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| US President-Elect Donald Trump |
WASHINGTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hidden campaign to influence America's presidential election in favour of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, US intelligence agencies declared on Friday in the government's first formal allegation supporting sensational claims that Trump and his supporters have staunchly resisted.
The intelligence report, an unclassified version of a more detailed classified account given earlier to Trump, the White House and congressional leaders, withheld the government's evidence to back up its assertions.
The intelligence report, an unclassified version of a more detailed classified account given earlier to Trump, the White House and congressional leaders, withheld the government's evidence to back up its assertions.
Trump, in a brief interview with The Associated Press, said he "learned a lot" from his discussions with intelligence officials, but declined to say whether he accepted their assertion that Russia had meddled in the election on his behalf.
The meeting followed a week of rising tensions during which the billionaire took to his favourite platform, Twitter, to insult US intelligence officials and even accuse them of stalling while they came up with a better story to back their claims of Russian hacking.
"It was a really great meeting, I really like those people a lot," Trump said after the meeting. "I learned a lot and I think they did also."
Trump would not detail what evidence he was presented with, saying only that he learned "a lot of confidential things". Because Trump is not yet president, he is legally constrained from revealing classified information.
Trump issued a written statement that appeared to concede some Russian involvement. But Trump said nothing about the conclusion that Putin had sought to aid his candidacy, other than insisting that he still believes the Russian attacks had no effect on the outcome.
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