White House rails against Trump for not accepting evidence of Russia hacking

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest on Monday defended the assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency that Russia tried to tip the election in Donald Trump’s favor, and railed against the president-elect for refusing to accept evidence of the Kremlin’s meddling.

“The president-elect has said one thing on Twitter, the 17 intelligence agencies of the United States came forward two months ago to put forward their unanimous assessment about Russia's malicious cyber activity,” Earnest said during Monday’s daily briefing. "I'll let you and the American people judge who is in a better position to defend their argument."


Trump, despite the October statement from the nation’s top intelligence agencies, continues to cast doubt on the assessment that Russia was trying to disrupt the U.S. election through its alleged hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the private email of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman.

“Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!” Trump tweeted Monday morning, adding, “Unless you catch "hackers" in the act, it is very hard to determine who was doing the hacking. Why wasn't this brought up before election?”

Earnest declined to elaborate on any classified conversations, but he strongly defended those who work in the intelligence community as “patriots” and experts whose unvarnished views consistently informed the president.

"These are men and women with specialized skills, in many cases, who have chosen not just to dedicate their careers, but their lives to our national security. They don’t do it for the fame and the glory, in many cases, their identities are never know," Earnest said. "They aren’t doing it because the pay is great. In many cases, these are professionals with substantial capabilities and areas of expertise that would allow them to get a much bigger paycheck in the private sector."

The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that Russian hacking was done not only to undermine the U.S. political system, but to particularly benefit Trump. Before those revelations, the Obama administration announced a "deep dive" into cyberattacks going back to 2008. Congressional Republicans have said they will also look into the matter, but any investigations will most likely be conducted by committees that oversee the intelligence community, not a special panel.

“Obviously, any foreign breach of our cybersecurity measures is disturbing, and I strongly condemn any such efforts,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters at a news conference at the Capitol on Monday. "The Senate Intelligence Committee ... is more than capable of conducting a complete review of this matter."

But Earnest repeatedly emphasized that no one needed the expertise, or even briefings the president received, to view the ties Trump and his campaign had to Russia. All any voter had to do was just turn on the TV or read a newspaper.

"You didn't need a security clearance to figure out who benefited from Russia's malicious cyberactivity,” Earnest said.

Earnest cited a number of reports that detailed Trump and his inner circle’s ties to Russia --- including his refusal to disclose any financial dealings in Russia, incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn’s appearances on Russia’s state-owned RT TV network and a number of public statements that aligned with Putin's worldview.

All of these facts, Earnest stressed, were known by Republicans, some of who endorsed Trump, and who are now calling for an investigation into the hacking.

“And yes, this was all material that was known by Republicans politicians in the Congress who endorsed the president-elect,” Earnest said. “And how they reconcile their political strategy and their patriotism is something they are going to have to explain.”