FBI Director James Comey (left), Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan wait to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday.
Russians hacked Republicans during the lead up to the 2016 election, too, Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey told senators Tuesday.
But the hackers were only successful in penetrating state-level organizations and campaigns, as well as an old email domain no longer used by the Republican National Committee, Comey said.
“We did not develop any evidence that the Trump campaign or the current RNC was successfully hacked,” Comey said.
Comey, joined by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan and National Security Agency director Admiral Michael Rogers, spoke during the Senate Intelligence Committee’s first public hearing on Russian hacking and propaganda efforts that aired emails from Democratic political groups and leaders during the 2016 presidential campaigns.
The question of how much Republican organizations and figures were hacked plays into the sensitive topic of whether Russian spies intended specifically to help Republican candidate Donald Trump’s campaign. On Friday, the CIA, FBI and NSA released a joint report saying all three spy agencies agreed that Russian President Vladimir Putin personally ordered the campaign and did indeed favor Trump for the American presidency.
