White House Supports Congress Probe Into Possible Presidential Election Hacking |

The White House says it supports an investigation by Congress into the role that Russia played in last month's president election.

GOP leaders in both chambers say that committees will be looking into cyber threats, even as President-elect Donald Trump has said the recent CIA assertion that Russian hacking had sought to help his candidacy was "ridiculous."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says that one of the goals of an intelligence review ordered by President Barack Obama is to compile information that can be presented to Congress.

Earnest says the congressional review "is certainly warranted when you consider the stakes and the consequences."

Earnest is also praising intelligence officials, saying the men and women in the intelligence community are "patriots" and that the president has benefited enormously from their expertise.

Trump tweeted Monday that "it's very hard to determine who was doing the hacking." He adds that if his campaign had lost the election and "we tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!"

That there was hacking in 2016 and previous elections is not in dispute, nor is it a newly-discussed revelation. There's broad agreement from President Barack Obama and lawmakers of both parties on investigations into which countries were responsible, including, but not limited to, Russia.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, who joined Senate Democrats Sunday to call for an immediate bipartisan investigation, said Monday on "CBS This Morning" that probes are essential because hacking could be a new form of warfare.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has strongly condemned any foreign meddling to influence the U.S. election. McConnell spoke to reporters Monday, a day after President-elect Donald Trump said the recent CIA assertion that Russian hacking had sought to help his candidacy was "ridiculous."

McConnell says that the "Russians are not our friends" and condemned Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other "U.S. political organizations."

The Kentucky Republican says the Senate Intelligence Committee will investigate. He made his remarks as Trump continues to downplay the CIA's confidential assessment that the Russian government hacked into the DNC and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta's email account.