Trump faults Obama for US response to Russian hacking

President Donald Trump today scolded the Obama administration for not responding aggressively enough to Russian hacking of Democratic targets in the 2016 US election - cyberattacks underpinning the indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers.

Trump's first response to special counsel Robert Mueller's initial charges against Russian government officials for interfering in American politics came in tweets the president posted while at his golf resort in Scotland, two days before a high-stakes summit in Finland with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration," Trump tweeted.

"Why didn't they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?
Trump said this past week during his trip to Europe that he would "absolutely, firmly" raise the election-meddling issue with Putin at their meeting, though he added, "I don't think you'll have any 'Gee, I did it, I did it. You got me!'"
Leading Democratic senators asked Trump in a letter today to scrap the summit "if you are not prepared to make Russia's attack on our election the top issue you will discuss."
Trump's secretary of state, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, said he was confident the meeting "will put America in a better place. It's very important that they meet."
Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about Russian involvement in the hacking while being accused by Democrats of cozying up to Putin. Trump, hours before the indictment was made public, complained about the Russia investigation hours, saying the "stupidity" was making it "very hard to do something with Russia."