WASHINGTON: Donald Trump asserted that hacking by foreign powers did not sway the US election, after being briefed on an intelligence report that blamed on Russia's Vladimir Putin for a cyber campaign to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House.
After weeks of rejecting the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia interfered in the election, the president-elect accepted the possibility that Moscow was involved in hacking US targets including the Democratic National Committee.
In a statement after meeting four top intelligence chiefs, Trump acknowledged that cyber attacks by Russia, China and other countries threaten US institutions, political parties, and businesses.
But there was no direct acceptance of the intelligence chiefs' conclusion that Moscow staged an unprecedented attempt to influence the 2016 White House race by hacking and leaking documents that, they said in a new report, also aimed to boost Trump's campaign.
"While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election," Trump said in a statement.
Trump met the heads of the Directorate of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency in New York Friday on their newly completed report into Moscow's alleged interference.
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