President Obama has defended his administration’s response to Russia’s interference in the U.S. election, telling reporters during his final press conference of the year that he personally told Vladimir Putin to ‘cut it out.’ Obama said his goal was to send a clear message to Russia and other parties trying to hack U.S. infrastructure: ‘We can do stuff to you.’ He blamed ‘the highest level’ of the Russian government for the hacks, noting that ‘not much happens in Russia’ without Putin giving the green light.
