In a jaw-dropping assessment, the Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that Russia not only intervened in the U.S. presidential election, but did so specifically to harm Hillary Clinton and aid Donald Trump.
It's a claim President-elect Trump denounced this weekend as "ridiculous." But that hasn't stopped a group of high-ranking leaders in Congress—including Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former presidential candidate John McCain—from calling for an investigation into Russia's alleged involvement.
"This is one of those unprecedented moments," said Charles Sennott, veteran foreign correspondent and executive director of The GroundTruth Project.
"We've never seen a President-elect have a clash with the national security apparatus like this, before he even got into the White House," Sennott continued.
According to reporting from the New York Times, a senior government official said there is "high confidence" that Russian hackers also accessed files belonging to the Republican National Committee but did not release them to the public—though RNC chairman and incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has called that claim "absolutely not true."
But the discrepancy raises questions about what information the Russian government may have access to and how it may use it in the future to influence the Trump White House, said Sennott.
"If the Russians did indeed release the emails to favor Trump and hurt Hillary, then what's to say there aren't more emails that could really hurt Trump? If those emails exist, wouldn't they be used as leverage against the United States?" Sennott asked.
"That's why I think we need to go into this, really look at it, ask tough questions and demand answers," he continued.
To hear more from Charles Sennott, tune into Boston Public Radio above.
