{"id":32704,"date":"2016-12-11T20:45:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-11T20:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/12\/11\/trump-rejects-intel-lawmakers-vow-probe-of-russia-hacking\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:17:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T06:17:19","slug":"trump-rejects-intel-lawmakers-vow-probe-of-russia-hacking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/2016\/12\/11\/trump-rejects-intel-lawmakers-vow-probe-of-russia-hacking\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump rejects intel, lawmakers vow probe of Russia hacking"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Some Republicans and Democrats want to join forces to probe and fight Russian interference in the U.S. political process. The senior lawmakers wrote that the "stakes are too high" for the issue to become partisan. The CIA recently concluded that Russia mounted a covert intelligence operation to influence the U.S. election to help Donald Trump win. Sen. Charles Schumer said the collective outrage at this should not be directed at any individual, but at foreign government. He also said "this gets to the wellspring of our democracy." Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Jack Reed all joined him in making this statement. The president-elect has repeatedly said he does not accept the findings of the spy agencies that he will soon lead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday called a recent CIA assessment of Russian hacking “ridiculous” and says he’s not interested in getting daily intelligence briefings \u2014 an unprecedented rejection of the nation’s massive and sophisticated intelligence apparatus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump’s remarks come as key congressional Republicans joined Democrats in demanding a bipartisan investigation into the Kremlin’s activities and questioned consideration of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson \u2014 who has close business ties with Moscow \u2014 as head of the State Department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Asked whether he’s rejecting valuable intelligence on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump was defiant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I get it when I need it,” he said of the top-secret briefings sessions, adding that he’s leaving it up to the briefers to decide when a development represents a “change” big enough to notify him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m, like, a smart person. \u00a0I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years,” Trump said. <\/p>\n\n\n

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The CIA believes Russia hacked the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win. But his insult-laced dismissal of their reports is rattling a spy community already puzzled over how to gain the ear and trust of the incoming president. Some fear that Trump’s highly public rebukes of the U.S. intelligence apparatus will undermine morale in the spy agencies, politicize their work, and damage their standing in a world filled with adversaries. In other words, if the U.S. president doesn’t believe his own intelligence officials, why should anyone else? John Sipher is a former CIA officer with broad expertise on Russia. He told Politico, "There is nothing more sacred to intelligence officers than their professionalism, honesty and non-partisanship. Trump’s charges strike at the core of their integrity." As the world is keenly aware, Trump is a career businessman with no national security experience. He has long taken positions that have alarmed intelligence officials, such as supporting torture and killing the family members of terrorists.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

The CIA has concluded with “high confidence” that Russia sought to influence the U.S. election on behalf of Trump. The finding alarmed lawmakers, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain who said Sunday he planned to put Sen. Lindsay Graham, a staunch Trump critic, in charge of investigating the claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCain also has questions about Tillerson’s business relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, although it’s not clear Tillerson will be nominated. Sunday afternoon, Tillerson had still not been formally offered the job, according to a person with knowledge of the process who spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exxon steadily expanded its Russian business on Tillerson’s watch even as its rivals faced expropriation and regulatory obstacles. In 2013, Putin bestowed the Order of Friendship on Tillerson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Maybe those ties are strictly commercial and got to do with his business in the oil business. Fine,” McCain told CBS “Face the Nation.” And “we’ll give him a fair hearing. But is it a matter of concern? Certainly it should be a matter of concern.” <\/p>\n\n\n

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President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state, sources told NBC News and the New York Times, a decision that caps off a highly publicized search for the next top U.S. diplomat but will immediately draw close scrutiny because of the businessman\u2019s close ties to Russia. The 64-year-old Texan oilman only emerged as a leading contender to head the State Department in recent days, after meeting with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York City earlier this week.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

McCain wasn’t alone in raising questions about whether there would be enough blowback to sink a Tillerson nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for from a #SecretaryOfState,” tweeted Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, Trump’s former campaign rival and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey said the developments “raise serious questions about whether the incoming administration will adequately stand up to Russia’s aggression.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump said Tillerson’s relationship with Moscow was a selling point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A great advantage is he knows many of the players, and he knows them well. \u00a0He does massive deals in Russia. \u00a0He does massive deals for the company,” Trump told “Fox News” in an interview broadcast Sunday. He called Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker impressive, and said former bitter rival Mitt Romney is still in the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These are all very different types of people,” he said. “But when you ask me about Rex, I mean, he’s a world-class player. \u00a0There’s no question about it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later Sunday, he Trump tweeted: “Whether I choose him or not for ‘State’- Rex Tillerson, the Chairman & CEO of ExxonMobil, is a world class player and dealmaker. Stay tuned!”

Whether I choose him or not for “State”- Rex Tillerson, the Chairman & CEO of ExxonMobil, is a world class player and dealmaker. Stay tuned! \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 11, 2016<\/a> <\/blockquote>