Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump invited Russia on Wednesday to uncover and release thousands of emails that his rival and Democratic counterpart Hillary Clinton did not hand over to US officials as part of a probe into the use of her private email system.
In response to Trump’s suggestion, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin “more than once has said that Russia would never interfere and does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, especially in the electoral process”.
The Kremlin also dismissed allegations that Russia had hacked Democratic Party emails as “horror stories” dreamt up by US politicians.
Separately, Trump dismissed any suggestion that Russia was behind the theft and release of embarrassing Democratic Party emails made public last week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday brushed aside accusations that Moscow was behind the hacking of Democratic Party emails.
Those emails were the subject of an FBI probe that found no basis for criminal charges despite FBI Director James Comey saying Clinton was “extremely careless” in her handling of classified information.
Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat on the intelligence committee, said that Trump’s behavior “wouldn’t be believable if he was a character on House of Cards”, much less the Republican nominee for president.
Responding to the comments, Jake Sullivan, Hillary’s chief foreign policy adviser accused Trump of encouraging Russia to meddle in the domestic politics of the US.
Robby Mook, Hillary’s campaign manager, suggested that Trump was going into unchartered territory with his remarks.
Jason Miller, a campaign spokesman, took to Twitter to clarify Trump’s comments.
Trump’s running mate, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, said any hacking by Russia should not be tolerated, but he also faulted the Democrats.
Republican Pete Hoekstra supported Trump and said:
“It’s just one more example of the reckless and dangerous comments that Donald Trump makes that compromises American foreign policy objectives,” said Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Philip Reiner, a former National Security Council official in the Obama administration, called Trump a “scumbag animal.”
Retired US admiral James Stavridis said Trump’s comments were “shocking and dangerous.”
Clinton, due on Thursday to accept the Democratic Party nomination, will face Trump in the 8 November election. She kept a private system for her emails at her New York home while serving as Secretary of State from 2009-2013.
(With Reuters inputs)
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