by WorldTribune Staff, July 27, 2016
Because Russia has been accused of hacking the Democratic National Committee (DNC), maybe it can also help find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on July 27.
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
Democrats have loudly accused Russia of hacking the DNC’s computer servers. WikiLeaks recently released thousands of emails, some of which show DNC staffers colluding to derail the presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The “evidence” Democrats have on Russia is that “researchers have concluded” the DNC hack “was likely the work of two Russian intelligence agencies,” according to a July 27 report in The New York Times.
The Clinton campaign, failing to see the irony of the situation, promptly accused Trump of encouraging Russian espionage against the United States and to meddle in domestic politics.
“This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent,” said Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s chief foreign policy adviser. “This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.”
Trump has said the hacking of the DNC “is probably not Russia.”
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said Democrats’ accusations of Russian involvement are “absurd.”
Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information on an unsecured private server has been criticized as a breach of U.S. national security that should disqualify her from holding a security clearance or a position in government.