Trump enters critical week as hacking questions swirl, team blames…

Donald Trump and his aides are entering a crucial week in his presidential transition as he and his Cabinet nominees undergo public questioning about their approach to Russia and potential conflicts of interests. Most pressing during the upcoming days of confirmation hearings and Trump's first press conference in six months likely will be whether he accepts the conclusion of U.S. intelligence officials that Russia meddled in the U.S. election to help him win the White House.

2 Senate Republicans warn Trump to get tougher on Russia

Senior Republicans Sunday gave Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt that he'll make Moscow pay for hacking the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, yet the president-elect could face a rift with members of his own party if policies against Russia don't change. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., plan to introduce legislation for tougher sanctions against Russia, hitting the country in the financial and energy sectors "where they're the weakest."

Priebus: Trump “accepts” US intel blaming Russia for hack

President-elect Donald Trump accepts the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia tried to interfere in the American presidential election, his incoming White House Chief of staff said Sunday. "I think he accepts the findings," Reince Priebus said on "Fox News Sunday."

McConnell: Trump’s Russia hopes will quickly be dashed

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell predicted Sunday that any hopes President-elect Trump has to get along with the Russians and President Vladimir Putin will be "dashed pretty quickly" into his first term in office. Appearing on "Face The Nation," McConnell argued that it is not unusual for a new president to seek an improved relationship with the Russians, citing former President George W. Bush's efforts upon taking office in 2000.

.com | Trump: Only ‘stupid’ people oppose better Russia ties

President-elect Donald Trump says "only 'stupid' people or fools" would dismiss closer ties with Russia and he seemed unswayed after his classified briefing on an intelligence report that accused Moscow of meddling on his behalf in the election that catapulted him to power. "Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said in a series of tweets.

Michael Gerson: The hypocrisy behind Julian Assange’s hero turn

Donald Trump's, Sarah Palin's and Sean Hannity's embrace of Julian Assange - who has made a career of illegally obtaining and releasing documents damaging to American interests - is not just a puzzling policy shift. It is the triumph of ideology over, well, every other principle or commitment.

10 most damning findings from report on Russian election interference

The US intelligence community concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an "influence campaign" to harm Hillary Clinton's chances of winning the 2016 election. The declassified reported, released Friday, determined with "high confidence" that Russia's interference - consisting of hacking Democratic groups and individuals and releasing that information via third-party websites, including WikiLeaks - helped President-elect Donald Trump win the election.

U.S election hack: Putin’s plan was to help Trump, says US spies

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered "an influence campaign" in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election with the goal of undermining the democratic process and denigrating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, a new, declassified intelligence report said on Friday. "We also assess Putin and the Russian Government aspired to help President-elect Trump's election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavourably to him," it said.

In Trump’s ongoing feud about Russia, he says those opposed to better relations ‘fools’

A day after U.S. intelligence officials said Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump, the president-elect renewed his call for better Washington-Moscow relations and suggested naysayers are "fools" or "stupid people." Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Trump wants former Sen. Dan Coats to be intelligence chief

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday named retired Sen. Dan Coats as national intelligence director, saying the former member of the Senate Intelligence Committee was the right person to lead the new administration's "ceaseless vigilance against those who seek to do us harm." Trump's announcement came one day after release of a declassified government report on Russian efforts to influence the presidential election.

US intel report: Putin directed cyber campaign to help Trump

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an effort to help Republican Donald Trump's electoral chances by discrediting Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign, U.S. intelligence agencies said in an assessment. Russia's objectives were to undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process, denigrate former Secretary of State Clinton, make it harder for her to win and harm her presidency if she did, an unclassified report released Friday by the top U.S. intelligence agency said.

As Trump talked of rigged election, Putin plotted to tarnish Clinton win

WASHINGTON -- While Donald Trump warned of a rigged election , Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign focused on "impugning the fairness" of an election that Hillary Clinton seemed likely to win, according to a declassified intelligence report of foreign interference in the U.S presidential race. The report by the Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency said part of the Russian effort involved challenging the legitimacy of a possible Clinton victory.

US election hacking: Trump blames ‘negligent’ Democrats

Donald Trump says Democrats have shown "gross negligence" by allowing their servers to be hacked in the run-up to the 8 November presidential election. The US president-elect made the comments after a US intelligence report said Russian President Vladimir Putin had "sought to help Donald Trump win".