ABC News(NEW YORK) — President-elect Donald Trump continued to question whether Russia was involved in cyber attacks against the United States, saying on New Year’s Eve that he wants to be sure the intelligence community analysis is correct, and adding that he “knows a lot about hacking.”
“Well, I just want them to be sure, because it’s a pretty serious charge, and I want them to be sure. And if you look at the weapons of mass destruction, that was a disaster, and they were wrong,” the president-elect said, when asked why he seems to doubt the intelligence analysis that Russia is behind the hacking, referring to the intelligence cited about Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction leading up to the Iraq War.
“And so I want them to be sure. I think it’s unfair if they don’t know,” he added. “And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove. So it could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”
Arriving at his New Year’s bash Saturday at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump also doubled down on cyber security claims that computers are partially to blame, telling reporters that no computer is safe from hacking and secure messages should instead be sent via courier.
“It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old fashioned way because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe,” said the president-elect said when asked about the importance of cyber security. “I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe. I have a boy who’s 10 years old, he can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”
Trump has for months dismissed the conclusions of the 17 U.S. intelligence agencies that top Russian officials helped orchestrate cyberattacks against the Democratic National Committee and members of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and his team has called for more evidence implicating Russia.
He dismissed U.S. sanctions against Russia, releasing a statement on Wednesday that “it’s time for our country to move on.”
“It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things,” Trump said. “Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation.”
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