Russia interfered in US election to help Trump win: CIA report

Russian interference in the Novermer 8 US presidential election helped Donald Trump win the White House, a CIA secret report found, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The Post reported that individuals connected to the Russian government provided Wikileaks with hacked emails from the Democratic National Commitee emails and Hillary Clinton's campaign chief, among others.

“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior US official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to US senators, the Washington Post reported. “That’s the consensus view.”

United States President Barack Obama on Friday ordered intelligence agencies to review Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential elections, after being repeatedly asked to by the Democratic lawmakers, Reuters reported.

President-elect Donald Trump rejected Russian involvement in the elections.

"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," Trump's transition team said in a statement late Friday.

"The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It's now time to move on and 'Make America Great Again.'"

CIA agents told the lawmakers it was "quite clear" that electing Trump was Russia's goal, according to officials who spoke to the Post, citing growing evidence from multiple sources, AFP reported.

The report also noted that intelligence agents don't have proof that Russian officials directed the identified individuals to supply WikiLeaks with the hacked Democratic emails.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has denied any links with Russia.

(With inputs from AFP)