"I don't think we're quite ready yet to make a call on attribution," Spy chief James Clapper. | Getty Top spy: Despite intelligence 'war' with Russians, it's too soon to blame them for DNC hack

Spy chief James Clapper said Thursday that U.S. intelligence services are facing a "version of war" with Russia — but it's too soon to blame the old Cold War rival for hacking the Democratic National Committee's emails.

He said it's also too early to say whether the people who leaked those emails are trying to throw the presidential election to Donald Trump, as Hillary Clinton's campaign has charged.


"I don't think we're quite ready yet to make a call on attribution," Clapper said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. "There are just a few usual suspects out there." Additionally, he said, "We don't know enough to ascribe motivation regardless of who it might have been."

The reasons for the administration's reluctance to assign blame are a combination of two factors, Clapper said: uncertainty about whether the Russians are the culprits, and the lack of a decision yet on whether the U.S. should "name and shame" them if indeed they committed the cyberattack.

No one should be "hyperventilating" about the hack, though, he said. "I'm shocked somebody did some hacking," he said, sarcastically taking the voice of someone who was surprised. "That's never happened before."

Cybersecurity firms have identified Russian intelligence services as the culprits, as have U.S. intelligence officials speaking to reporters under condition of anonymity. And Clapper said this style of info-warfare is in keeping with Russian practices dating back to the former Soviet Union.

Russia's idea of disrupting an election "philosophically isn't terribly different than what went on in the heyday of the Cold War," Clapper said. "We didn’t have the cyber business as a part of this. As far as their approach and philosophy to this, cyber just represents another tool."

Clapper said it wouldn't be out of character for Russia to try to manipulate U.S. elections, since Vladimir Putin wants his country to be seen as a power equal to the United States.

"In the environs of the former Soviet orb, the Russians will push to exert influence, will attempt to influence political processes in these countries, as we’ve seen them do," he said. "To me it’s not a great leap to assume they’re similarly motivated to do the same here."

Asked if he considered himself to be at war with Russia, Clapper answered: "Well, that’s the nature of the intelligence business. If you want to put it in that context, I guess we’re, quote, at war. We’re doing an operational mission seven by 24, 365, against a number of known adversaries and potential adversaries. In a sense, I guess that’s our version of war."