The FBI confirmed Monday that it is probing the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s emails — an intrusion Hillary Clinton’s campaign claims was engineered by the Russians to help Donald Trump win the White House.
The leak led DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to announce her resignation on Sunday — just one day before the Democratic presidential convention.
“The FBI is investigating a cyber intrusion involving the DNC and are working to determine the nature and scope of the matter,” the agency said in a statement. “A compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”
On Friday, a cache of more than 19,000 emails sent by party officials between January 2015 and May 2016 surfaced on the anti-secrecy website Wikileaks.
The documents showed the supposedly-neutral DNC was in the tank for Clinton, doing everything it could to stop rival Bernie Sanders.
One email showed party officials mocking the self-described socialist and his supporters — even questioning his commitment to his Jewish religion.
The leak sparked an uproar among Sanders supporters.
Clinton’s campaign officials blamed the Russians, pointing to a massive breach of DNC computers in June that cybersecurity firms later linked to the Russian government.
Clinton campaign chair John Podesta on Monday even went so far as to say there was “a kind of bromance going on” between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. But he pumped the brakes when asked whether he believed Trump was directly involved.
“I don’t think we have information right now about that,” Podesta told MSNBC. “But what we have is a kind of bromance going on between Putin and Trump, which is distinct from this leak. And we have the Republican Party platform moving back, saying they won’t defend NATO allies.”
Trump took to Twitter to blast the claims — dismissing it as a “joke” in a slew of tweets on Monday.
“The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC emails, which should have never been written (stupid), because Putin likes me,” Trump seethed. “Hillary was involved in the email scandal because she is the only one with judgement (sic) so bad that such a thing could have happened.”
The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2016
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has refused to comment on the allegations that Russia is behind the leaked emails. He instead referred to a statement released by Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., which dismissed the claims.
Trump’s senior policy adviser Paul Manafort also went on the offensive Monday — calling the statements by the Clinton campaign “pretty desperate.”
“It’s a far reach, obviously,” he said. “To lead their convention with that tells me they really are trying to move away from what the issues are going to be in this campaign. It’s pretty absurd.”
Clinton’s campaign, meanwhile, stood firmly behind their belief that Russia was out to elect Trump.
“I don’t think it’s coincidental that these emails were released on the eve of our convention here, and I think that’s disturbing,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told CNN, adding that it came on the heels of “changes to the Republican platform to make it more pro-Russian.”
“I think when you put all this together, it’s a disturbing picture, and voters need to reflect on that,” Mook said.
With Post Wires