White House suggests Trump benefited from Russia hacking

Tillerson’s extensive dealings on behalf of Exxon with Russian leader Vladimir Putin have raised conflict of interest questions. Their open opposition to Trump over the hacking allegations shows how Russian Federation and Putin are forming a wedge between Trump and leading legislators of his own party.

But Republican and Democratic senators insisted there were serious indications Russian Federation had sought to undermine the United States democratic system, and called for a bipartisan probe.

Rather than comment on what was potentially the biggest news of his entire political career-the reported interference in a U.S. election by a foreign force-senator and former presidential hopeful Marco Rubio decided over the weekend to target Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Exxon Mobil executive Rex Tillerson, for his close ties to Putin instead.

“I think it’s ridiculous”.

In a wide-ranging interview with “Fox News Sunday”, Trump dismissed those concerns as little more than partisan griping.

“I get it when I need it”, he said. “He does massive deals for the company”, Trump said, while also citing Corker and Romney.

Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C., and John McCain, R-Ariz. – the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee – and Armed Services ranking Democrat Jack Reed, R.I., called for a thorough, bipartisan investigation of Russian influence in the US elections.

“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction”, Trump’s transition team said in a terse, unsigned statement targeting the Central Intelligence Agency on Friday.

The president-elect also defended his decision to receive intelligence briefings less frequently than his predecessors, who were briefed daily. The White House says the report will look at other election-year incidents, including 2008 and 2012 cyberattacks linked to Chinese hackers.

Despite US intelligence reports pointing the finger at Moscow, Trump continued to dispute claims that Russian Federation had anything to do with the hacks. Peskov said the CIA’s suggestion that Russian Federation attempted to tip the balance of the elections has “nothing to do with reality”.

McCain said that he hopes Trump would keep an open mind about the allegations.

“We don’t want to point a finger and I don’t want this to turn into a Benghazi investigation, which seemed at least to many people to be highly political”, he told CBS This Morning.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the GOP nomination, wrote on Twitter, “Being a “friend of Vladimir” is not an attribute I am hoping for from a (hashtag) SecretaryOfState”.

“The Obama Administration for eight years attempted to reset relations with Russian Federation, and sat back while Russian Federation expanded its sphere of influence and intervened in Crimea, Eastern Ukraine, Syria, and attempted to bully Baltic countries”. Cory Gardner, a Republican, said the Russian hacking reflected the need for a permanent committee dedicated to cyber security.

We still don’t know whether McCain or McConnell really will move forward with congressional inquiries, or if they’re merely reacting to an intense burst of pressure that will dissipate once the national media attention moves elsewhere.

“The administration owes it to the American people to explain what it knows regarding the extent and manner of Russia’s interference and this be done as soon as possible”, Podesta said in a statement. “I mean, there will be some very fluid situations”, Trump said.

The Maine independent, who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate and sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” on Monday that what Director of National Intelligence James Clapper tells you, “you can take it to the bank”. ‘Sir, nothing has changed.