Trump’s criticism of Russia hacking claim could haunt him

On Friday, the Post cited USA officials as saying that intelligence agencies have identified individuals connected to the Russian government who gave Wikileaks thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta.

Congress’ top Republicans on Monday endorsed investigations into the CIA’s belief that Russian Federation meddled in last month’s election to help Donald Trump win, suggesting potential battles ahead with the incoming commander in chief over Moscow and USA intelligence. In an open letter Monday morning, Christine Pelosi, a Clinton delegate and the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, said that the electors saw their coming vote, on December 19, as the end of a “deliberative process”.

Russian officials, who have previously vehemently denied accusations of interference in the United States election, were quiet. “How in the world can someone suppose that they think Mr. Trump is going to be better for Russian interests than Secretary Clinton would be”, the congressman said. The sole Republican to sign the letter so far is Chris Suprun, a Texas elector who has already said he won’t vote for Trump. And frankly, I think they’re putting it out.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly poured scorn on the claims, made by U.S. intelligence. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Schumer and Jack Reed said in a statement on Sunday. “Nobody really knows. They have no idea if it’s Russian Federation or China or somebody”.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly refused to accept the CIA’s findings..

The White House said it would make portions of the report public and would brief lawmakers and relevant state officials on the findings. “He does massive deals for the company, not for himself”, he said.

But Trump insisted Tillerson’s relationship with Moscow was a selling point.

Trump has long fanned alarm among some Republicans for calling for closer ties with Moscow, perhaps at their worst since the end of the Cold War, in contrast to received wisdom in Washington that Russian Federation remains a global security threat.

The senators added: “This can not become a partisan issue”.

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was the latest USA lawmaker to call for an investigation into Russia’s possible involvement.

Tillerson’s close ties to Putin have raised concerns among some lawmakers, but Trump sees the oil executive’s Russian dealings as a plus.

Asked about McConnell’s support for a deeper investigation into Russia’s role in the election, Trump spokesman Jason Miller called the ongoing focus on the role of Russian hacking the election “an attempt to try to delegitimize President-elect Trump’s win”. Top political aide John Podesta said electors have “a solemn responsibility under the Constitution” and should have their questions answered.

‘A great advantage is he knows numerous players, and he knows them well.

“We now know that the Central Intelligence Agency has determined Russia’s interference in our elections was for the goal of electing Donald Trump”, John Podesta said in a statement. “As we work to protect our democracy from foreign influence, we should not cast doubt on the clear and decisive outcome of this election”, Mr. Ryan said in a statement.

McCain, joining the interview from Arizona, said that based on information he’s seen so far he can not say for certain that he believes the CIA’s assessment that Russian Federation intervened in the election to benefit Trump. She’s waving the Russian flag before the party of Ronald Reagan and placing Trump on the wrong side of that divide. But in a noteworthy departure from Trump’s rejection of that conclusion, McConnell said the Senate Intelligence Committee would study the issue. Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said there is no dispute that Russian Federation was behind the cyberattacks, and added that it appeared clear the efforts were aimed at helping Mr. Trump, noting there had been no leaks of Republicans’ emails.

He was responding to a question about taking a call earlier this month from Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of Taiwan, a self-ruling island that Beijing considers a rogue province awaiting unification.