WASHINGTON, (MILLAT+APP/AFP) – Donald Trump asserted Friday
that hacking did not sway the US election, after a briefing on an intelligence report that blamed Russia’s Vladimir Putin for a cyber
campaign to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House.
While the president-elect held fast to his rejection of
the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered
in the election, he accepted the possibility that Moscow was
involved in hacking US targets including the Democratic National
Committee.
After meeting four top intelligence chiefs, Trump acknowledged
that cyber attacks by Russia and other countries threaten
US institutions, political parties and businesses.
But he offered no direct acceptance of the intelligence
chiefs’ conclusion that Moscow staged an unprecedented attempt
to influence the 2016 White House race by hacking and leaking
documents that, they said in a new report, also aimed to
boost Trump’s campaign.