A top aide to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign said on Sunday it was an “open question” whether President-elect Donald Trump’s advisers colluded with Russia to hack into Democratic Party e-mails to try to sway the Nov. 8 election.
Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said there was evidence that Trump associates had contact with a Russian intelligence official and the website WikiLeaks before U.S. intelligence agencies accused Russia of being behind computer attacks of Democratic e-mails, including those of the chairman.
“It’s very much unknown whether there was collusion. I think Russian diplomats have said post-election that they were talking to the Trump campaign,” Mr. Podesta told NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme.
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“Not what Mr. Trump knew, but what did ‘Trump Inc’ know and when did they know it? Were they in touch with the Russians? I think those are still open questions,” he added. Asked if it was a free and fair election, Mr. Podesta replied:”I think it was distorted by the Russian intervention, let’s put it that way.”
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a separate interview, Mr. Trump’s incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, rejected the notion that Mr. Trump or his associates were aware of and in touch with the Russians during the hack attack.
“Even this question is insane,” Mr. Priebus told Fox NewsSunday. “Of course we don’t interface with the Russians.”
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Russia has denied U.S. accusations that it was behind the hacks.