“You have 33,000 emails deleted, and the real problem is what was said on the emails from the Democratic National Convention”.
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The New York businessman on Wednesday invited Russian Federation to dig up tens of thousands of “missing” emails from Clinton’s time at the U.S. State Department, prompting Democrats to accuse him of urging foreigners to spy on Americans. The emails showed DNC staffers supporting Clinton when they were publicly promising to remain neutral during the primary elections between Sen.
At a news conference Wednesday in Doral, Florida, Trump ignited his controversy with what appeared to be a challenge to Moscow.
“It would be interesting to see, I will tell you this, Russia, if you’re listening I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing”, Trump, speaking directly to Russia, had told reporters Wednesday.
“What I think unites Putin and Trump is an extremely cynical look at the world and the human condition, and I think this could, forgive me the pun, trump any other disagreements they may have”, he says.
The GOP nominee’s comments sparked an immediate uproar at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, as well as claims by Clinton’s campaign that Trump was endangering national security and even conspiring with a USA foe, charges echoed on social media.
“However”, he said, “Trump’s comment is only half of the story”.
In offhand remarks and abrupt zingers, Donald Trump has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and seemed to dismiss the importance of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Furthermore, some have suggested it is significant that top Trump adviser Paul Manafort was a longtime aide to Viktor Yanukovych, the ousted pro-Putin president of Ukraine.
In the DNC email case, Russia’s political class sees the issue as an effort by Democrats to discredit Trump by portraying him as the Kremlin’s favorite.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said his organization would not disclose who provided it with the stolen material. “The idea that any presidential candidate – let alone the nominee of a major party – is calling on a foreign nation, one that is sometimes hostile to our interests, calling on them to commit acts of espionage against an opponent, is stunning”.
“He was joking around”, Giuliani told CNN.
Former House Speaker New Gingrich referred to the comments as a “joke” soon after the GOP nominee made it Tuesday morning.
Trump’s campaign may be discounting the furor, but it is undeniable that his comments on Wednesday – in which he also appeared to open the way to recognizing Russia’s annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in contravention of current United States policy – offered an opening for the Clinton campaign.
At the convention, Leon Panetta, former CIA director and defense secretary, blasted Trump’s remarks, saying that Trump is “asking a USA adversary to engage in hacking or intelligence efforts against the United States of America to affect an election”.
Even as the USA continues to secretly hack its own adversaries, Obama is raising the stakes for countries caught behind the keyboards engaging in cyber espionage, including major powers like Russian Federation and China.
And of course, Trump said Putin would respect him more than Clinton, his Democratic rival who has been fiercely critical of Putin. “That’s not hyperbole, those are just the facts”. “This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue”.
TRUMP: I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer.
Amidst the denunciation of Trump’s statements Wednesday, his campaign pointed to Clinton’s use of personal server for official business as secretary of state despite handling sensitive classified information in that role and the thousands of emails she didn’t hand over to the State Department while destroying the server itself – the very emails Trump was referring to.
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The FBI recommended not to bring criminal charges against Clinton earlier this month.
