Former CIA head General Michael Hayden has said that the US would be left in a “very dark place” if President-elect Donald Trump rejected intelligence indicating that Russia attempted to influence the election he won in November.
Intelligence chiefs released the report on Friday shortly after they had finished briefing Trump.
It found that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hidden campaign to influence America’s presidential election in favour of Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton.
READ MORE: Putin directed cyber campaign to help Trump: U.S. intelligence report
It is the government’s first formal allegation in support of sensational claims that Trump and his supporters have staunchly resisted.
Speaking to British broadcaster Sky News, General Hayden said that if Trump fails to take action in the face of “high confidence judgements” from the intelligence community, then the community itself would become redundant.
Trump has repeatedly dismissed any allegation of Russian involvement, and has posted numerous tweets calling into question the investigation that led to the report’s publication.
WATCH: Donald Trump downplays intelligence report that Russia hacked election to help him
If he ultimately accepts the report’s findings, General Hayden says the President-elect will not necessarily have conceded to winning the election illegitimately.
“This is about us. This is about our democratic processes, and we’ve got to be all over this,” Hayden said, adding that he was sure Trump would move to protect those processes if the evidence demands it.
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