Page:Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election.pdf/233

 Campaign was "in cahoots" with WikiLeaks in releasing damaging Clinton-related information and responded, "Nothing could be further from the truth."


 * 4.

On November 8, 2016, Trump was elected President. Two days later, Russian officials told the press that the Russian government had maintained contacts with Trump's "immediate entourage" during the campaign. In response, Hope Hicks, who had been the Trump Campaign spokesperson, said, "We are not aware of any campaign representatives that were in touch with any foreign entities before yesterday, when Mr. Trump spoke with many world leaders." Hicks gave an additional statement denying any contacts between the Campaign and Russia: "It never happened. There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign."

On December 10, 2016, the press reported that U.S. intelligence agencies had "concluded that Russia interfered in last month's presidential election to boost Donald Trump's bid for the White House." Reacting to the story the next day, President-Elect Trump stated, "I think it's ridiculous. I think it's just another excuse." He continued that no one really knew who was responsible for the hacking, suggesting that the intelligence community had "no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place." The President-Elect