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FBI investigates DNC hacking; Clinton campaign blames Russia

Weaver said Schultz, accused throughout the campaign of betraying a neutral role by operating on behalf of Hillary Clinton campaign, deserves specific scrutiny – especially as the contents of the leaked emails “reinforce” that the party had put “its fingers on the scale” during the hard fought primary process.

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Clinton’s campaign has previously criticized Trump for his praise of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, a point that was highlighted this past week when Trump suggested that without sufficient financial contributions the USA under his leadership may not honor North Atlantic Treaty Organisation commitments to defend European allies against attacks from Russian.

In this Saturday, July 23, 2016 photo, DNC Chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks during a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a rally at Florida International University Panther Ar.

Some security experts agree with this analysis. “Dave Aitel, CEO of security firm Immunity Inc, put it in blunt terms in a column for Ars Technica: “[The leak] meets the definition of an act of cyberwar, and the U.S. government should respond as such”. “Cozy Bear” infiltrated the DNC servers last year, while “Fancy Bear” struck earlier this year. Several cybersecurity firms have verified Crowdstrike’s findings that the perpetrators of the DNC attack were the two known Russian groups, and there is no evidence independent hackers could be separately responsible for the leaks.

Complicating matters was the existence of a purported hacker who uses the name “Guccifer 2.0”.

Donald Trump is brushing off claims that Russian Federation is trying to help his campaign by leaking thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee.

Democrats are opening their national convention in Philadelphia eager to show off a forward-looking party united behind Hillary Clinton.

However, security firms didn’t buy it.

On Sunday, Sanders renewed his call for Wasserman Schultz to resign and said that the emails vindicate his claims during the primary that party officials were actively working to undermine his candidacy.

How do we know this is the work of Russian Federation? The emails also will make it more hard for Sanders to rally his supporters behind Clinton on Monday because they likely will believe she was in “collusion” with the DNC, said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, speaking on This Week Sunday, noted that the DNC official who questioned Sanders’ faith has apologized, which he called “an appropriate step”. “I don’t think it’s coincidental that these emails were released on the eve of our convention here, and that’s disturbing and I think we need to be concerned about that”.

Some security experts are indeed saying this.

Both were recognized as known Russian military or intelligence-affiliated hacking operations.

“What more is there to know?” host George Stephanopoulos asked Mook. We’re in uncharted territory, where everything from attribution to the proper response is unclear. If that is the case, “it suggests the kind of misunderstanding of American domestic politics”.

As thousands of Democrats poured into this hot and steamy convention city, with its rich colonial history and modern-day urban blight, party leaders previewed the case they hope to make over the next four days, portraying Trump as too risky and reckless to trust with the nation’s care.

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The origin of the leak shouldn’t subtract from any allege scandal contained within the leak – if the scandal is genuine. But that origin certainly shouldn’t be ignored.

Emails released by Wikileaks raise questions of DNC's impartiality