Sen. John Kennedy admitted he was wrong to claim that Ukraine may have hacked the Democratic National Committee in 2016.
The Louisiana Republican raised the possibility in an interview with Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday, acknowledging that Russia may be the culprit behind the cyberattack but adding that it “could also be Ukraine.” He then walked back his comments in an interview with CNN host Chris Cuomo a day later.
“I was answering one of his questions, and he interjected with a statement and asked me to react to it. What I heard Chris say was, ‘Only Russia tried to interfere in the election,’ and I answered the question. That’s not what he said,” Kennedy told Cuomo on Monday night.
“Chris is right, I was wrong,” he said. “The only evidence I have, and I think it’s overwhelming, that it was Russia who tried to hack the DNC computer. I’ve seen no indication that Ukraine tried to do it.”
Reports have suggested that Ukrainian officials worked with a DNC insider to gather dirt on Trump campaign officials during the 2016 election in a bid to aid former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. However, no evidence has surfaced showing that Ukraine hacked the DNC servers, and United States intelligence officials have concluded that Russia was behind the hack.
President Trump raised the debunked allegations against Ukraine during his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that sparked impeachment proceedings.
