Clapper: Intelligence community ‘cast doubt on the legitimacy’ of Trump’s victory

The former director of National Intelligence said that the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russians sought to influence the 2016 election “cast doubt on the legitimacy” of President Trump’s victory. 

“Our intelligence community assessment did, I think, serve to cast doubt on the legitimacy of his victory in the election,” James Clapper said in a CNN interview on Friday night.

Clapper oversaw the January report that concluded, in a consensus between the CIA, NSA and FBI, that Russia carried out a deliberate and multifaceted attempt to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The report found convincing evidence that Russia had specifically worked to aid Donald Trump in winning the presidency. 

While the report did not find evidence that Russians had actually influenced the results of the election, Clapper said that he thinks that implication concerns Trump more than anything else.

“And I think that above all else is what concerned him, and I think that transcends, unfortunately, the real concern here, which is Russian interference in the political process, which by the way is going to continue,” Clapper said. 

Trump has repeatedly dismissed reports of Russian attempts to influence the election, referring to the investigations into Russian meddling on Friday as a “hoax,” and accusing the media of biased coverage.