Major U.S. intelligence leaders have expressed support for an assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that Russia intervened in the 2016 U.S. presidential election partly to help Donald Trump win the White House, local media reported Friday.
In a message to the agency's workforce, CIA Director John Brennan said that he met separately with Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey and Director of the National Intelligence (DNI)James Clapper earlier this week, and "there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election."
"The three of us also agree that our organizations, along with others, need to focus on completing the thorough review of this issue that has been directed by President Barack Obama and which is being led by the DNI," the Washington Post quoted Brennan's message as saying.
However, the U.S. intelligence community didn't think Russia had a "single purpose" by doing so, said the report.
Earlier this month, outgoing President Obama ordered a full review of the Russian hackings before he leaves office, expecting it would provide "a comprehensive and best guess as to those motivations."
However, President-elect Trump has consistently dismissed the CIA findings about the Russian hacking, describing them "ridiculous" and hinting the White House only bothered to look into the matter now that he has won the presidency.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Wednesday that the president had known about the hackings prior to the election, but refrained from acting on it to avoid being seen as meddling in the election.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that hacker groups linked to the Russian government have been actively trying to obtain information from the Democratic National Committee of the United States since last year.
Trump's rant came as a deep rift between Trump and the establishment widened regarding their stance on Russia.
Trump on Tuesday nominated Exxon Mobile CEO Rex Tillerson, who is known to have close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as his state secretary. The nomination faces potential hurdles in Congress, with members of Trump's Republican Party threatening to vote against it.
At a news conference during the presidential campaign in July, Trump encouraged Russia to hack his rival Democrat Hillary Clinton's email system and reveal the contents.
"I will tell you this, Russia: if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing," said Trump, referring to half of the emails deleted from Clinton's private email server as she claimed they merely contained personal information.
The Trump team later characterized that remark as a joke.
