'I don't believe it'

US President-elect Donald Trump rejected the CIA's reported conclusion that Russia intervened to help him win the US election, saying in an interview broadcast yesterday that the idea is "ridiculous."

"I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it," Trump said in an interview with Fox News yesterday. "I think it's ridiculous," Trump said.

US intelligence had previously linked Russia to leaks of damaging email from Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign but saw it as a broad bid to undermine confidence in the US political process.

On Friday, however, the Washington Post reported that the CIA has concluded that the aim of the cyber intrusions was to help Trump win the election.

Trump dismissed the reports as an attempt by Democrats to excuse their election loss. He said there was "great confusion" within the intelligence agencies, whom he portrayed as fighting among themselves.

"Nobody really knows. And hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act, you're not going to catch them. They have no idea if it's Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed some place. They have no idea," he said.

Republicans on Saturday rejected reports of the secret CIA assessment finding. "The intelligence is wrong," Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer told CNN. "It didn't happen."

However Senator Chuck Schumer, set to become Democratic minority leader in January, called for a congressional probe into the matter.

"That any country could be meddling in our elections should shake both political parties to their core," he said Saturday.

"It's imperative that our intelligence community turns over any relevant information so that Congress can conduct a full investigation."

The debate simmered as US media reported that ExxonMobil President and CEO Rex Tillerson -- a businessman with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin -- is Trump's likely pick for secretary of state.