Ex-NSA chief blasts Trump and 'alt-right media' for promoting conspiracy that Mueller's Russia probe is a 'hoax'

The former head of both the National Security Agency and the CIA on Friday said special counsel Robert Mueller's indictments against numerous Russian nationals and entities charged with election-meddling put to rest the conspiracy that his investigation is a "hoax."

The report accompanying the 16 indictments is "really surprising in its detail," retired Gen. Michael Hayden told CNN's Brianna Keilar, noting that there's so much detail in the report, it "looks like a modern remake of 'The Americans.'"

Noting that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's stated the report does not prove collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, Keilar asked the former intelligence chief if the indictments "exonerate" President Donald Trump, which he denied.

"No, it's neutral," Hayden said. "Particularly neutral on did this effect any votes and did it effect the outcome of the election."

The impact of the Russian attempts to sow discord in the American political system, the former NSA head suggested, is proved by the "continued debate" on whether the Kremlin actually undertook this election-hacking campaign in the first place. It was a "high-confidence judgement" among intelligence chiefs, but right-wingers including President Donald Trump and popular media figures remained unconvinced until this report was released.

"Now, I really do wanna see what the alt-right news, what the president, what the supporters of the president say about this," Hayden mused, "which lays out in great detail that this wasn't a hoax."

Watch below, via CNN: