President-elect Donald Trump again cast doubt on American intelligence services in a Tuesday night tweet. | AP Photo Trump calls supposed delay in hacking intel briefing 'very strange'

President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Twitter Tuesday night that an intelligence briefing on Russian cyberattacks targeting U.S. political targets he promised to take this week had “perhaps” been delayed because there is “more time needed to build a case.”

“The ‘Intelligence’ briefing on so-called ‘Russian hacking’ was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!” Trump wrote on Twitter.


A U.S. official, however, disputed that there was a delay, saying that the briefing with Trump was always scheduled for Friday.

The president-elect told reporters over the weekend that he would be briefed on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week on the cyberattacks that marred last year’s presidential election. Those attacks have been attributed to the Russian government by 17 federal intelligence agencies, but Trump, who has promised warmer ties to Russia, has thus far been unwilling to concede that assessment. He suggested that the country should “move on” from the cyberattacks, but said he would nonetheless be briefed on them this week.

Both Trump and members of his transition team have argued that those cyberattacks, which largely targeted Democrats and Democratic institutions, did not have any impact on the election results. They have objected strenuously to the assessment of the FBI and CIA that Russia’s motive in launching those cyberattacks was to aid Trump’s candidacy, arguing that that conclusion is nothing more than an effort to undermine the legitimacy of the incoming administration.

“Well, I just want them to be sure, because it’s a pretty serious charge, and I want them to be sure,” a tuxedo-wearing Trump told his press pool on New Year’s Eve. “I think it’s unfair if they don’t know. And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”

That same night, Trump promised to share what information he had that nobody else did “on Tuesday or Wednesday.” But his senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said Tuesday that Trump would not necessarily be revealing anything following his briefing.

Nahal Toosi contributed reporting for this story.