"We assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. McMaster insisted to CNN's "New Day" on Thursday that Trump took seriously the allegations against Russia. Why would Trump knowingly defy the unanimous assessment of his intelligence agencies on Russian influence? Because, in his mind, validating that, yes, of course, Russia sought to meddle in the election somehow de-legitimizes his victory. As in: Russia tried to help Trump but it's not clear -- at least when it comes to directly messing with votes -- they succeeded.

Source: CNN September 22, 2017 14:48 UTC