Rep. Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffPelosi, Democrats unveil bills to rein in alleged White House abuses of power Chris Matthews ripped for complimenting Trump's 'true presidential behavior' on Ginsburg Trump casts doubt on Ginsburg statement, wonders if it was written by Schiff, Pelosi or Schumer MORE (D-Calif.) said Sunday that President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE’s denial of Russia’s interference in the U.S. elections is “deeply damaging.”

“For the president-elect to continue to give the Russians deniability is deeply damaging to the country,” Schiff told ABC’s “This Week.”

Schiff, the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the Russia’s meddling in the election is “unprecedented.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“By attacking the intelligence community basically, it’s going to make it that much more difficult for the current president to make attribution, for the American people to understand what they really need to about Russian involvement in our elections,” he said.

Trump's transition team criticized the CIA following a report in The Washington Post that said Russia tried to interfere in the elections to help Trump win.

“These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the team said in a statement at the time.