The President-elect says any hacking in the election race had no effect on the result and voting machines were not tampered with.
By Adam Arnold, News Reporter
Donald Trump says he will appoint a team to "aggressively combat and stop cyber attacks" after meeting US spy chiefs.
The President-elect has said any hacking during the election campaign had no effect on the result and voting machines were not tampered with. Mr Trump has been at odds with US intelligence agencies who believe Russia interfered in the White House race by hacking into the emails of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign team. There have been suggestions the alleged cyber attacks helped the Republican tycoon unexpectedly defeat his rival in November's election. But Mr Trump has been sceptical of the claims, dismissing the controversy as a "political witch-hunt", in an interview before the intelligence briefing with spy chiefs. Afterwards, he said the meeting had been "constructive", adding: "I have tremendous respect for the work and service done by the men and women of this community to our great nation."
Video:General Michael Hayden: US in 'very dark place' amid hacking row
He went on: "While Russia, China, other countries, outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organisations including the Democrat National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election." He also claimed there were unsuccessful attempts to hack into the Republican National Committee. Mr Trump said he will appoint a team to come up with a plan within 90 days of him taking office on 20 January. In their final intelligence report, US spy agencies have apparently identified Russian officials who fed the hacked material to WikiLeaks through a third party. Mr Trump on Twitter has called himself a "big fan" of intelligence agencies while casting doubts that Russia targeted Mrs Clinton in order to sway the result. He also said he would ask congressional committees to investigate NBC's receipt of top secret information, apparently referring to a report on Russian hacking in the election.
Video:Joe Biden tells Trump to 'grow up'
In an interview prior to the briefing, he told the New York Times: "China, relatively recently, hacked 20 million government names", referring to the Office of Personnel Management breach in 2014 and 2015. Mr Trump added: "How come nobody even talks about that? This is a political witch-hunt." However, he believed hackers have infiltrated the White House and Congress, saying: "We're like the hacking capital of the world."
Image Caption:Thirty-five Russian diplomats returned to Moscow after President Obama expelled them
Russia has denied the US government's hacking claims. Outgoing President Barack Obama, who last week imposed fresh sanctions on Moscow and expelled dozens of Russian diplomats in retaliation, has already received his briefing on the final report. Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden has told Mr Trump to "grow up" as he criticised his "absolutely mindless" attacks on intelligence agencies. The row between Mr Trump and his spy chiefs "leaves us in a very dark place", according to former national security agency director, General Michael Hayden. He told Sky News that intelligence officials made a "high confidence judgement and he (Trump) said 'take a hike'. Wow". Gen Hayden added: "That is going to reverberate throughout the community."
