WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday strongly suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally authorised the computer hacks of Democratic Party e-mails that American intelligence officials say were aimed at helping Republican Donald Trump win the November 8 election. But with only a month left in office, during a somber press conference before leaving for a family holiday in Hawaii, Obama spoke despairingly about the “nasty” state of US politics, saying the chasm between Democrats and Republicans has made it possible for Russia to cause mischief. Obama said he has “great confidence” in intelligence reports he has seen showing that Russians hacked into e-mails belonging to the Democratic National Committee and to John Podesta, who was campaign chairman for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The leaked e-mails revealed details of paid speeches Clinton gave to Wall Street, party infighting and comments from top aides to Clinton who were shocked about...
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