President-elect Donald Trump’s White House win inspired celebration among top Russian officials, according to a new report.
U.S. intelligence agencies intercepted the joyous Russian communications after Trump’s defeat of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, The Washington Post reports.
“The Russians felt pretty good about what happened on Nov. 8 and they also felt pretty good about what they did,” a senior U.S. official told the newspaper, referencing Russian attempts to meddle in the 2016 presidential race.
{mosads}U.S. officials declined to tell the Post whether the intercepted communications were included in a classified report President Obama received earlier Thursday.
Obama requested a full review of Russia’s intrusions in the 2016 race from intelligence agencies before he leaves office later this month.
U.S. officials told the Post that Russian communications displayed Moscow’s clear preference for a Trump victory last November.
The intercepted chatter, however, does not conclusively prove Russian intelligence agencies tried creating that outcome, they added.
“There are a variety of different exhibits that make the case, different factors that have provided the intelligence community with high confidence,” a second senior U.S. official said of the belief that Russia wanted a Trump White House.
Russian officials “were as surprised as the rest of the world” by Trump defeating Clinton, they added.
“In this case, you do learn things after the fact based on how they feel about it,” the first official said, noting Russian communications added to the intelligence community’s “shifting level of confidence.”
Thursday’s briefing comes one day before intelligence officials are expected to brief Trump, who for weeks has dismissed suggestions that Russia attempted to influence the election in his favor.
Vice President Biden, who said he has read the report’s contents, said Thursday it details “overwhelming evidence” that Russia tried to influence the election results through widespread hacking of Democratic organizations and officials.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, meanwhile, told lawmakers an unclassified version of the report being prepared by the Obama administration would emerge “early next week.”