As the 2016 general election kicked off, Wikileaks amped up their attack on the Hillary Clinton campaign by releasing hacked information from Campaign Chairman John Podesta. Donald Trump made a point to frequently cite Wikileaks, which has since come under fire for possibly influencing the election.

CNN clash

When Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton to become the new president-elect, many wondered how it all happened. Several times throughout the campaign, Trump was accused of having a relationship with Russia, who has since been linked to the original hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

The information obtained was then given to Wikileaks, who went on to release it to the public. The former host of "The Apprentice" would often reference Wikileaks during his campaign in an attempt to attack Clinton. Since Election Day, Trump has continued to praise Wikileaks, but has dismissed the idea that Russia hacked the election in his favor. This issue was a hot top during a January 8 segment on "State of the Union" on CNN.

Joining CNN host Jake Tapper was former Donald Trump campaign manager and current presidential counsel Kellyanne Conway. "Now that President-elect Trump has been formally briefed, has he been persuaded that Russia did carry out a comprehensive cyber campaign against Hillary Clinton, and what is he prepared to do about it?" Tapper asked.

In response, Conway appeared to brush off the idea that Russia was behind the DNC hack, stating that "any attempt, any aspiration to influence our elections failed."

"How can you say that the hacking had no impact on the election," Jake Tapper wondered, while pointing out that "Mr.

Trump kept invoking Wikileaks which was printing, publishing things that the Russians had hacked." The CNN host went on to explain to Kellyanne Conway that there was a difference between hacking voting machines, and hacking into a campaign in an attempt to sway votes. Conway deflected away, and instead tried to focus on the media getting access to snippets of intelligence briefings on the hacking.

Moving forward

Despite evidence that has been released by the CIA and the FBI confirming that Russia hacked the DNC with the goal of hurting Hillary Clinton, Wikileaks continues to deny that they were the source. Following the aforementioned interview, it appears that Donald Trump and his transition team are sticking with their skepticism, as well as their defense of the Kremlin.
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