Dateline Washington — President-elect Donald Trump this morning took to Twitter to attack media scrutiny of his businesses and reports of Russia’s interference in the election.
“The media tries so hard to make my move to the White House, as it pertains to my business, so complex — when actually it isn’t!” Mr. Trump tweeted.
Moments later, he raised questions about Russia’s interference in the presidential race, specifically targeting the White House’s concerns.
“If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act?” he wondered.
“Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?” he tweeted, before deleting the tweet and reposting it with “wait” spelled correctly shortly after.
Critics have raised questions about potential conflicts of interest that could arise during Mr. Trump’s time in the White House.
Mr. Trump postponed a news conference planned for this week on how he plans to handle his businesses once he takes office.
Mr. Trump announced earlier his two adult sons, Eric and Donald Jr., would take over his business interests.
He tweeted this week that he would leave his global empire so he could focus full-time on the presidency and added that “no new deals” would be done during his time in office.
Mr. Trump repeatedly has attacked the notion that Russia interfered to help him in the presidential election, denying the Kremlin had any involvement in hacking Democratic groups.
A secret CIA assessment reportedly concluded Russia intervened in the U.S. presidential election to help Mr. Trump win the White House — a report the president-elect and aides blasted as “ridiculous.”
White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested Mr. Trump was aware before Election Day that Russia was behind a series of hacks on Democrats and Democratic party organs during the campaign.
“There’s ample evidence that was known long before the election and in most cases long before October about the Trump campaign and Russia — everything from the Republican nominee himself calling on Russia to hack his opponent,” Mr. Earnest said during a White House press briefing.
“It might be an indication that he was obviously aware and concluded, based on whatever facts or sources he had available to him, that Russia was involved and their involvement was having a negative impact on his opponent’s campaign.”
Trump aide Kellyanne Conway this morning dismissed Mr. Earnest’s comments as “remarkable” and “breathtaking.”
This story originated at www.thehill.com
