NEW: “I have all the authority I need” per @DeptofDefense Sec Jim Mattis when asked about countering possible #Russia info ops/#cyber attacks red #Election2018

"We all saw in 2016 what happened when the #Russia|ns & possibly others, but the Russians for certain tried to do both influence operations & actually get in & actually corrupt some of the election process" per SecDef Mattis before meeting w/#British Defense Sec @GavinWilliamson

"The adversaries may be more than just #Russia" @DeptofDefense Sec Mattis tells reporters re #election security "We are not focused solely on one country. We are focused on protecting the elections themselves"

"I believe it is official #Russia|n support however that is not exclusive" per SecDef Mattis of election meddling "There is also activities that went on that are perhaps not directly ascribed...But we atch for all of it & we can trace at least parts of it back to the Russian gvt"

Are #Russia info ops targeting US troops?
"Like all Americans we have to be alert to the people who would try to manipulate an election in the information age when there's so many feeds coming in to everybody" per @DeptofDefense Sec Jim Mattis

"Certainly we pay attention to that" per SecDef Mattis of #Russia info ops aimed at US troops "But its part of the larger domain of protecting America"

Status of US #SpaceForce - "We need to address space as a developing warfighting domain &a combatant command is certainly one thing that we can establish" per SecDef Mattis "We are in complete alignment w/the president's concern about protecting our assets in space"

"We are working our way through all this" add SecDef Mattis of @POTUS request for a Space Force Combatant Command "What that actual organization will look like is it will be fit for purpose...but I don't have all the final answers yet"

No timeline for answers on a possible US Space Force, says @DeptofDefense Sec Jim Mattis
"We'll get it right. We'll work it through the Congress. We have the direction from the president and we're underway"

"We protect against anyone who would try to muck around from outside the country" per SecDef Mattis "We work together [w/@NSAGov #CyberCommand] to watch for any kind of threats from wherever, from criminals, from countries"

On #Russia submarines in the North #Atlantic - "We watch all submarine activity. Not concerned about it" per @DeptofDefense Sec Mattis

"We always keep an eye on the submarines at sea," Mattis adds when asked again about #Russia #China

More praise for US #SouthAsia strategy in #Afghanistan: "No doubt the strategy has confronted the #Taliban with a reason to go to ceasefires that President Ghani has led & offered & to go into discussions" per SecDef Mattis "But it is still early in that reconciliation process"

No victory yet against #ISIS - "I don't declare victory until its in the rear view mirror" says @DeptofDefense Sec Mattis "As we close in, what happens w/ISIS is that they become more concentrated so there is hard fighting ahead. That's all there is to it"