> Obama decided not to make the accusation public before the election so as not to be seen as influencing the election. That's one way to put it. Another would

> Obama decided not to make the accusation public before the election so as not to be seen as influencing the election. That's one way to put it. Another would be to say that he and others thought Clinton was going to win, i.e., that the hacking wasn't a big deal. Now it is. This is one reason Dems do not have credibility on this issue- either it's a problem for our democracy or it isn't, regardless of the winner. Another reason is Dems poured cold water on the idea that the election's outcome could be illegitimate, back when trump was saying he'd contest the result if he lost. Now the shoe is on the other foot and Dems are stuck trying to declare the result illegitimate. Personally, I doubt the strength of the effect this had on the result of the election, and the Dems bungled it themselves by running a bad campaign and a poor candidate. Now they want to point the finger elsewhere.