Kellyanne Conway: 'We're Surrounded By Election Deniers'
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) -- A top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump says "election deniers" are just trying to find excuses why Hillary Clinton lost after a recent CIA report suggested that Russia interfered with the election to help Trump win.
The CIA recently concluded with "high confidence" that Russia sought to influence the U.S. election on behalf of Trump, raising red flags among lawmakers concerned about the sanctity of the U.S. voting system and potentially straining relations at the start of Trump's administration.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump's senior adviser, told "CBS This Morning" on Monday that critics have blamed FBI Director James Comey, Russian hacking and Sen. Bernie Sanders, instead of the former of secretary of state herself.
"We're surrounded by election deniers," Conway said.
She continued, "It's always something other than Hillary Clinton's fault as to why she lost and we're not going to accept that. We're not going to allow people to insinuate and insult the president-elect and the tremendous victory he had."
In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Trump called the claims of Russians interfering in the election "ridiculous."
"It's just another excuse [by Democrats]. I don't believe it," Trump told Fox News. "Every week it's another excuse. We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College."
However, Clinton garnered 2.8 million more votes than Trump in the election.
Trump reiterated his stance on Twitter Monday morning.
"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!" Trump tweeted.
He added, "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?"
Conway told "CBS This Morning" that Trump has "tremendous" respect for the intelligence community despite his recent comments.
"What he believes is we should have evidence, not these off-the-record, unsourced quotes and leaks from a House Intelligence Committee where now you have the FBI arguing with the CIA," Conway said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Congress will investigate a CIA assessment that Russia interfered in the November election on behalf of Trump.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters that an inquiry would be conducted by the Senate intelligence panel. Two key Senate Republicans — John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a leading Trump critic — have joined with two Democrats in seeking a bipartisan investigation into the Kremlin's activities during the election.
"Obviously any foreign breach of our cybersecurity measures is disturbing, and I strongly condemn any such efforts," McConnell said.
Unlike Trump, who has expressed admiration for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, McConnell said flatly, "The Russians are not our friends."
Conway also revealed on "CBS This Morning" that Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson is a "leading candidate" for secretary of state. As ExxonMobil's head, Tillerson maintained close ties with Russia and was awarded by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the Order of Friendship in 2013, an honor for a foreign citizen.
Conway said Tillerson's ties to Russia is "not a liability."
"It's an asset, not a liability," she said. "It's not like he's hanging around with Vladimir Putin on the weekend at dinner parties. He understands Russia. He's already doing business there. He's had to deal with China, Russia, Yemen, the developing world, certainly the Middle East, which needs stabilization."
Conway said that John Bolton, a former ambassador to the United Nations, may end up with a position within the State Department.
On Sunday, though, Bolton told Fox News that claims of Russian hacking into the Democratic National Committee could be a "false flag" operation.
"It is not at all clear to me, just viewing this from the outside, that this hacking into the DNC and the RNC computers was not a false flag operation," Bolton said.
Conway added Trump will make his final announcement as to who will lead the State Department mid-week.
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