Donald Trump brands CIA findings of Russian election hacking a ‘conspiracy theory’ and blames it on Democrats looking for excuses for defeat
Trump blasted the CIA report which found Russians hacked Democrats' emails to bolster his chances in the election
DONALD Trump has dismissed US intelligence findings that Russian hackers intervened in the election to help him win as a “conspiracy theory”.
The President-elect poured fresh scorn on the CIA claims in a Twitter rant today and blamed the findings on Democrats looking for excuses for his defeat of Hillary Clinton.
“Unless you catch "hackers" in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking,” he tweeted.
“Why wasn't this brought up before election?
“Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!”
He also blasted the findings that Moscow hacked Democrats' emails to bolster his chances in the US election during a TV interview on Sunday.
“I think it's ridiculous,” he told Fox News.
“I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it. Every week it's another excuse.”
His comments came two days after the Washington Post reported that the CIA concluded Russian cyber intrusions were made to help Trump win the election.
“That’s the consensus view.”
US intelligence has previously linked Russia to leaks of thousands of damaging emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign.
The New York Times quoted senior officials as saying there was "high confidence" that the Russians hacked both the Democrats and Republicans.
But the officials said only documents damaging to Clinton were leaked through WikiLeaks.
The CIA findings alarmed US politicians, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain.
McCain said he is planning to put a staunch Trump critic in charge of investigating the claim.
Trump's dismissal of the report is likely to set up an extraordinary rift between a soon-to-be president and his national-security team.
He refused to believe the CIA findings on Sunday, saying: “Nobody really knows, and hacking is very interesting.
“Once they hack, if you don’t catch them in the act you’re not going to catch them. They have no idea if it’s Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place.”
Intelligence officials hit back and said Trump's response to the findings was "concerning".
“It’s concerning that intelligence on Russian actions related to the US election is being dismissed out of hand as false or politically partisan,” a US intelligence official said, according to the WSJ.
Trump's transition team also took a swipe at the CIA on Saturday by saying officials had botched its analysis of Iraq’s program of weapons of mass destruction in 2003.
During the startling interview on Sunday, Trump also claimed he does not need daily intelligence briefings because he is such a "smart person".
The President elect said he only requires the information if something has changed.
“I say, ‘If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on one-minute’s notice,’” he said.
“I don’t have to be told—you know, I’m, like, a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years.”