Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Thursday that President-elect Donald Trump would have to decide whether to roll back the sanctions President Barack Obama imposed on Russia for hacking into Democratic Party operations.
"That's going to be up to him," Priebus, Trump's incoming chief of staff, told Eric Bolling on Fox News. "He is going to sit down and talk to his leadership at the Defense Department and State and in the White House and make those decisions."
President Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two compounds in response to Moscow's interference in the November election and for harassing U.S. officials.
"It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things," Trump said of Obama's executive orders in a statement.
"Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation," he added.
In the meantime, Priebus said too many questions remained on any Russian role in the election.
"We just need to get to a point ourselves where we can talk to all of these intelligence agencies and find out once and for all what evidence is there," he told Bolling. "How bad is it?
"We agree that foreign governments shouldn't be hacking American institutions, period," Priebus continued. "It's not like we condone the hacking of institutions and entities and businesses in America.
"Of course not. It's wrong and something we don't agree with.
"However, it would be nice if we could get to a place where the intelligence community in unison can tell us what it is that has been going on and what the investigation was and what it's led to.
"We're not frustrated," he added. "We're just getting to the place where those facts will come to life."
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