Initially, official statements about Russian hackers who broke into the DNC as well as private email accounts and released information through WikiLeaks, were careful not to speculate about the reasons behind their actions. Or those activities were attributed to more general attempts to “create doubt about democratic elections.” However, the fresh round of calls for an investigation into the hackers have been focused on intelligence agency conclusions that Russia wasn’t out to simply show it could dominate headlines through a slow drip of information. Russia’s goal was to 'elect Donald Trump.'

But now President Obama has gone well beyond the idea of Russia working to aid Trump. In a Daily Show interview, the President drew those lines in the other direction..

You had what was very clear relationships between members of the president-elect’s campaign team and Russians, and a professed shared view on a bunch of issues.”

The president’s statement confirms comments made by Russian officials following the election.

Russia said it was in contact with President-elect Donald Trump’s team during the U.S. election campaign, despite repeated denials by the Republican candidate’s advisers that any links existed.

President Obama wasn’t the only one to go past benefited-from to a position closer to colluded-with. Senator Harry Reid drew connections between documents provided through WikiLeaks and the Trump campaign.