US intelligence chiefs are making their most detailed and persuasive case yet to president-elect Donald Trump that Russia interfered in the political process..
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, CIA director John Brennan and FBI director James Comey are preparing to point to multiple motives for Moscow's alleged meddling as they brief Mr Trump on their classified report in New York.
President Barack Obama received a briefing on Thursday, and a declassified version of the report is expected to be released at some point.
Since winning the election, Mr Trump has repeatedly questioned intelligence officials' assessments that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and individual Democrats like Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
He remained dubious about the assertion even on the eve of his intelligence briefing, asking how officials could be "so sure" about the hacking if they had not examined DNC servers.
"What is going on?" he wrote on Twitter.
A senior law enforcement official said the FBI repeatedly stressed to DNC officials the importance of obtaining direct access to the servers "only to be rebuffed until well after the initial compromise had been mitigated". The official said the FBI had to rely on a "third party" for information, but did get access to the material it needed.
The Washington Post, citing anonymous US officials, reported on Thursday that intelligence agencies have identified parties who delivered stolen Democratic emails to WikiLeaks.
The officials also said there were disparities between efforts to infiltrate Democratic and Republican networks, and said the US intercepted communications in which Russian officials celebrated Mr Trump's victory. It was not clear which of those details were included in the classified report.
Ahead of the briefing, Mr Trump moved to fill out his own intelligence leadership team, tapping former Indiana Senator Dan Coats to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, according to a person with knowledge of the decision.
Mr Coats served as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee before retiring from Congress last year. If confirmed by the Senate, he would oversee the umbrella office created after the 9/11 attacks to improve coordination of US spy and law enforcement agencies.
Mr Coats (73), a Capitol Hill veteran, served eight years in the House before moving to the Senate in 1989 to take Dan Quayle's place when he became vice president. He stayed in the Senate until 1998, then left to become a lobbyist.
After a stint as ambassador to Germany under President George W Bush, he returned to Indiana for a Senate comeback bid in 2010. He did not seek re-election last year.
Mr Coats was a harsh critic of Russia and pushed the Obama administration to punish Moscow for its annexation of Crimea in 2014. When the White House levied sanctions, the Kremlin responded by banning several politicians, including Mr Coats, from travelling to Russia.
Mr Coats' nomination is likely to quell concerns the president-elect is seeking a sweeping overhaul of intelligence agencies. Mr Trump's transition team has also been considering ways to restructure agencies to streamline operations and improve efficiency.
Transition officials have been looking at changes at ODNI and the CIA, but those plans are said not to be aimed at gutting the intelligence agencies or hampering their capabilities.
The person with knowledge of the discussions said they reflected the views of intelligence officials who have told Mr Trump's team that there is room for streamlining within the multi-agency intelligence community.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Wednesday night that Mr Trump was considering changes at the intelligence agencies. Transition spokesman Sean Spicer disputed the report on Thursday morning.
"There is no truth to this idea of restructuring the intelligence community infrastructure. It is 100% false," he said.
The scope of the changes discussed by some in Mr Trump's transition team was unclear. But the prospect of a sweeping overhaul still created blowback, contributing to former CIA Director James Woolsey's decision to step aside as a senior adviser to the president-elect.
A person with direct knowledge of Mr Woolsey's decision said the former CIA chief had not been significantly involved in the Trump team's discussions on intelligence matters and became uncomfortable being labelled as an adviser. In an interview on CNN, Mr Woolsey said he did not want to "fly under false colours".
In other recent television appearances, Mr Woolsey, who was CIA director under President Bill Clinton, said he believed Russia was involved in the election-related hackings, though he also said others may have been as well.
The CIA declined to comment on the potential changes. Mr Clapper told a Senate panel on Thursday that his office has not been engaged in such discussions with the Trump transition team. He noted that politicians had created his office.
"Congress, I think, gets a vote here," said Mr Clapper, who was giving evidence on Russia's election interference.
Donald Trump taunts Arnold Schwarzenegger for low ratings in Apprentice spin-off
DONALD Trump has taunted Arnold Schwarzenegger for bringing in low ratings in a spin-off from the president-elect's old reality television show Celebrity Apprentice.
In a tweet, Mr Trump referred to himself as a "ratings machine" and said Schwarzenegger "got "swamped" by comparison.
He said "so much for being a movie star" and "now compare him to my season 1".
Mr Trump added: "But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary," referring to Ohio Republican governor John Kasich and Democrat Hillary Clinton, who both ran against him.
Schwarzenegger is a moderate Republican who said in October that he would not vote for Mr Trump, calling it a choice of "your country over your party".
He is hosting The New Celebrity Apprentice, in which Mr Trump retains a producing stake.
Schwarzenegger responded by saying the president-elect should work as hard to represent all Americans as he did for TV ratings.
The California governor also quoted Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies."
Schwarzenegger tweeted: "I wish you the best of luck and I hope you'll work for ALL of the American people as aggressively as you worked for your ratings."
