US intelligence officials have concluded that Russia intervened in the US election through hacking measures, helping steer Donald Trump to victory.
US intelligence agencies have come to the conclusion with “high confidence” that Russian hacking activities aided Trump’s securing of the White House, after conducting an investigation. The uncovering of an alleged hacking of the Republican party committee data system alongside that of the Democrats was also seen as a further indicator, given the fact that only Democrat details were released.
A series of damaging Democrat document leaks were released over the course of the Presidential election race to Julian Assange’s Wikileaks, which many have argued led to Clinton’s shock defeat in November. Russia stood accused of hacking into the emails of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Pedestal, in an attempt to influence the election outcome.
However, Trump’s transition team were quick to deny the claims. In a statement, Trump’s camp said:
“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” he said, referring to the intelligence communities alleged involvement with forwarding false intelligence regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction to bolster the case for the Iraq War back in 2003.
“The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’”
In addition, in an interview with Fox News Sunday, Mr Trump personally condemned the claims. When asked he dismissed the allegations “just another excuse” for Washington’s most shocking political upset to date.
“I don’t believe it,” he continued “Every week it’s another excuse.”
Trump has remained supportive of the Russian regime throughout his bid for the presidency, signalling the move towards stronger US closer ties with Russia. This would mark a stark difference from the frosty ties Mr Putin endured with the US throughout Obama’s eight year term. The President-elect has already prompted concern over his flippant approach to China, after a series of controversial tweets threatened to jeopardize decades of U.S concerted diplomatic efforts in Asia.
This follows Mr Trump’s reported appointment of former Exxon CEO Rex Tillison, who has his own ties to Russia and President Putin, much to the disdain of many at Capitol Hill.
Former Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain remained critical of Mr Trump’s embrace of the Russian Federation. In an interview with CBS ‘Face the Nation on Sunday he said:
Outgoing US President Obama recently ordered an investigation into alleged Russian-led hacking activities amid growing speculation of interference.