Rosenstein's Presser on Iran Hacking Is Extremely Concerning

This morning, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein gave a press conference announcing the indictment of nine Iranians in a "massive" hacking scheme on behalf of Tehran. It was an unsettling press conference for a number of reasons, starting with the continued absense of an equivalent presser on Russian hacking, even after Guccifer 2.0, the hacker who claimed credit for giving stolen DNC emails to Wikileaks, was revealed this week to be a Russian intelligence officer.

And then there is this:

This major Justice Department press conference on Iranian hacking the day after Trump announces John Bolton as his new National Security Advisor is making me nervous. It feels like a predicate for war.

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) March 23, 2018

That is not hyperbole. To the absolute contrary, this appears to be the culmination of groundwork which the administration has been laying for some time.

Recall that, in January, we learned that the draft of the Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review called for expanded nuclear capacity and further outlined the permitted use of nuclear weapons in response to cyberattacks.

Now, the day after Trump onboards John Bolton as his new National Security Advisor, a man who advocated preemptive strikes on Iran, the Justice Department lays out a case against Iranian hackers.

In sum, on the Iran hacks:

* Multiple Trump admin members want war with Iran
* Trump wants to use nuclear weapons
* Yesterday Trump hired Bolton, who wants both war with Iran and pre-emptive nuke strikes
* Pentagon now says the US can use nukes in response to major cyberattacks

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) March 23, 2018

This is extremely concerning. And I don't think there's a damn thing we can do about it, but, at the very minimum, we need to understand and acknowledge what's going on.