President Donald Trump claimed in a tweet late Tuesday night that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton‘s emails were hacked by China.
The president said that the Justice Department and FBI would need to investigate the claim or risk losing credibility.
“Report just out: ‘China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server.’ Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!” the president tweeted, later adding: “Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!”
Report just out: “China hacked Hillary Clinton’s private Email Server.” Are they sure it wasn’t Russia (just kidding!)? What are the odds that the FBI and DOJ are right on top of this? Actually, a very big story. Much classified information!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China. Next move better be by the FBI & DOJ or, after all of their other missteps (Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr, FISA, Dirty Dossier etc.), their credibility will be forever gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
Trump’s claim comes after the Daily Caller, a conservative website, published a story earlier this week that said a Chinese-owned company hacked Clinton’s private server.
The story was based on sources who said the company was able to read the former secretary of state’s emails by using a code that was implanted in her private email server. Fox News host Laura Ingraham also brought up the story on Tuesday night.
According to Reuters, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said it “wasn’t the first time” China has heard claims similar to this.
“China is a staunch defender of cybersecurity. We firmly oppose and crack down on any forms of internet attacks and the stealing of secrets,” she said, according to the news outlet.
As NPR points out, the president himself has floated the idea of China being behind election-focused cyberattacks, including the hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails, which Special Counsel Robert Mueller‘s team recently indicted Russian nationals for allegedly committing.
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