal of 35 Russian operatives currently residing in the U.S. The individuals have 72 hours to leave the country. (RELATED: President Obama Signs Exec. Order Raising Sanctions Against Russian For Hacks)
Obama also announced that Russians would not longer have access to two facilities used for intelligence gathering and as a retreat by Russian operatives and diplomats working in the United States. The Russian Federation maintained ownership of a 45 acre property on Maryland’s Eastern Shore (not far from Washington, D.C.).
The retreat near Centreville, Maryland was purchased by the Soviet Union in 1972 and transferred to the Russian Federation in 1995. The property was widely covered as a retreat for Russian diplomats for decades. Obama also shut down another site in New York.
Obama also said that there would be summary reports from specific intelligence agencies, set to be released before the end of his presidency.
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