The collective response from Capitol Hill and the public has been mostly muted on the Salt Typhoon hack, which involves the advanced Chinese government hacking group gaining access to at least 80 U.S. and global telecom providers in recent months. | Andy Wong/AP
With help from John Sakellariadis and Daniel Lippman
Most major U.S. telecommunications providers were hit with one of the worst cyberattacks in the nation’s history, and wide swaths of the population’s privacy has been compromised by Chinese hackers.
But despite the lights clearly blinking red, the collective response from Capitol Hill and the public has been mostly muted.
The hack, which officials said last week is still ongoing, involves an advanced Chinese government hacking group dubbed Salt Typhoon gaining access to at least 80 U.S. and global telecom providers in recent months. In the process, they managed to tap into the phones of major U.S. officials, including President-elect DONALD TRUMP and Vice President-elect JD VANCE, as well as skim records around U.S. intelligence collection. Hackers had such wide-reaching access that officials warned last week that Americans should only use encrypted communications to prevent the hackers from listening in on their calls or reading their texts.
With increased scrutiny, details about the massive global hack are starting to trickle out. Officials said last week that they first discovered the hack in the spring, though the first public announcement from the federal government was in October, with warnings about the sheer scale and ongoing nature of the hacks ramping up the past two weeks.
And yet, as your lead NatSec Daily host stood outside a classified briefing for the full Senate last week on Capitol Hill, I was one of only two reporters staked out to question senators as they left on their reactions. The responses were furious and loaded — Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.) went as far as to say that the hack was “the most disturbing and widespread incursion into our telecommunications systems in the history of the world.”
Outside a similar classified hearing about the hack for the full House earlier this week, I was one of only a few reporters waiting outside the briefing. The turnout was even worse for lawmakers, with House Intelligence Committee ranking member JIM HIMES (D-Conn.) saying around 67 members “plus or minus three” attended.
“I would have loved to have seen 435, but they have their own autonomy,” Himes acknowledged.
The majority of senators appeared to have attended their briefing the week before, but the exact number isn’t known.
To this reporter, the relative lack of concern by officials is somewhat baffling. I have covered cybersecurity for the majority of the past decade, and during past major cybersecurity incidents, officials couldn’t talk enough about how they were taking action to protect the nation.
Case in point: the SolarWinds hack, which was discovered in late 2020 but had been ongoing for over a year, and allowed the Russian government to access the majority of federal agencies. I spent weeks covering the hack, filing countless stories and talking with dozens of lawmakers, and the incoming Biden administration at the time was forced to put cybersecurity on the front burner from day one.
This time around? Crickets. A few lawmakers are putting together legislation to help step up cybersecurity for telecom companies, and the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing on the topic this week. But overall? The attitude seems to be save it for after the holidays and for the next administration. A federal panel investigating the hack is not expected to produce recommendations until halfway through 2025, and the incoming Trump administration has not yet indicated its next steps on tackling the fallout.
The collective shrug around Salt Typhoon can also be seen across the news industry, where headlines about Salt Typhoon are making the rounds in the cybersecurity community, but generally aren’t splashed across front pages. In fairness, the news cycle at the moment is exhausting for reporters and readers alike — there’s a new administration forming, major global conflicts rage on and people are looking to take a break from it all over the holidays. Worrying about a massive and likely devastating global hack does not feel very merry.
And many details about the hack — when it happened, who was impacted, the extent of the damage — are slowly emerging and are still not totally clear, making it difficult for the layperson to follow.
But Beijing is taking notes on the sluggish U.S. response. At the one Senate Commerce hearing on the topic held Wednesday, JAMES LEWIS, director of the Strategic Technologies Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, testified about the need for the U.S. to counter Chinese hacking operations by giving Beijing a taste of its own medicine through U.S. offensive hacking. Otherwise, he warned, China would just keep going.
“The Chinese aren’t that interested in making a deal with us. I was there in September and they basically said, ‘You’re on a downhill path, why should we deal with you now?,’” Lewis said of talks around lowering cyberattacks. “I think the first step is to engage, warn them, and take action.”
