Trump CIA nominee agrees that Russia behind election hacks

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's pick to run the CIA today sided with intelligence officials who have determined the Kremlin was behind election cyberattacks, and he took a tough stand against Russia, distancing himself from the president-elect, who wants to warm relations with Moscow.

Rep. Mike Pompeo, a four-term conservative Kansas Republican, spoke at his confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee amid a testy standoff between Trump and the spy community over Russian activities during the presidential election.

Since winning the election, Trump has repeatedly challenged the intelligence community's assessment that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other political sites.

"It's pretty clear about what took place here about Russia involvement in efforts to hack information and to have an impact on American democracy," Pompeo said. "I'm very clear-eyed about what that intelligence report says."

"This was an aggressive action taken by the senior leaders inside Russia," Pompeo said.

On Wednesday, Trump acknowledged Russia was responsible for the hacking but speculated that intelligence agencies might have leaked to news organizations details about a classified briefing with him that included unsubstantiated allegations that Russia had collected compromising sexual and financial information about him.