WASHINGTON -- While Donald Trump warned of a rigged election, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign focused on "impugning the fairness" of an election that Hillary Clinton seemed likely to win, according to a declassified intelligence report of foreign interference in the U.S presidential race.

The report by the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency said part of the Russian effort involved challenging the legitimacy of a possible Clinton victory.

That's the same message Trump delivered in the closing weeks of the campaign, when he said "this whole election is being rigged" and refused to pledge to support Clinton if she won.

Trump, who received an intelligence briefing on Friday, said that "there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election" though did not specifically address Russian involvement in his statement.

Nor would Vice President-elect Mike Pence respond to specific questions about whether he agreed with the intelligence assessment about Russian involvement when he met with reporters in New York, according to pool reports.

In his statement, Trump mentioned not only Russia but "China, other countries, outside groups and people" who were "consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations." He said he would appoint a group to develop a plan within 90 days on ways to stop cyberattacks.

He reacted to the report again in a series of tweets on Saturday.

Only reason the hacking of the poorly defended DNC is discussed is that the loss by the Dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017

Intelligence stated very strongly there was absolutely no evidence that hacking affected the election results. Voting machines not touched! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2017

The intelligence report did not indicate that the Trump campaign coordinated its strategy with the Russians.

Similar messages doesn't necessarily indicate that the two sides worked together, said David Vance, a spokesman for Common Cause. Rather, it could be like a super political action committee independently amplifying a campaign theme, he said.

"Super PACs often try to follow the playbook, especially if the candidate is telegraphing it," said Vance, whose group has called for an independent investigation on Russian involvement. "It doesn't necessarily imply coordination."

The intelligence report said part of the Russian campaign in support of Trump included trying to delegitimize an election that Clinton won.

"When it appeared to Moscow that Secretary Clinton was likely to win the presidency the Russian influence campaign focused more on undercutting Secretary Clinton's legitimacy and crippling her presidency from its start, including by impugning the fairness of the election," the intelligence report said.

"Before the election, Russian diplomats had publicly denounced the U.S. electoral process and were prepared to publicly call into question the validity of the results," the report continued. "Pro-Kremlin bloggers had prepared a Twitter campaign, #DemocracyRIP, on election night in anticipation of Secretary Clinton's victory, judging from their social media activity."

During the campaign, Trump sought volunteers to be an "election observer" and "help me stop crooked Hillary from rigging this election." He also defended voter identification laws that federal courts said prevented blacks and other minorities from casting ballots.

"We'd better be careful, because that election is going to be rigged," he said in Columbus, Ohio, in August. "People are going to walk in and they're going to vote 10 times, maybe, who knows?"

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.