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The FBI is now backing the CIA’s assessment that Russia hackers sought to help Trump

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FBI accepts CIA conclusion that Russians hacked to help Trump

FBI Director James Comey testified on Capitol Hill about Hillary Clinton's email in July, part of a long year of email controversies. (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

WASHINGTON —The FBI is now backing the CIA’s assessment that Russian hackers sought in part to tilt the election in favor of President-elect Donald Trump when they breached American political institutions resulting in the theft of a trove of sensitive communications, a U.S. official said Friday.

The bureau's support, according to the official familiar with the FBI's position but not authorized to comment publicly, comes after FBI Director James Comey and National Intelligence Director James Clapper had meetings with CIA Director John Brennan earlier this week to review the agency's conclusion.

The FBI had indicated as recently as Monday that the CIA’s assessment — delivered earlier this month to some members of Congress — may prove accurate but lacked the definitive evidence necessary for the agency to reach such a conclusion.

That changed, the official said, after the high-level meetings resulted in a consensus on Russia’s motive, a conclusion that so far has been flatly rejected by Trump and has roiled the capital’s political establishment. The Washington Post first reported the development Friday.

Russia, which has dismissed the CIA’s findings, was publicly identified in October as having breached the systems of the Democratic National Committee , resulting in theft of sensitive communications.

Those communications were later provided to WikiLeaks and DCLeaks, which published the information in the weeks leading up to the general election.

The FBI had stopped short of endorsing the CIA's new assessment, the official said, because it had been considering how much weight to ascribe to multiple possible motives: Was Russia attempting to damage Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton 's ability to govern, betting that she would be elected? Was it retaliation against Clinton for her past criticism of Russian elections? Or was it a combination of each?

In the end, the official said, the collective effect of the Russian action was to assist Trump.

President Obama reasserted to reporters Friday that Russia was responsible for the intrusions, and suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin must have been aware. "Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin knowing about it," he said.

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