US President Donald Trump has accused China of hacking the emails of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the 2016 presidential election, but did not offer any evidence to back up the claim.
“Hillary Clinton’s Emails, many of which are Classified Information, got hacked by China,” Trump tweeted early on Wednesday.
The US president called on the FBI and the Department of Justice – which he has frequently attacked in recent days—to investigate the alleged hacking, saying otherwise “their credibility will be forever gone.”
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
This is not the first time Trump claims China hacked Democratic officials to meddle in the presidential election. He first made the allegation in April 2017 without providing any evidence.
US intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia orchestrated an interference campaign, including hacking of Democratic officials, targeting the 2016 election in order to tip the scale toward Trump.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russia’s alleged meddling in the US election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Moscow. Russia denies interfering in the elections, while Trump has denied any collusion.
Trump now claims that Hillary Clinton’s emails were hacked by #China. If this is true (doubtful), how did Trump know, but not the FBI or DOJ⁉️
And if it’s NOT true, how does the FBI prove a negative to Trump supporters⁉️
Either way, Trump will push his Deep State myth.🤬 https://t.co/OibDGgDNSd
— Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) August 29, 2018
A federal grand jury indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers in July on charges of hacking the computer networks of Clinton and the Democratic Party.
Trump has been under growing pressure after a guilty verdict for his former campaign manager Paul Manafort last week.
Manafort is the first person charged by Mueller to go on trial. The charges against him are related to consulting work he did for a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine before he joined the Trump campaign in 2016.
The president’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen also pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and violations of election campaign finance laws.
Cohen's campaign finance law violations stem from hush money payments he arranged during the 2016 campaign to women who allegedly had sexual affairs with Trump.
Since the indictments, several Democrats in Congress have publicly supported bringing impeachment proceedings against the Republican president.