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U.S. intelligence officials have come to the conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, in an attempt to help Donald trump defeat Hillary Clinton, according to The Washington Post.

“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”

Trump and his transition team issued a statement Friday, December 9, dismissing the findings and slamming the CIA.

"These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," the statement read in part. "The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest electoral college victories in history. "It's now time to move on and 'Make America Great Again'." 

Former CIA counterterrorism analyst, Phil Mudd, finds Trump's response troubling.

"This is really depressing for an intelligence officer," Mudd says in a new CNN interview. "What we're seeing is a transition from campaign rhetoric into the Oval Office. On the campaign trail you can create facts. Is the president a native born American? The president had to have the humility to come out and say yes. And the president-elect eventually backed down. When the president-elect, Mr. Trump, didn't like the facts from the Department of Justice and the FBI ... FBI Director Comey saying he would not pursue the email investigation into Hillary Clinton. Attack the messenger."

"Now we're getting the same thing when we have a transition from the campaign trail. If I don't like the facts. If I want to cozy up to Russia. Let me attack the messenger," Mudd continued. "This not just the President of the United States. This is the leader of one of the three arms of government ... the executive branch. He has now before taking office told two elements of that executive branch; The FBI and the CIA that he doesn't trust them. This is unbelievable."

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