There are indications that President-elect Donald Trump knew about the Russian involvement in hacking of the servers of the rival Clinton Campaign and the Democratic party, the White House has said.
“There’s ample evidence that was known long before the election and, in most cases, long before October about the Trump campaign and Russia — everything from the Republican nominee himself calling on Russia to hack his opponent,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
“It might be an indication that he was obviously aware and concluded, based on whatever facts or sources he had available to him, that Russia was involved, and their involvement was having a negative impact on his opponent’s campaign. That’s why he was encouraging them to keep doing it,” Earnest said in response to a question.
A secret assessment by CIA has concluded that Russia intervened in the presidential elections to help Trump, The Washington Post had reported, citing officials briefed on the matter.