White House: ‘Uptick’ in Sochi threat reporting

The White House said Wednesday that the United States had seen an “uptick in threat reporting” ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics, and had offered its “full support” to Russia in security preparations ahead of the games.

{mosads}”We have seen an uptick in threat reporting prior to the Olympics, which is, of course, of concern, although it is also not unusual for a major international event,” spokesman Jay Carney said. “And we have offered, as I said, assistance to the Russians, any assistance that they might need to counter that threat.”

But Carney sidestepped questions about whether Moscow had accepted all of the U.S. assistance that had been offered, or if the administration was concerned that Russian authorities weren’t doing enough. Carney also declined to comment on reports that U.S. security forces were aiding Russia in the search for potential suicide bombers within the Sochi security zone.

“I wouldn’t want to assess from here, because this is a complicated piece of business, obviously, an international event like this, and Olympics in general, because they, unlike already complicated events like a single day of a sporting event, the Olympics lasts over a significant period of time,” Carney said.

Carney said that Americans traveling to Sochi should be in contact with the State Department and aware of relevant security warnings.

“We will send diplomatic security and FBI agents to liaise with host-nation security and law enforcement officials, and that’s standard operating procedure for large events like this, where thousands of U.S. citizens, athletes from Team USA, American corporate sponsors, and members of the U.S. media are present for an extended period of time,” Carney said.

He also said that the Pentagon had stationed two U.S. ships in the Black Sea “as part of the prudent planning and preparations that are required for an event like this.”

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said during an interview Sunday with CNN he would not attend the winter games.

“It’s just such a rich target,” King said. “It would be a stretch, I think, to say I’d send my family.”

On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) warned Russia had not been cooperative in sharing its intelligence.

“We’ve had a departure of cooperation that’s very concerning to me,” he told CNN.