Intelligence Sources: Officials Believe Russia Tried To Influence Election, Favored Trump
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami/AP) — U.S. officials believe Russia not only tried to influence this year's presidential election, but also favored President-elect Donald Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, intelligence sources confirmed to CBS News Friday evening.
Intelligence officials have been building toward the conclusion for some time, CBS News reported.
It comes after President Barack Obama ordered intelligence officials to conduct a broad review on the election-season hacking that rattled the presidential campaign and raised new concerns about foreign meddling in U.S. elections.
White House counterterrorism and Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco said Obama ordered officials to report on the hacking of Democratic officials' email accounts and Russia's involvement.
"He's requested this report be completed and submitted to him before the end of his term," said White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz.
Monaco did not say if the report would be made public, but Sen. Angus King of the Armed Services Committee believes it should.
"I think there's an important reason to make it public – that is, this is the Russians' standard operating procedure around the world," said King. "The American people need to understand and know what they're up to so they can assess this as it happens in future election. This is not about past elections."
U.S. intelligence officials accused Russia of being behind the breaches as part of an effort to interfere with the presidential campaign.
In the months leading up to the election, email accounts of Democratic party officials and a Hillary Clinton campaign aide were breached, emails leaked to Wikileaks and embarrassing and private emails posted online.
Many Democrats believe the hackings benefited Republican Donald Trump's bid.
The Trump transition team dismissed the claims.
"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," the transition team said in a statement. "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.'"
During the campaign, Trump downplayed the possibility that Russia was involved.
He was also criticized during the election for describing Vladimir Putin as a great leader, stronger than Obama.
Since Trump's victory, Democratic lawmakers on the Senate intelligence committee have been pushing Obama to declassify more information about Russia's role.
Rep. Adam Schiff, senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, said he welcomed Obama's call for a review.
"Given President-elect Trump's disturbing refusal to listen to our intelligence community and accept that the hacking was orchestrated by the Kremlin, there is an added urgency to the need for a thorough review before President Obama leaves office next month," Schiff, D-Calif., said in a statement.
If the administration doesn't respond "forcefully" to such actions, "we can expect to see a lot more of this in the near future," he said.
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