President-elect Donald Trump said on New Year’s Eve that he wants U.S. intelligence agencies “to be sure” about allegations of Russian cyber attacks in the presidential election, and said hacking is so common that the only safe way to send messages is by courier.
“It’s a pretty serious charge, and I want them to be sure,” Mr. Trump told reporters of the Obama administration’s charges. “I think it’s unfair if they don’t know. And I know a lot about hacking. And hacking is a very hard thing to prove.”
His comments, made at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., came two days after President Obama expelled 35 Russian operatives and imposed sanctions over what the administration said was repeated hacking of Democratic Party officials to influence the election.
Mr. Trump pointed to the CIA’s incorrect assessment in 2003 that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
“That was a disaster, and they were wrong,” he said. “And so I want them to be sure. It could be somebody else. And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”
Asked by reporters what he knows that others don’t, Mr. Trump replied, “You’ll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.” He has agreed to meet with U.S. intelligence officials next week to review their case against Moscow.
Mr. Trump said the episode demonstrates how pervasive hacking is, after numerous high-profile cyber attacks against the U.S. government and corporations.
“If you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old fashioned way because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe,” he said. “I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe. I have a boy who’s ten years old, he can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”
Asked about Mr. Obama’s planned meeting with congressional Democrats next week to plot a defense of Obamacare from repeal, the president-elect said Mr. Obama is entitled to work on his agenda until Jan. 20.
“And then after that it’s our turn. So we’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump said. “He’s gotta protect what he wants to do and perhaps he could save his legacy, but when you look at Obama care you have in many cases over 100 percent increase [in premiums]. It’s unaffordable, it doesn’t work.”
He repeated that he disagrees with the administration’s move last week to abstain from a vote in the U.N. Security Council that condemned Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank.
“Israel to me is very very important, we have to protect Israel, and I disagree with what he’s done with Israel,” he said. “I listened to Secretary [of State] Kerry’s speech, I think it’s very unfair to Israel, what happened.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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