Russia hacking briefing report: Putin ordered cyber attack to benefit Trump

World Today

Top U.S. intelligence officials are putting Russian President Vladimir Putin at the center of its hacking report.

They believe Putin ordered an influence campaign targeting the presidential election, and they made their case to President-elect Donald Trump.

Trump and Russia had both labeled the allegations absurd.

CGTN’s John Terrett reports.

A 25-page version of the report says Putin “ordered” a Russian cyber warfare campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election.

The U.S. Director of National Intelligence and the heads of the CIA and FBI were in New York to present to President-elect Donald Trump with a longer, classified version of the investigation that concludes Russia tried to hack the election to swing it Trump’s way.

After the briefing, Trump acknowledged cyber warfare is a big problem for the U.S.

But Trump also insisted the alleged Russian hacks had “absolutely no effect” on his election victory.

Earlier on Friday, he told The New York Times that the focus on Russian hacking is a “political witch hunt.”

Trump’s stance on alleged Russian hacking puts him at odds with the rival Democratic Party, whose candidate Hillary Clinton he beat in November’s election. It also puts him against many members of his own Republican Party.

Trump says he knows more about the hacking than even the intelligence agencies do, but outgoing Vice President Joe Biden said on U.S. public television that if that’s true, Trump needs to put up or shut up.

In his statement released Friday afternoon, Trump said he’ll appoint a team to come up with a cyber-defense plan “within 90 days of taking office.”

After he’s sworn in, Trump says he’ll make U.S. security his “number one priority.”


Anton Fedyashin discusses Russia-US relations

For a detailed look at the current relations between Russia and U.S. following the hacking report, CGTN’s Elaine Reyes interviewed Anton Fedyashin, professor of Russian history, American University.