Donald Trump won the presidential election "fair and square" despite Russian interference, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Friday.
Ryan released a statement after an unclassified version of a U.S. intelligence report about Russia's meddling in the U.S. election was made public.
"Russia has a track record of working against our interests, and they clearly tried to meddle in our political system," Ryan said. "I strongly condemn any outside interference in our elections, which we must work to prevent moving forward.
"We must also be clear that there is no evidence that there was any interference in the voting or balloting process. We cannot allow partisans to exploit this report in an attempt to delegitimize the president-elect's victory.
"Donald Trump won this election fair and square because he heard the voices of Americans who felt forgotten."
U.S. intelligence officials have said for weeks that Russia stuck its nose in the U.S. election via computer hacks and fake news. Wikileaks released hacked emails from Democrats during the presidential campaign, but the group's founder Julian Assange said this week the emails did not come from Russia.
Trump has been skeptical of U.S. intelligence claims that Russia played — or at least tried to play — a role in the election. He met with several members of the intelligence community Friday and was presented with the evidence.
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