During a press conference in Doral, Florida, Donald Trump uttered what are most likely some of his most unhinged and dangerous comments to date.
While dismissing the evidence surrounding Russia’s involvement in the DNC email hack – a hack that his campaign benefitted directly from – Trump invited Russian hackers to get to the bottom of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said referring to Clinton’s past email scandal during the press conference. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens. That will be next.”
Trump’s comments are causing a media firestorm in the wake of the hacking into and leaking of emails from the Democratic National Committee, a hack that the U.S. and other experts believe was carried out by the Russian government. Whether the hack was intended to help Trump, there’s no denying that his campaign benefited politically – but for how long remains to be seen.
As The Daily Beast points out, during the press conference Trump appeared to encourage a “U.S. adversary” suspected of criminal activity to attack Clinton further. Contracting the GOP nominee, Trump’s running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence said Russia should be held accountable if it’s proven they were behind the hack.
“I can assure both [Democrats and Republicans] and the United States government will ensure there will be serious consequences,” Pence said in a statement this Wednesday.
“It’s probably the most egregiously stupid thing I’ve ever heard a party nominee say ever,” said Bradley Moss, a lawyer specializing in national security law, adding that there could be a legal case to charge Trump for his comments since he was calling for Russia to take “imminent lawless action” – a manner of speech which is not covered by the First Amendment.
“You could argue what Trump was urging Russia to do was hack Hillary’s server and release the contents to the media—conspiring with them to hack into a private server and release confidential information to the public,” Moss said according to the Beast.
Moss added that Trump could theoretically be charged as a conspirator under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
But due to the “political nightmare” of such a case, Moss says charges would be unlikely.
“From a political standpoint, this is beyond the pale, something that should be disavowed,” Moss clarified.
.@RealDonaldTrump on @HillaryClinton's emails: Russia, 'I hope you find the 33,000 emails that are missing.' pic.twitter.com/zlOhFme3X1
— POLITICO (@politico) July 27, 2016
Interestingly, Trump started the now infamous press conference trying to distance himself from the attack and any ties he suspected of having to Russian President Vladimir Putin (although he claimed to have never met Putin, he’s bragged about meeting him in the past).
“I have nothing to do with Putin. I don’t know anything about him,” Trump said during the press conference. “If it is Russia, which it’s probably not — nobody knows who it is — but if it is Russia, it’d be for a different reason. Because it shows how little respect they have for our country. When they would hack into a major party and get everything.”
From The Daily Beast:
While computer hacking is a crime, nations routinely steal each other’s digital information in the conduct of espionage. After ex-intelligence agency contractor Edward Snowden released classified information about surveillance operations, the U.S. was shown to have monitored German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cellphone, an embarrassing revelation. But it’s one thing for a state to sponsor a cyber attack, and is another for a politician to urge another state to target his opponent.
“The worst part of all of this is that it will probably lead to a jump in his poll numbers,” a defense official said according to the Beast.
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