Hackers linked to Russian intelligence services may have targeted some prominent Republican lawmakers, in addition to their well-publicized spying on Democrats, based on research into leaked emails published on a little-noticed website. The site, DC Leaks, launched in June but started getting new attention in recent days, when researchers said they had uncovered ties between the site and suspected Moscow-backed hackers. Those are the same hackers whom researchers have blamed for previous digital break-ins at the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “We believe DC Leaks is another Russian-backed influence outlet,” digital security firm ThreatConnect said in a Friday blog post.
The site’s content is heavily weighted toward Democratic targets, including data dumps from a former top NATO general, major Democratic fundraiser George Soros and a prominent Clinton campaign volunteer. But the site also includes a small “portfolio” of roughly 300 emails from Republican targets, including purported emails from the campaign staffs for Sen. John McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, and Lindsey Graham, who briefly ran for president during this cycle. Both lawmakers are stalwart critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also included in the dump are emails from 2012 GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and party officials in several states.
If the hackers were indeed targeting high-level politicians from both major parties, that may complicate Hillary Clinton supporters’ narrative that Putin’s regime is trying to put Donald Trump in the White House. But the presence of GOP-affiliated emails could also be part of a disinformation campaign meant to make the site seem nonpartisan, cautioned Toni Gidwani, director of research operations at ThreatConnect, in an interview with POLITICO.
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Full Article: Suspected Russian DNC hackers also hit GOP, researchers say – POLITICO.