After Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth made it official that the Pentagon no longer considers Russia a cyber threat, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton clapped back with a brutal one-liner.
The cybersecurity outlet The Record first reported that Hegseth ordered U.S. Cyber Command to âstand down from all planning against Russia, including offensive digital actions.â The report, based on information from three anonymous sources familiar with the situation, noted that the order does not extend to the National Security Agency (NSA).
The move is a dramatic reversal from the prior U.S. stance, which consistently identified Russia as one of the countryâs top cybersecurity threats. Extensive reporting and government investigations have documented numerous instances of Russian hacking into U.S. systems.
Meanwhile, The Guardian reported that a recent memo circulated to staff at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) laid out ânew prioritiesâ for the agency. While the memo addressed digital threats from China and other adversaries, it notably failed to mention Russiaâa crystal clear sign of how much the U.S. has pivoted.
And in came Clinton with this cutting observation:
"Wouldn't want to hurt Putin's feelings."
You can see her post below.
And people loved the burn.
Hegseth has continued to appeal to Russia and recently reaffirmed his stance on the terms of a potential Ukraine-Russia peace deal, stating that his role was to "introduce realism to the conversation."
His remarks sparked strong backlash from NATO allies and even some members of his own party. However, Hegseth dismissed the idea that he had softened his position during a press conference with Polandâs defense minister.
He asserted that Ukraine would not regain all of its lost territory from Russia and would not be granted NATO membership, which would have served as the ultimate security guarantee against future aggression from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
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