The CIA concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election on behalf of now President-elect Donald Trump, according to a report from The Washington Post based on unnamed sources who were "briefed on the matter."
"Intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials," the Post reported.
According to one unnamed senior U.S. official, it was the "consensus view" of the intelligence committee that Russia's goal was to get Trump elected, the Post reported.
The Trump transition team questioned the credibility of the CIA in response to the report.
"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," the Trump transition team said in a statement. "The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and 'Make America Great Again.'"
(The election was far from "one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history." In fact, it ranks as one of the closer Electoral College results.)
Wikileaks founder Julain Assange has denied Russia was the source of the hacked emails his organization released.
Trump has consistently disputed reports that Russian intelligence was working to help his campaign. In an interview with Time published this week, Trump said, “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe they interfered." He added that he believed the reports of Russian intervention were politically motivated.
Retired general Micahel Hayden, who served as CIA director during the Bush administration, was critical of Trump's refusal to accept the conclusion of the intelligence community.
"To have the president-elect of the United States simply reject the fact-based narrative that the intelligence community puts together because it conflicts with his a priori assumptions. Wow," Hayden said at an event in Manhattan, according to CNN. "The data matters."
On Friday, President Obama ordered the nation's intelligence agencies to conduct a full review of attempts by foreign hackers to influence U.S. elections, which he hopes can be completed before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
Source: USA Today / Washington Post.
