At this point, it s no secret that Russia   in a campaign directly spearheaded by Vladimir Putin himself   hacked Donald Trump s political opponents for him (at Trump s request) and helped him use that information to secure victory against a clearly superior opponent. While it seems likely that Trump inexplicably will get away with his role, Putin and Russia may not get off so easy if President Obama has anything to say about it. I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections that we need to take action and we will at a time and place of our own choosing,  Obama told NPR on Thursday, adding that   some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be. The President (the last legitimate one if Trump has anything to say about it) did not go into more detail, but he seems to be ready to take action before he leaves office on January 20. Obama s options vary, ranging from sanctions to giving Russia a taste of their own medicine with a star-spangled cyber attack of their own. There are still a whole range of assessments taking place among the agencies. And so when I receive a final report, you know, we ll be able to, I think, give us a comprehensive and best guess as to those motivations,  Obama told NPR.  But that does not in any way, I think, detract from the basic point that everyone during the election perceived accurately   that in fact what the Russian hack had done was create more problems for the Clinton campaign than it had for the Trump campaign. Obama says that he has directly confronted Putin about the attack. Mr. Putin is well aware of my feelings about this, because I spoke to him directly about it,  he told NPR. Officials confirm that the President made Putin well aware of the many, many possible U.S. responses.An increase in sanctions or a cyberattack against Russia could be very, very big (potentially crippling, if done right) and incredibly uncomfortable for both Putin and his friend Trump.But here s the kicker   even though the White House acknowledges that The Donald  obviously  was aware of and eager to take advantage of the hacks, unless something is done to stop Trump from assuming office any action we take is for naught. Trump, who once tweeted that he hopes Putin will be his  new best friend, will be in a position to undo any sanctions or to stop any other U.S. reaction on day one.At this point, we as a nation need to turn to our electors whose one job at the moment is to ensure that a tyrant installed by a foreign power does not take office. If they fail us, may the various gods help us all.Watch the interview below:Featured image via screengrab