The Inbox
BLINKEN, SULLIVAN IN THE MIDEAST: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN are crisscrossing the Middle East to address the ouster of Syrian leader BASHAR AL-ASSAD and rally support for a deal to release hostages in Gaza — and they’re voicing some optimism about the prospect of a hostage deal.
Fresh off his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Sullivan told reporters Netanyahu is ready to make a deal that would see remaining Israelis in Hamas captivity released. “And when I go to Doha and Cairo my goal will be to put us in a position to close this deal this month … I wouldn't be here today if I thought this thing was waiting until January 20.” The issue also came up in Blinken’s meetings with Jordanian King ABDULLAH II.
And Hamas might be ready to agree to a deal too. Arab mediators told The Wall Street Journal’s SUMMER SAID that Hamas has agreed to two of Israel’s main demands for a cease-fire deal in Gaza, including a provision that would keep Israeli troops in the territory.
XI WHO’S COMING TO TOWN: The big Trump-China headline this week? Trump invited Chinese leader XI JINPING to his inauguration, Eric reports.
On Fox and Friends this morning, Trump spokesperson (and incoming White House press secretary) KAROLINE LEAVITT confirmed a CBS report that Xi got an invite to the Jan. 20 festivities. She defended the move as evidence that Trump is “creating open dialogue” with anyone, including U.S. adversaries. It’s unclear, however, if Xi will accept the invite.
IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil.
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Transition 2024
FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — LANDING FOR LANGLEY: The Heritage Foundation’s ROBERT GREENWAY is on the landing team for the Central Intelligence Agency, two people familiar with the matter told our own JOHN SAKELLARIADIS and DANIEL LIPPMAN.
An Army Special Forces Combat veteran, Greenway served as a senior National Security Council official in the first Trump Administration, where he focused on the Middle East and North Africa. Prior to that, he was a senior intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Greenway is the third member of the CIA landing team that NatSec Daily has confirmed. He’ll be working alongside CLIFF SIMS and MICHAEL ELLIS in the role.
Greenway declined to comment. BRIAN HUGHES, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition, said in a statement only that the “Transition is sharing landing team lists with the White House.”
A ROLE FOR GRENELL AFTER ALL? It looks like Trump ally RICHARD GRENELL may not leave the transition empty-handed after all.
In a post on Truth Social late Wednesday night, Trump wrote that “Richard Grenell is a fabulous person, A STAR. He will be someplace, high up!” and linked to a Reuters report that the former ambassador to Germany was being considered for the role of special envoy to Iran.
Speculation has swirled about Grenell’s future in the incoming Trump administration — he and his allies fought hard for him to be named secretary of State, and he turned down other roles in the administration like director of national intelligence — after the Trump loyalist was seemingly snubbed for high-level foreign policy and national security roles.
Grenell did not respond to a request for comment about Trump’s post. But on X he did swat the Reuters story about the Iran envoy role, writing: “Wrong. Again. I hope there’s an actual editor somewhere at @Reuters who is doing journalism. This is made up.”
The Complex
DRONE SPAT: Rep. JEFF VAN DREW (R-N.J.) isn’t backing down after the Pentagon swatted down his claims that mysterious drones spotted over New Jersey are being launched from an Iranian ship off the coast of the United States.
As our own SAM SKOVE reports (for Pros!), the Pentagon on Wednesday rejected the New Jersey Republican's unsubstantiated claims that drones as big as six feet wide were flying around the state and launching from an Iranian "mothership.” So too did New Jersey Gov. PHIL MURPHY, a Democrat, who accused Van Drew of trying to “fear-monger” about Iran.
But Van Drew is adamant, and told Sam in an interview that ”whistleblowers” with security clearances indicated there was a “real possibility it could be Iran, that it could be a ship.” He also said the drones could be Chinese.
The spat comes as fears have mounted about the use of drones for espionage purposes, especially as the war in Ukraine has provided new ways for drone operators to mask the signals of the devices and evade detection.
National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY said at the White House today that “we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus” and added that the U.S. cannot corroborate or verify any of the sightings.
On the Hill
FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — PROTECTING WEST BANK SETTLERS SANCTIONS: A group of Democratic lawmakers is pushing to codify into law Biden administration sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank accused of committing acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory.
