US claims of Russian hacking part of infighting: Moscow

Russia has dismissed claims by the United States that Moscow interfered in the recent presidential election in America, calling such allegations part of infighting among US intelligence bodies.

“It looks like banal infighting between US security services,” Maria Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page on Tuesday, referring to the allegations against Russia.

A recent CIA report purported that Russia had interfered with the November 8 election to help the then-Republican candidate and now-President-elect Donald Trump. According to the report, first published by The Washington Post last Friday, US intelligence agencies had identified individuals with alleged connection to the Russian government that had acted as part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and reduce his rival Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning.

While many Republican and Democratic politicians have voiced serious concern about the allegations, calling for an in-depth investigation, others have downplayed such claims. Trump himself has dismissed the accusations and questioned the US intelligence community’s judgment. He has described the CIA report as “ridiculous,” alleging that his opponents are coming up with “excuses” to delegitimize his electoral win, which did come as a surprise to many political observers.

Trump is known for his Russia-friendly positions, especially compared to orthodox Republicans in America.

The White House joined the debate on Monday, saying that the president-elect had benefited from alleged Russian hacking targeting the election. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “The president-elect didn’t call it into question… He certainly had a pretty good sense of whose side this activity was coming down on.”

In the run-up to the polls, Washington had claimed that some Republican and Democratic organizations had been targeted by Russian hackers in favor of Trump.

Former US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who is perceived to be an ally of Trump, has said the administration of US President Barack Obama may have carried out a series of deliberate hacking “false flags” against some American political organizations to make a case against Russia.

Clinton herself has signaled that her loss was in large part because of severe damage done to her campaign with allegations that the former US secretary of state’s use of a private email account for top-level communication may have breached the law.

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