Spicer says he hasn’t talked to Trump about Russian election meddling

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that he had not yet spoken to President Trump about whether he believes Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

“I have not sat down and talked to him about that specific thing. Obviously, we’ve been dealing with a lot of other issues today,” Spicer told reporters at his daily press briefing.

The U.S. intelligence community concluded in a report made public in January that Russia orchestrated a hacking and influence campaign to swing the election in Trump’s favor. 

{mosads}Russia’s role in the election has become the subject of a special counsel investigation, as well as at least four congressional probes, which are also looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

Trump has cast doubt in the past on the notion that Russia meddled in the election, telling Time magazine in his “Person of the Year” interview that the idea of Russian interference became a “laughing point” during his campaign.

“I don’t believe they interfered,” Trump said. “That became a laughing point — not a talking point, a laughing point. Anytime I do something, they say, ‘Oh, Russia interfered.’ ”

“It could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey,” he added.

He echoed that claim in April during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” saying that it was “very hard to say” who hacked Democratic National Committee emails during the election.

Trump has repeatedly denied any coordination or improper contacts between his campaign and Russian officials and has frequently assailed the special counsel investigation into the matter as a “witch hunt.”