Months after learning of Russia’s cyberattack on the email networks of U.S. political operatives, President Barack Obama announced new sanctions on Thursday, targeting specific actors and institutions that played a role in the hack. Signed while he was on vacation in Hawaii, Obama’s executive action calls for the ejection of 35 Russian intelligence operatives from the U.S. It also levies sanctions and travel bans on four top officials from the GRU, a Russian intelligence service U.S. officials believe was behind the Russian cyberattack.

“All Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions,” Obama said in a statement, adding that the order “provides additional authority for responding to certain cyber activity that seeks to interfere with or undermine our election processes and institutions, or those of our allies or partners.” Some of the sanctions however, are more symbolic than substantive, as Russian intelligence officials from the GRU scarcely travel to the U.S., and rarely hold assets on U.S. soil.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry Commissioner for Human Rights said the sanctions were “futile and counterproductive,” and demonstrate “the total disorientation of the outgoing US administration.” The Russian embassy in London took to Twitter to air its grievances over Obama’s measures:

President Obama expels 35 diplomats in Cold War deja vu. As everybody, incl people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm. pic.twitter.com/mleqA16H8D

— Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) December 29, 2016

Obama’s response could have an effect on how President-elect Donald Trump deals with the Russian hacking. U.S. intelligence agencies agree that the Kremlin was behind the email hacks in the months leading up to Election Day. The CIA and the FBI recently concluded that the motivation behind the intrusion was to put Trump in the White House. And while a bi-partisan group of Congressmen have called for a congressional investigation into the cyberattack, Trump has largely played down its role in his win; he even called the claims “ridiculous.”

A joint analysis report issued Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI found that Russia conducted hacks in the summer of 2015, and the spring of 2016. The report said the operations targeted “government organizations, critical infrastructure entities, think tanks, universities, political organizations, and corporations leading to the theft of information.” If Trump lifts Obama’s order, he would be contradicting the conclusions of his own intelligence agencies, a move that could lead to friction in Congress.

While vacationing at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Wednesday, Trump was asked by reporters about Obama’s forthcoming response. “I think we ought to get on with our lives,” he said. “I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what is going on. We have speed, we have a lot of other things, but I’m not sure we have the kind, the security we need.”

Meanwhile, some U.S. officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, said there could be more a private, covert response in the near future. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) acknowledged the need to “punch back against Russia” in a statement. He added: “I hope the incoming Trump administration, which has been far too close to Russia throughout the campaign and transition, won’t think for one second about weakening these new sanctions or our existing regime.” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said the sanctions were “overdue” and an “appropriate way to end eight years of failed policy with Russia.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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What do an anonymous Facebook spokesperson and John Podesta have in common? Answer: they both should have brushed up on their “undo send” reflexes. Recent reports reveal that Clinton’s campaign manager and the social media behemoth both made recent regretful email screw-ups.

According to an extensive New York Times report, the hacking of tens of thousands of Podesta’s private emails (which were repeatedly used by the GOP as ammunition against Clinton’s trustworthiness throughout the presidential election) hinged on one single typo from one of Podesta’s aides.

Typo by Clinton aide saw illegitimate written as legitimate. Led to Russians accessing email of campaign chairman https://t.co/5PiDjMHrYj pic.twitter.com/I6uCr8yeyd

— darren (@darrenpauli) December 13, 2016

When Podesta was sent a suspicious phishing email to his personal account asking him to reset his password on March 19, his aides had sense enough to forward the message to a computer technician before clicking the “change password” button.

“This is a legitimate email,” Charles Delavan, a Clinton campaign aide, replied. “John needs to change his password immediately.”

Unfortunately, Delavan knew the email was a fraud and meant to type that it was an “illegitimate” email, and even worse, that email hailed all the way from Russia. His flubbed recommendation allowed for Russian-affiliated hackers to compromise and publish Podesta’s entire archive.

But Hillary’s chairman wasn’t the only victim of email issues this week.

A Facebook spokesperson accidentally sent an email that was  intended for a colleague to a Buzzfeed News reporter that called President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed Muslim registry a “straw man.”

According to Buzzfeed News, Facebook had failed to respond to comment requests on major tech companies’ pledge “not to comply with practices that could be used to target people or build databases based on their religious beliefs.” However, in the email, the PR rep calls this “attacking a straw man.” Here’s the quote:

Happy to talk to her off record about why this is attacking a straw man. Also I heard back from her that she may or may not write an additional piece depending on what response she gets from companies. So sounds like not making any stmt on record is the way to go.

This email error inadvertently became Facebook’s first “pseudo-public” comment on the proposed registry.

Other companies like Twitter, Google, GitHub, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Pandora, Giphy, and Slack have all publicly stated that they wouldn’t assist in the creation of a registry if asked, but Facebook has not officially commented on the issue yet.

However, a Facebook spokesperson did reach out to BuzzFeed News to say: “No one has asked us to build a Muslim registry, and of course we would not do so.”

So in short, the moral of the story is simple. If you want to avoid typos that could possibly threaten your candidate’s political future or sending haphazard internal memos to inquisitive reporters, triple check your emails before you hit send.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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