Russian hackers discussed during the 2016 presidential campaign if they could obtain emails deleted by Hillary Clinton and get them to Michael Flynn, the retired general who was then a member of the Trump campaign, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The newspaper attributed the revelation to US officials with knowledge of intelligence about the hackers’ communications. That intelligence is being reviewed by US investigators who are examining if the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the election, the Journal reported. The hackers hoped to get the emails to Flynn via an intermediary, the Journal reported. Around the same time, a Republican with a history of opposition research against the Clintons was working to get the emails from hackers, including some with ties to the Russian government.
Peter W. Smith, a Chicago private equity executive who for years worked on Republican causes, told the Journal that he began an effort in September 2016 to obtain the 33,000 emails Clinton deleted from a private server dating to her time as secretary of state. Smith told the newspaper his team interacted with five groups of hackers who claimed to have the emails, two of which were Russian.
The project began two months after WikiLeaks released emails from the Democratic National Committee that US intelligence officials believe were obtained by Russian government-backed hackers. The release was part of a Russian plot to influence the outcome of the US election, intelligence officials have said.
In the aftermath of the WikiLeaks release, then-candidate Donald Trump joked that he hoped the Russians would also release Clinton’s deleted emails.
Full Article: Russian Hackers Reportedly Discussed Getting Hillary Clinton’s Emails To Michael Flynn.