US President-elect Donald Trump dismissed reports that Russia intervened in the presidential election on his behalf as "ridiculous".
"I think it's ridiculous. I think it's just another excuse. I don't believe it," Mr Trump said in the interview on Fox News Sunday, which was recorded yesterday.
The Republican president-elect's comments casting doubt on reported US intelligence findings pits him against some leading foreign policy voices in the US Senate from his own party who today expressed alarm about election meddling by Moscow and called for a bipartisan investigation.
Mr Trump blamed Democrats for putting out the media reports and said he did not believe they came from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
A senior US intelligence official said on Friday that intelligence agencies have concluded with "high confidence" that not only did their Russian counterparts direct the hacking of Democratic Party organisations and leaders, but they did so to undermine Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Mr Trump's dismissal was perhaps aimed at squashing doubts about whether he won the 8 November election fairly. However, his comments could also portend conflicts between the new president and the intelligence agencies he will command and feed criticism that his administration will be soft on Russia.
The Republican president-elect questioned whether the CIA was behind the reports that indicated Moscow wanted him in the White House. "I think the Democrats are putting it out," he said in the interview.
Two leading Republican voices on foreign policy in the US Senate, John McCain (below) and Lindsey Graham, joined two Democratic senators in expressing concern over the reports on Russian interference and saying that it cannot become a partisan issue.
"For years, foreign adversaries have directed cyber attacks at America's physical, economic, and military infrastructure, while stealing our intellectual property. Now our democratic institutions have been targeted," the senators, including Democrats Chuck Schumer and Jack Reed, said in a statement.
"The facts are there," Mr McCain said today in a television interview on CBS Face the Nation.
"Recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American."
In his search for a secretary of state nominee, Mr Trump is strongly considering Exxon Mobile Corp Chief Executive Rex Tillerson, who has close ties with Moscow and has spoken out against US sanctions on Russia.
"It's a matter of concern to me that he has such a close personal relationship with Vladimir Putin and obviously they've done enormous deals together," Mr McCain said in the same CBS interview.
"That would colour his approach to Vladimir Putin and the Russian threat," said Mr McCain.
US intelligence agencies have told Congress and the administration of President Barack Obama that Russia has grown increasingly aggressive in Syria and Ukraine and has stepped up activities in cyberspace including meddling, sometimes covertly, in European and US elections.
"This cannot become a partisan issue. The stakes are too high for our country," the senators said in a statement.
In the Fox News interview, Mr Trump also questioned whether the United States should continue its "One China policy" unless Beijing makes concessions on trade and other issues.
"I don't know why we have to be bound by a one China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade," he said.
