Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he hoped Russian hackers would be able to find missing emails from competitor Hillary Clinton’s personal email server.
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you find the 33,000 emails that are missing. I think you’ll be rewarded mightily by our press!” Trump said during a news conference Wednesday.
The GOP nominee’s comments came after WikiLeaks released Democratic National Committee emails that illustrate top party leaders’ bias toward Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee. DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz resigned as a result of the document leak, which has been linked to Russian hackers and all but confirmed by U.S. intelligence officials.
Reporter @KatyTurNBC asked Trump if he had qualms about asking Russia to hack Clinton.
He told her to "be quiet" pic.twitter.com/ZN0o35H6j7
— David Mack (@davidmackau) July 27, 2016
The comments seemingly encourage foreign countries to launch cyberattacks against not only the U.S. but against Clinton. Clinton is currently recovering from an intense Justice Department investigation of her use of a private email server to conduct business during her tenure as secretary of state. The agency admonished Clinton for being reckless and exhibiting back cybersecurity habits, but declined to file charges because there was no evidence that classified material was leaked intentionally or otherwise to unauthorized parties.
Trump’s comments were directed at an estimated more than 30,000 emails that were never recovered from Clinton’s server. FBI Director James Comey testified last month that the emails were likely removed as part of digital maintenance and routine deleting. But Trump also touched on an important issue, perhaps unwittingly, about cyberattacks against the U.S.
Government agencies, public figures, and American companies are under almost constant attack by foreign actors.
Earlier this year, Romanian hacker Guccifer claimed to have accessed Clinton’s email server but officials discovered the breach never ocurred. Last year, it was reported that Chinese hackers obtained millions of government personnel files, including fingerprints and social security numbers, from the Office of Personnel Management in 2014. And of course there was the Korean-based Sony attack that scared Congress into considering better cybersecurity precautions.
Trump, however, didn’t go into cybersecurity issues or touch on persistent cyber threats that exist almost daily. Instead, he said, “If Russia or China or any other country has those emails, I’d love to see it.”
Running partner Mike Pence doesn’t seem to share Trump’s views, according to an emailed statement released moments after Wednesday’s news conference concluded.
Inbox: Statement from Mike Pence (that distances himself somewhat from Trump on DNC hack) pic.twitter.com/yXjowVxJL6
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 27, 2016
Brendan Buck, spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), released a statement countering Trump’s comments, saying “Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election.”
Clinton’s foreign policy aide Jake Sullivan also weighed in.
Clinton camp responds to Trump calling on Russia to release emails pic.twitter.com/fKsv03OO9z
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 27, 2016
Despite contradicting views from his running mate and the highest elected Republican official, Trump is sticking to his statements.
This post has been updated to include statements from House Speaker Paul Ryan and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.