The Note: Trump vs. the C.I.A.

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December 12, 2016

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Trump vs. the C.I.A.

Trump Team Pushes Back on Reports Russian Hackers Sought to Sway Election

President-elect Donald Trump's transition team pushed back over the weekend against reporting that the CIA has evidence showing the Russian government interfered with the 2016 presidential election in an attempt to sway the race for Trump, ABC's MERIDITH MCGRAW and JUSTIN FISHEL report. "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," according to a statement from the transition team. U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence confirmed to ABC News that Russians hacked the computer systems of both Republicans and Democrats but leaked information only from Democrats' accounts. However, intelligence officials told ABC News that the fact that only Democrats' information was released isn't enough to prove the motivations of the Russian actors. http://abcn.ws/2hqI02U

Conway Says President-Elect 'Doesn't Want Interference in Our Politics'

Adviser Kellyanne Conway today sought to clarify Trump's rejection of claims that Russia had sought to tip the balance in the U.S. presidential election by saying that "the president-elect doesn't want interference into our politics," and that he also doesn't want "politics to interfere with our intelligence." Conway also suggested on "Good Morning America" that the Democrats had attempted to "politicize" the allegations of Russian interference to obscure the fact that Hillary Clinton and her party had failed to win over voters who proved to be critical in pushing Trump to victory. "How about it was just Hillary Clinton and the message?" Conway, Trump's former campaign manager, said this morning. More from ABC's MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN: http://abcn.ws/2hfoHJ9

What Trump is Tweeting

@realDonaldTrump: 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! @realDonaldTrump: 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?

Analysis - ABC's RICK KLEIN

How does this end well? Intelligence officials are coming forward to suggest that the Russians sought to interfere with the election. The president-elect's response? "Ridiculous," Donald Trump said on "Fox News Sunday." "I don't believe it." Setting aside motives, it appears Russian entities succeeded in hacking DNC accounts, and tried to do the same on the Republican side. The president-elect? He appears close to naming a secretary of state who has a closer relationship with Vladimir Putin than perhaps any other private American citizen. The storyline of attempted Russian interference has troubling implications for American democracy, and governance in the Trump era. So far, Trump isn't engaging in that conversation – viewing it instead as politics as usual, and an attempt to threaten his legitimacy as president-elect. If the Russians have more to leak, they have potential leverage over the new administration. Even if they don't, they've already won a round: They have American politicians at odds over a relationship that figures to tip in Russia's favor.