Donald Trump Ties C.I.A. Reports on Russian Meddling to Democrats’ Shame

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President-elect Donald J. Trump during a “thank you” rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Friday. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON â€" President-elect Donald J. Trump said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he did not believe American intelligence assessments that Russia had intervened to help his candidacy, casting blame for the reports on Democrats, who he said were embarrassed about losing to him.

“I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s just another excuse,” Mr. Trump said in the interview, on “Fox News Sunday.” “I don’t believe it.”

He also indicated that as president, he would not take the daily intelligence briefing that President Obama and his predecessors have received. Mr. Trump, who has received the briefing sparingly as president-elect, said that it was often repetitive and that he would take it “when I need it.” He said his vice president, Mike Pence, would receive the daily briefing.

“You know, I’m, like, a smart person,” he said. “I don’t have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years.”

He added that he had instructed the officials who give the briefing: “‘If something should change from this point, immediately call me. I’m available on a one-minute’s notice.’”

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Mr. Trump’s seeming dismissal of the importance of that daily interaction with intelligence agencies, as well as his claims of politically tainted intelligence reports on Russia, widened a remarkable breach between a president-elect and the agencies he will have to rely on to carry out priorities like fighting terrorism and deterring cyberattacks.

His stance on the issue is also putting him increasingly at odds with senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including members of his own party, who say that the evidence of Russian interference is clear and warrants a congressional investigation.

The Obama administration reached a consensus months ago that Russia was trying to meddle in the election. After initially believing that Russia’s goal was to undermine American democratic processes, the intelligence agencies concluded a week after the vote that the Russian efforts had been intended, at least in their latter stages, to help Mr. Trump.

The president-elect said those new reports were politically motivated. “I think the Democrats are putting it out because they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of politics in this country,” he said in the interview, recorded on Saturday. During the campaign, he also dismissed any suggestion of Russian meddling.

Pressed about why he did not believe the intelligence agencies’ conclusions, Mr. Trump said there was disagreement among intelligence agencies about the extent and the origin of the hacking.

“They’re fighting among themselves,” he said. “They’re not sure.”

The Washington Post and The New York Times reported on Friday that American intelligence agencies had concluded that Russia took covert action during the campaign to harm the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. The new conclusion, The Times reported, was based in part on evidence found by the C.I.A. that Russian hackers had penetrated the Republican National Committee’s computer system, as well as that of the Democrats and several of Mrs. Clinton’s senior aides, but had leaked only Democratic correspondence.

Mr. Trump’s transition office responded to those reports with a blistering statement on Friday night dismissing the intelligence agencies as “the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.” The office said it was time to “move on” from the election.

The Iraq case has been the subject of a long-running debate over whether the intelligence was tainted or whether the Bush White House read it selectively to support its decision to go to war.

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On the subject of Russian interference, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Sunday that it would be dangerous to dismiss the issue as a matter of partisan politics. He urged Mr. Trump to accept the agencies’ conclusions, and called on his colleagues to move forward with an investigation â€" an idea that was gaining momentum on Capitol Hill on Sunday.

“You can’t make this issue partisan; it’s too important,” Mr. McCain said on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” “A fundamental of democracy is a free and fair election.”

“It’s clear the Russians interfered,” he continued. “Now, whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, I think that’s a subject of further investigation.”

Referring to the hacking efforts, Mr. McCain added, “The Russians have been using it as a tool as part of Vladimir Putin’s ambition to regain Russian prominence and dominance in some parts of the world.”

Mr. McCain was among a bipartisan group of four senior lawmakers, including the coming minority leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, who issued a statement Sunday morning pledging to work to respond to the incursions. The statement adds pressure to Republicans, who control Congress, to investigate the hacking.

“Democrats and Republicans must work together, and across the jurisdictional lines of the Congress, to examine these recent incidents thoroughly and devise comprehensive solutions to deter and defend against further cyberattacks,” the statement said.

Several senators, including Rand Paul of Kentucky and James Lankford of Oklahoma, both Republicans, expressed their support for such an investigation on Sunday.

The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has not spoken publicly on the matter since the reports on Friday about the intelligence agencies’ new assessment.

Mr. McCain said on “Face the Nation” that he would like to see a select committee formed to look into the C.I.A.’s conclusions, but that in the meantime, an armed services subcommittee under his control would “go to work on it.”

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