Did Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump just call for a felony to be committed? On Wednesday, he urged a foreign government to hack an American citizen and release personal emails.
“Russia, if you're listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing” from emails that Hillary Clinton turned over to the State Department, Trump said in a lengthy press conference in Doral, Fla. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens. That will be next. Yes, sir.”
Trump himself has had financial interests in Russia. He has also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and has said that if Russia were to invade NATO members, the United States might not come to their defense.
Trump was apparently referring to emails from Clinton’s private email server that she didn’t turn over to the State Department because they involved personal matters.
Trump’s incendiary comments came on the heels of the theft and leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee, an operation that, as The Daily Beast first reported, U.S. official believe was carried out by the Russian government and may have been designed to help Trump in the polls.
Trump appeared to urge a U.S. adversary suspected of criminal activity essentially to go further and attack his opponent. The comments drew ire from across the national security community.
Trump was apparently referring to emails from Clinton’s private email server that she didn’t turn over to the State Department because they involved personal matters.
Trump’s incendiary comments came on the heels of the theft and leak of emails from the Democratic National Committee, an operation that, as The Daily Beast first reported, U.S. official believe was carried out by the Russian government and may have been designed to help Trump in the polls.
Trump appeared to urge a U.S. adversary suspected of criminal activity essentially to go further and attack his opponent. The comments drew ire from across the national security community.
Minutes later, Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Mike Pence, contradicted the candidate, calling for Russia to be held accountable should it be involved in the DNC hacking. The stolen emails were published last week by Wikileaks, and some security researchers believe the emails were provided by an agent of the Russian government. Pence released a statement Wednesday saying if Russia is interfering with the election, “I can assure both [political] parties and the United States government will ensure there will be serious consequences.”
Trump allies were at pains to explain the nominee’s plea for Russian intervention. Newt Gingrich said Trump had simply made a “joke.”
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, offered a different explanation. “The Clintons have a monetary relationship with Russia,” Giuliani said during a press conference in Philadelphia. He said that Trump wanted the emails released to the FBI. But that’s not what Trump originally called for. In his statement, he said that the leaker of Hillary’s emails would be “rewarded mightily by our press.”
A top Clinton adviser quickly condemned Trump’s comments. “This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent,” aide Jake Sullivan said in a statement. “That’s not hyperbole, those are just the facts. This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.”
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, added that the call for illegal hacking “shows staggeringly poor judgment even for him.”
“With so many unanswered questions about Trump’s ties to the Kremlin, it’s imperative that Trump immediately release his tax returns and disclose his financial ties to Russia,” Schiff added.
Trump’s comments were politically explosive. But it’s not clear whether he was inciting criminal activity. He did not refer specifically to how Russia or any other country might obtain emails from Clinton’s private server. And if the Russians had already hacked Clinton’s private server, the crime for which Trump was arguably calling had already been committed. The distribution of stolen emails would certainly be a crime, legal experts said.
In Washington, where many have come to expect the unexpected from Trump, Wednesday’s comments were at least troubling to some.
“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.
Moss believes that there’s a legal case to charge Trump for his comments, because he was calling for Russia to take “imminent lawless action,” which is speech not covered by the First Amendment.
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.
“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 explained.
