WASHINGTON (AP) — A newly declassified report on Russian hacking during the U.S. election says the Russian government developed a "clear preference for President-elect Donald Trump."
The report says the goal of Moscow's meddling was to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency.
The report says Russian President Vladimir Putin "ordered" an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election.
U.S. intelligence officials released the 25-page public version of the report Friday, after they briefed President-elect Donald Trump and top lawmakers on Capitol Hill from a longer, classified version.
The report says Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election represent the most recent expression of Moscow's long-standing desire to undermine the U.S.-led liberal democratic order. It says the scope of Russia's activities was significantly larger compared with previous operations.
After his briefing, Trump stopped short of embracing the intelligence community's assessment that Russia interfered in the presidential campaign, saying only that any hacking attempts had "absolutely no effect" on the outcome of the election.
Trump, in a statement released shortly after the conclusion of his Friday meeting with intelligence officials, said the nation's "government, organizations, associations or businesses" all need to strengthen their cybersecurity efforts.
Trump says he wants his administration to develop a plan in its first 90 days to "aggressively combat and stop cyberattacks."
He adds that security "methods, tools and tactics" should "not be a public discussion that will benefit those who seek us do harm."
Trump has been deeply skeptical of the intelligence findings that claim that Russia was behined attempts to meddle with last year's elections.
Spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted that Trump is turning attention to monitoring the shooting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
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