Russia and Putin · 2016 campaign · № 21
Called the CIA's finding that Russia intervened to help him 'ridiculous' and 'just another excuse'
“I think it's ridiculous. I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it.”
- Said
- , Interview on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace
- Subject
- CIA assessment
- Type
- Intelligence and security
- Topic
- Elections
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
The Washington Post reported on December 9, 2016 that the CIA had concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the election to help Trump win. His transition team responded that night: 'These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It's now time to move on'. On Fox, Trump said 'They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place' and 'I think the Democrats are putting it out'. On December 12 he tweeted, 'Unless you catch "hackers" in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn't this brought up before election?' and on December 15, 'If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act?' The declassified assessment released on January 6, 2017 by the CIA, FBI and NSA found that Putin had ordered the influence campaign and that Moscow 'developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump'.
Sources
- Exclusive: Donald Trump on Cabinet picks, transition process (Fox News Sunday transcript)
- Trump: Claims of Russian interference in 2016 race 'ridiculous,' Dems making excuses
- CIA Concludes Russian Interference Aimed To Elect Trump
- Tweets of December 12, 2016
- Tweets of December 15, 2016
- Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections (ICA 2017-01D)