NEW YORK: As the US intelligence chiefs head to the Trump Tower here to brief president-elect Donald Trump for the first time over the hacking of US elections in November, there are credible reports that the US has identified the Russian agents behind alleged hacking ahead of the presidential election.

The agents, whose names have not been released, are alleged to have sent stolen Democratic emails to WikiLeaks to try to swing the vote for Trump.

Russia has denied any involvement and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says Moscow was not the source, NBC news said.

US National Intelligence Director Gen James Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and FBI Director James Comey are due to brief president-elect Trump on the report.

One report said at about the same time, president-elect Trump appeared to question the intelligence agencies’ findings in a tweet, asking why they decided not to request to examine computers belonging to the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Vince-President Joe Biden said he had read the intelligence report outlining Russian involvement, the details of which are emerging in US media. According to CNN, the Washington Post and NBC News citing intelligence sources, agencies had intercepted communications in the aftermath of the election showing senior Russian government officials celebrating Donald Trump’s win over rival Hillary Clinton.

They had also identified go-betweens who delivered stolen Democratic emails to the Wikileaks website, sources said, without providing further details, the reports said, NBC News says the alleged Russian hacking targeted not just the DNC but also the White House, Joint Chiefs of Staff, the department of state and large US corporations. An unclassified version will be made public next week the news media here said.

Vice-President Joe Biden told the PBS network that the report clearly confirmed Russia had tried to “discredit the US electoral process” as part of a systematic campaign to undermine Ms Clinton. Her campaign manager, John Podesta, was among those whose emails on the DNC server were hacked.

Biden also criticised Trump for ignoring intelligence on the hack.

“The idea that you may know more than the intelligence community knows — it’s like saying I know more about physics than my professor. I didn’t read the book, I just know I know more.”

Gen Clapper told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered the hack, and said the motive would be revealed next week.

Republican Senator John McCain, a leading Russia critic in Congress who chaired the hearing, said it was in the interests of all Americans to confront the problem of foreign hacking.

“There is no national security interest more vital to the US than the ability to hold free and fair elections without foreign interference.”

Last week President Barack Obama ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the US over the alleged hacking.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2017