McCaul: Trump knows Putin ‘is not our friend’

House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Thursday expressed his confidence in U.S. intelligence agencies and their analysis that Russia deliberately attempted to influence the U.S. presidential election — a position contrary to Donald Trump’s.

McCaul, who has been advising the president-elect on national security and cybersecurity matters, also said that Trump is aware of the threat posed by Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.  

“I don’t want to get into my private conversations with him. I want to keep those confidential,” McCaul said during a news conference. “But I will say that he acknowledged that Mr. Putin is not our friend.”

{mosads}Trump has repeatedly dismissed the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russians made a deliberate attempt to influence the election, breaking with President Obama and many other U.S. officials.

The president-elect has maintained a chummy public relationship with Putin, compared with current and previous U.S. leaders. When Obama announced new sanctions on Russia in retaliation for its attempts to influence the election, Trump praised Putin’s “very smart” decision to not retaliate.

During the campaign, McCaul warned Trump that Russia was responsible for the Democratic National Committee hacks. Trump rejected McCaul’s and other experts’ analysis.

McCaul told reporters on Thursday that he was initially told Russia’s hacks were “an attempt to undermine the seeds of democracy, not influence the election.”

“That position has changed,” McCaul said, saying classified and nonclassified information he has reviewed has made it apparent that Russia attempted to affect the outcome of the election. 

“We have to have a healthy amount of skepticism” in intelligence groups, McCaul warned on Thursday, however.

“They have been wrong at times, like with the Iraq assessment.”