Although the breached systems were not involved in actual vote-tallying operations, Obama administration officials proposed
that the eight senior lawmakers write a letter to state election officials warning them of the possible threat posed by Russian hacking, officials said.
Some intelligence officials were wary of pushing too aggressively before the election with questions about possible links between Russia
and the Trump campaign because of concerns it might be seen as an improper political attempt to help Mrs. Clinton.
Mr. Trump has rejected any suggestion of a Russian connection as “ridiculous”
and “fake news.” The White House has also sought to redirect the focus from the investigation and toward what Mr. Trump has said, with no evidence, was President Barack Obama’s wiretapping of phones in Trump Tower during the presidential campaign.
said there was intelligence indicating not only that the Russians were trying to get Mr. Trump elected but
that they had gained computer access to multiple state and local election boards in the United States since 2014, officials said.
