Some rumours in Moscow suggest that those arrested may be scapegoats in an internal power struggle over the hacking . Russian media reports link the charges to the disclosure of Moscow's role in attacking state election boards, including the scanning of voter rolls in Arizona and Illinois, and do not mention the parallel attacks on the Democratic National Committee and the email of John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman.But one current and one former US official, speaking about the classified recruitments, said human sources in Russia did play a crucial role in proving who was responsible for the hacking. The former official said the agencies were initially reluctant to disclose their certainty for fear of setting off a mole hunt in Russia.Moreover, it was Russian President Vladimir Putin who James Clapper Jr, the former director of national intelligence, told Congress ordered the hacking and leaking. Details of Trump's talks with the other two leaders were not immediately available. The conversations gave the US president an early opportunity to explain new policies that have baffled and unnerved much of the rest of the world -particularly his order to temporarily halt all refugee arrivals and those of travelers from seven mainly Muslim countries including war-wracked Syria.

Source: Economic Times January 29, 2017 07:18 UTC