Story highlights White House press secretary said a "range" of responses were on the table

The promise of retaliation came the same day that a new tranche of hacked Democratic emails were released

Washington (CNN) The White House said Tuesday it would respond to Russian hacking of US political groups, after publicly pointing the finger at Moscow for the cyberattacks last week.

The response will be "proportional," press secretary Josh Earnest said, without elaborating. He said the actions would likely not be announced ahead of time and could never be made public.

Speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Earnest said a "range" of responses were on the table.

Last Friday's announcement was the first time the government has publicly blamed another country for hacking with the goal of influencing a US election.

The joint statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security said not only were they confident the hacks of Democratic political groups and campaign officials originated from high levels of the Russian government, they said the posting of those hacked emails online was part of the effort.

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