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US has ‘high confidence’ Russia behind DNC hack: report

by Jordan Fabian - 07/26/16 9:53 PM ET

U.S. intelligence officials have “high confidence” that the Russian government was responsible for a major hack that stole of a trove of emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), according The New York Times.

Intelligence agencies have informed the White House of their determination but have said it remains unclear whether the hack was an attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

{mosads}The possibility remains that it was a common cyberattack that countries, including the U.S., partake in against various outside governments and organizations.

The theft has roiled the campaign. Bernie Sanders backers were enraged after internal emails published on the website WikiLeaks showed DNC officials apparently working to undermine the Vermont senator’s upstart presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton.

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wassermann Schultz stepped down in the wake of the email leak, which was clearly on the minds of Sanders backers at the party’s national convention in Philadelphia this week.

Earlier Tuesday, President Obama raised the possibility the Russians hacked the DNC in order to boost the campaign of Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Anything’s possible,” Obama said in an interview with NBC News.

Trump on Tuesday sought to bat down the notion that the hack was meant to benefit his campaign.

“In order to try and deflect the horror and stupidity of the Wikileakes disaster, the Dems said maybe it is Russia dealing with Trump. Crazy!” he tweeted. “For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia.”

Tags Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Hillary Clinton