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President-elect Donald Trump released a statement Friday about the alleged hacking of the Democratic National Committee by Russia-connected hackers after meeting with intelligence officials. “I had a constructive meeting and conversation with the leaders of the Intelligence Community this afternoon. I have tremendous respect for the work and service done by the men and women of this community to our great nation,” the statement read. “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 including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines. There were attempts to hack the Republican National Committee, but the RNC had strong hacking defenses and the hackers were unsuccessful.”
Actually, intelligence officials do believe that Republicans were successfully hacked but that information was not released.
He has frequently denied that Russian influence impacted the election and referred to the investigation earlier in the day as a “witch hunt.” In the new statement, Trump seems to be non-committal of their involvement even after the meeting. “Whether it is our government, organizations, associations or businesses we need to aggressively combat and stop cyberattacks. I will appoint a team to give me a plan within 90 days of taking office. The methods, tools and tactics we use to keep America safe should not be a public discussion that will benefit those who seek to do us harm. Two weeks from today I will take the oath of office and America’s safety and security will be my number one priority.”