The FBI said Monday it is investigating how thousands of Democratic National Committee emails were hacked, a breach that Hillary Clinton’s campaign maintains was committed by Russia to benefit Donald Trump.
A statement from the FBI confirmed that it is “investigating a cyber intrusion involving the DNC,” adding that “a compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously.”
Wikileaks posted emails Friday that suggested the DNC was favoring Clinton over her rival Senate Bernie Sanders during the primary season. Clinton’s campaign pointed to a massive hacking of DNC computers in June that cybersecurity firms linked to the Russian government.
Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta added fuel to the debate Monday, saying there was “a kind of bromance going on” between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. The Clinton campaign says Russia favors Trump’s views, especially on NATO.
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Trump on Monday dismissed as a “joke” claims by Hillary Clinton’s campaign that Russia is trying to help Trump by leaking thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee.
The hacking enraged die-hard Sanders supporters who have long claimed that the DNC had its finger on the scale throughout the primaries. The disclosures prompted the resignation of DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on the eve of the party’s convention in Philadelphia, where Clinton is expected to officially accept the nomination for president.
It wasn’t immediately clear how WikiLeaks received copies of the internal Democratic emails.
Democratic Party officials learned in late April that their systems had been attacked after they discovered malicious software on their computers. A cybersecurity firm they employed found traces of at least two sophisticated hacking groups on the Democrats’ network – both of which have ties to the Russian government.
Those hackers took at least one year’s worth of detailed chats, emails and research on Donald Trump, according to a person knowledgeable of the breach who wasn’t authorised to speak publicly about the matter.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not comment on allegations that Russia is behind the leaked emails, instead pointing to statements by Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr, dismissing the claims.
(With AP inputs)
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