Kash Patel to Newsmax: Biden's Lack of Knowledge on Cyberattack 'Scares Me'

President Joe Biden earlier, while at the G-7 summit, called cybersecurity attacks on infrastructure a red line, but Kash Patel, the former principal deputy to acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell and the deputy assistant to ex-President Donald Trump on counterterrorism told Newsmax it "scares" him that Biden says he needs further briefing on a massive holiday weekend ransomware attack.

"Two days ago, he ordered his intelligence community to brief him on the matter," Patel told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "(Having run) operations within the intelligence community, if he doesn't already know about it, that scares me more than almost whether or not he's going to respond."

Researchers on Saturday said the ransomware attack on the Miami-based IT company Kaseya potentially targeted 1,000 businesses. Russian-based hackers have been blamed for other ransomware attacks after Biden took office, and he took up the threat while talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva in June.

Saturday, Biden ordered the investigation, saying that "the initial thinking was it was not the Russian government, but we're not sure yet."

Patel noted Tuesday that the breach was the third major one since Biden took office.

"What it does is it basically freezes these companies' abilities to operate, which in turn freezes these companies' abilities to operate, which in turn freezes their customers' accounts ... it freezes people out of the American economic system, is the long and short of it."

The United States, meanwhile, has "some of the most exquisite intelligence infrastructure in place to determine and detect these types of ransomware attacks or cyberattacks," said Patel. "More importantly, we have the ability to block them, if it's a priority for the administration, but again, it doesn't seem to be a priority for the administration. They just want political talking points and he wants to hand President Putin note cards on what not to attack. I don't think this is going to slow down in the near future."

He continued that while the United States should be considering taking clandestine action, the Biden administration should do something publicly to restore the public's trust.

Under the Trump administration, tariffs were executed against the Russian Federation, and now, "we should start issuing sanctions against Vladimir Putin and his cronies who are causing these cyberattacks," said Patel. "There are very public and very economically damaging actions that the U. S government can take so the American people can witness to see that the American government has its back."

Patel also said he doesn't think Congress will pass legislation to keep companies that are targeted from paying ransom to get their computer systems back.

He also doesn't think the attacks are occurring without Putin's knowledge or blessing.

"Vladimir Putin is a KGB officer," said Patel. "That means he is a spy through and through. HE didn't stop being a spy when he became the head of the Russian Federation. He changed their Constitution so he could serve for the rest of his life. That is how Russia is run, and whether he directed it personally or indirectly, that is the policy of the Russian Federation to impede the American infrastructure, and he continues to do so, 10 days after meeting with the American president in Geneva, Switzerland. Seems like they've got a great relationship, doesn't it?"

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