Instead of any concern about intelligence findings that Russia interfered in our election in order to help Donald Trump win, Trump dismissed the conclusion as “ridiculous” and talked about having “different people coming in” once he takes office. Fox host Chris Wallace all but prodded him to go there.

During his mostly lapdog interview on Fox News Sunday today, Trump baselessly dismissed the CIA’s conclusion that Russia interfered in our election in order to help him get elected (transcript excerpts via FoxNews.com, with added emphases):

TRUMP: I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse. I don’t believe it. I don’t know why, and I think it’s just—you know, they talked about all sorts of things. Every week, it’s another excuse. We had a massive landslide victory, as you know, in the Electoral College. I guess the final numbers are now at 306. She’s down to a very low number. No, I don’t believe that at all.

In the first place, Trump lied about having a landslide victory. But more importantly, he offered not a single piece of evidence to indicate he was right and the CIA wrong.

But host Chris Wallace gave him a pass on that. Worse, Wallace never questioned Trump's cavalier attitude. What decent American wouldn't immediately want to investigate such a thing? One who puts party over country, that's who. And Wallace seemed to think that perfectly acceptable.

Instead of challenging such an anti-American perspective, Wallace facilitated more of the same by setting the stage for Trump to suggest that the CIA needs a purging:

WALLACE: You say you don’t know why. Do you think the CIA is trying to overturn the results of the election -- TRUMP: No, I don’t think— (CROSSTALK) WALLACE: -- somehow to weaken you in office? TRUMP: Well, if you look at the story and you take a look at what they said, there’s great confusion. Nobody really knows. And hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don’t catch them in the act, you’re not going to catch them. They have no idea if it’s Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. I mean, they have no idea. WALLACE: So, why would the CIA put out this story that the Russians wanted you to win? TRUMP: I’m not sure they put it out. I think the Democrats are putting it out because they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of politics in this country. And, frankly, I think they’re putting it out. It’s ridiculous. We ought to get back to making America great again, which is what we’re going to do. And we’ve already started the process.

Let’s pause a moment to consider Wallace’s last question about why the CIA would put out the story. Wallace knew Trump had no idea why. So if Wallace really wanted the answer to that question, he’d have asked someone else. Also, if Wallace was interested in Trump’s reasoning, he would have asked something like, “What do you know that the CIA doesn’t?” or he could have pointed to the fact that cyber security experts not in the CIA think the same thing, as one of Fox’s own guests said on the air yesterday.

Instead, Wallace asked a question that, while feigning neutrality, was really more of an invitation to attack the CIA. Still maintaining his veneer of neutrality, Wallace just happened to wonder how Trump will work with the CIA in the future. This time, Trump took the bait.

WALLACE: But the question is, these are the [CIA] folks you’re going to have to rely on to know what’s going on in the world? (CROSSTALK) TRUMP: Of course, we’re going to make (ph) changes, you know, at the top. I mean, we’re going to have different people coming in because we have our people, they have their people. And I have great respect for them. But if you read the stories, the various stories, they’re disputing. And certain groups don’t necessarily agree. Personally, it could be Russia. It—I don’t really think it is. But who knows? I don’t know either. They don’t know and I don’t know.

The Guardian reported today that the intelligence community fears retaliation from Trump. Daily Kos notes that a purging process seems to be taking place at The Energy Department where the Trump transition team has “demanded a list of individual federal workers who have worked on climate change reports or attended climate-change related meetings.”

As DK also noted, Trump has already “surrounded himself with pro-Russian figures who have repeatedly peddled conspiracy theories about the actions of the American government while denying or brushing aside intelligence charges against Russian foes outright.”

The specter of Trump stacking the CIA with Putinist yes-men is beyond despicable and downright terrifying.

I’ll have more to say about this interview in another post (or two). Meanwhile, watch it below, from the December 11, 2016 Fox News Sunday.