Trump promises full report on Russian hacking

WASHINGTON // Donald Trump said on Friday his administration would produce a full report on alleged Russian hacking within 90 days after he assumes the US presidency and accused “political opponents and a failed spy” of making “phony allegations” against him.

“Totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives, both Democrats and Republicans,” the US president-elect said in a Twitter post, adding in a later tweet, “My people will have a full report on hacking within 90 days!’’

In a flurry of early morning messages, Mr Trump also suggested that the intelligence community had leaked damaging information about his alleged ties to Russia, after news reports about a dossier claiming the Kremlin had compromising information about him.

“Russia says nothing exists,” he tweeted. “Probably released by ‘Intelligence’ even knowing there is no proof, and never will be.”

Mr Trump shared his thoughts on a range of issues, including congressional moves to repeal Obamacare – calling it the “‘Unaffordable’ Care Act” – and the testimony of his cabinet nominees that differ from his views.

Shrugging off the strikingly divergent positions his cabinet picks have taken on Russia, torture, and a host of other issues, Mr Trump said he wanted them to express their own ideas.

“All of my Cabinet nominee [sic] are looking good and doing a great job,” he tweeted. “I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!”

The views of his nominees – stated during senate confirmation hearings this week – have often contradicted Mr Trump’s most incendiary pledges during the presidential campaign.

They have variously warned of the threat posed by Russia, hailed Nato, repudiated torture, defended the US intelligence community and cautioned against withdrawing from the Iran nuclear treaty and the Paris climate accord.

On virtually every controversial foreign policy stance that Mr Trump took, the nominees hedged and backtracked and sought to assure senators that they shared the consensus that has shaped western strategic thinking and institutions since the Second World War.

Mr Trump also commented on the justice department’s internal probe into the FBI’s handling of the case regarding Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state. He denounced the reaction by Clinton aides who said again on Thursday that the agency’s director James Comey had cost her the election.

He said investigators had been “nice” to his Democratic rival and that her loss in the presidential race could not be attributed to Mr Comey’s actions in the final days of the campaign, when he revealed that his agency was reviewing newly discovered emails.

“What are Hillary Clinton’s people complaining about with respect to the FBI,” Mr Trump tweeted. “Based on the information they had she should never have been allowed to run – guilty as hell. They were VERY nice to her. She lost because she campaigned in the wrong states – no enthusiasm!”

* Bloomberg and Agence France-Presse