A bill introduced in the Senate led by Sen. PETER WELCH (D-Vt.) and co-sponsored by Sens. DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.), BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.), JACK REED (D-R.I.), CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-Md.) and JEFF MERKLEY (D-Ore.) would enshrine into law sanctions the Biden administration imposed this year against settlers who have committed violent acts — including arson, property destruction and shootings — against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank following the Oct. 7 terror attacks.
A companion bill was introduced in the House by Rep. SUMMER LEE (D-Penn.). Its sponsors include Reps. SARA JACOBS (D-Calif.), JIM McGOVERN (D-Mass.), ANDRÉ CARSON (D-Ind.) and MARK POCAN (D-Wisc.).
In a statement to NatSec Daily, Welch said: “We must ensure accountability for extremists who perpetrate violence against civilians in the West Bank and reaffirm our commitment to a lasting Middle East peace.”
It’s unclear if the bill will gain traction — Republicans sharply opposed the Biden administration’s efforts to punish Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank and it is expected that Trump will rescind the sanctions early into his tenure. But the bill commands the support of Reed, who chairs the powerful Armed Services Committee and could use his influence to advance the bill.
Broadsides
FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — GEORGIA REPRISALS: The Biden administration is expected to announce more visa restrictions against Georgian officials involved in undermining the country’s democracy, two current and one former official tell NatSec Daily.
Still, former senior U.S. and Georgian officials are lambasting the Biden administration for not doing enough to help the small country in the Caucasus region salvage its fragile democracy — even with several rounds of visa restrictions.
“My country is fighting for its life to prevent effectively what is a pro-Russia coup and the U.S. is missing in action,” said one former senior Georgian official, who was granted anonymity to discuss their views freely.
“We’re doing nowhere near enough and frankly it is appalling to me, the U.S. response so far,” said DAVID KRAMER, executive director of the George W. Bush Institute and an expert on Russia and Eurasia.
Violent clashes between Georgian security forces and protesters have rocked the country’s capital of Tbilisi for nearly two weeks. The clashes are over what’s seen by Western officials as the increasingly pro-Russia and authoritarian tendencies of the country’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, following disputed elections in October. Observers say the unfolding situation serves as a key litmus test on Europe’s eastern edge for the outgoing Biden administration’s global democracy agenda.
“I’d strongly push back on the notion that we’re not doing enough to stand with the Georgian people,” a Biden White House official, granted anonymity to speak freely, said in response to the criticisms. This official pointed to a slew of visa restrictions and other sanctions the United States issued for Georgian figures it sees as undermining the country’s democracy. Blinken also issued a statement in support of the Georgian people on Dec. 4. Additionally, the administration paused nearly $100 million in foreign assistance to Georgia in August.
In Congress, Sens. JIM RISCH (R-Idaho) and JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.) have led the charge on legislation to sanction Georgian officials involved in undermining the country’s democratic institutions. Former U.S. officials and Senate aides say the bill could be folded into the major defense policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act, that Congress is currently working through.
Former U.S. and Georgian officials are pushing the Biden administration to do more. This includes sanctioning Georgia’s prime minister, IRAKLI KOBAKHIDZE, and BIDZINA IVANISHVILI, a Georgian billionaire widely seen as the current government’s de facto ruler from behind the scenes.
“I am incredibly frustrated with the Biden administration and its dilatory approach in imposing sanctions,” said Kramer. “We are demoralizing the protesters who are very pro-American and pro-European and pro-democracy and we’re giving Bidzina the impression he can get away with it.”
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Transitions
— Trump filled out more of his Latin America team Wednesday night. In a series of Truth Social posts, he named donors LEANDRO RIZZUTO JR., DAN NEWLIN and PETER LAMELAS to the ambassadorships to the Organization of American States, Colombia and Argentina.
— Trump also named MICHAEL RIGAS as deputy secretary of State for management and resources and Arizona Senate hopeful KARI LAKE as the new director of government broadcaster Voice of America. In his post about Lake, Trump signaled he would shake up the leadership of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which funds and produces U.S.-funded broadcasts in local languages around the world.
