Trump Says He Hopes Russians Hack Into Potentially Classified Clinton Emails

On Wednesday, Donald Trump addressed concerns that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee’s emails for his benefit.

He called it “a total deflection” and “far-fetched.” “I wish I had that power.” Trump asserted, “by the way, they hacked.” He added he hopes Russia has Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, which are likely to contain classified information. “They probably have her 33,000 emails. I hope they do. They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted. Because you’d see some beauties there.”



In a rare occurrence, Trump also attacked Russia, saying “Russia has no respect for our country—if it is Russia. Nobody even even knows, it’s probably China.”

Trump later added, “I have nothing to do with Russia.”

That is demonstrably false, according to Trump.

TIME reported in November:

“At Tuesday’s debate, real estate mogul Donald Trump argued that he understands Russian leader Vladimir Putin because they both were featured on a September episode of the TV news show 60 Minutes. ‘I got to know him very well because we were both on 60 Minutes, we were stablemates,’ he said, then he seemed to reference the show’s ratings. ‘We did well that night.'”

In June, the Washington Post reported:

“Trump tweeted Putin a personal invitation to attend the pageant, and a one-on-one meeting between the New York businessman and the Russian leader was scheduled for the day before the show. Putin canceled at the last minute, but he sent a decorative lacquered box, a traditional Russian gift, and a warm note, according to Aras Agalarov, a Moscow billionaire who served as a liaison between Trump and the Russian leader.”

Bloomberg also reported in March:

“The Russian market is attracted to me,” Trump told Real Estate Weekly. “I have a great relationship with many Russians, and almost all of the oligarchs were in the room.”

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