Washington – Trump Says Was Being ‘Sarcastic’ In Russia Hack Comments

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    A supporter asks Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for an autograph following a campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, U.S., July 27, 2016.  REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Washington – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Thursday tried to quell the furor over his call for Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails, saying he was being sarcastic.

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    In Moscow, meanwhile, a Kremlin spokesman pointedly told Washington to solve its own email problems.

    Trump on Wednesday invited Russia to dig up tens of thousands of “missing” emails from Clinton’s time at the U.S. State Department, prompting Democrats to accuse him of urging foreigners to spy on Americans.

    Later, he dismissed concerns raised by Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook that his comments raised national security concerns.

    “You have to be kidding. His client, his person, deleted 33,000 e-mails illegally. You look at that. And when I’m being sarcastic with something …” Trump said in a Fox News interview broadcast on Thursday.

    Asked if he was indeed being sarcastic, Trump snapped, “Of course I’m being sarcastic. They don’t even know, frankly, if it’s Russia. They have no idea if it’s Russia, if it’s China, if it’s somebody else. Who knows who it is?

    “But you have 33,000 (Clinton) emails deleted, and the real problem is what was said on those emails from the Democratic National Committee,” he said, referring to hacked emails released last weekend by WikiLeaks.

    The DNC emails showed party leaders favoring Clinton over her rival in the campaign for the nomination, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The committee is supposed to be neutral.

    Trump’s explanation echoed those of his campaign advisers and other supporters, who immediately tried to pass his comments off as tongue-in-cheek and not serious.

    But the exhortation for a U.S. adversary to use cyber intrusions against an American political candidate drew criticism from intelligence experts and other public figures, including some Republicans.

    Trump made the remark at a news conference in Miami that allowed him to steal some of the limelight from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where Clinton on Thursday will accept her party’s presidential nomination for the Nov. 8 election.

    “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, told reporters.

    He later said on Twitter that if anyone had Clinton’s emails, “perhaps they should share them with the FBI!”

    The Republican presidential nominee was referring to a private email system Clinton kept in her home in Chappaqua, New York, while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. She handed over thousands of emails in 2015 to U.S. officials probing that system, but did not release about 30,000 deleted emails she said were personal and not work-related.

    Cyber security experts and U.S. officials have said there was evidence that Russia engineered the release of the sensitive Democratic Party emails to influence the election.

    But the Kremlin beat back those insinuations again on Thursday, saying they were driven by anti-Russian sentiment.

    “It is so absurd it borders on total stupidity,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “The Americans needs to get to the bottom of what these emails are themselves and find out what it’s all about.”

    Although some Democrats have wondered aloud whether Trump committed a crime in his remarks directed at Russia, the prospect of any prosecution is considered nil because of the strong guarantee of speech rights in the United States.

    Charging Trump for his comments about Russia would “turn campaign fluff into a crime” and would be laughable, said Daniel Richman, a Columbia University law professor and former U.S. prosecutor.


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    23 Comments
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    Boochie
    Boochie
    7 years ago

    The only people who find that funny are the people who don’t like Trump “.”

    It’s the same people ignoring what was in the emails and the same people who Re in denial about what’s in 33k missing emails

    Bottom line is trump is shaking up the political world and the people on top are shaking ….but I see this as a good thing

    hashomer
    hashomer
    7 years ago

    Yes, Herr Trump really stole the show from the Dems yesterday, and he received a bucketful of ice water from all sides for his ignoramus comments. Now he says it was “sarcasm”. LOL . The speeches of Kaine, Biden, Bloomy and twice elected President O made mincemeat out of his candidacy. And Dem Convention ratings on all TV was far greater than GOP dud in Cleveland. Look it up. Main point: America wants a President, not a fuhrer. Everyone outside of yeshivot have been taught since grade school the dangers of an autocrat. Besides bums like Huey Long and Geo Wallace, he’s one of the first demagogues to run for President. He won’t win, and will take the GOP over the cliff…

    7 years ago

    Duh it does not take a genuis to figure that out. Only the intellectual democrats , think like he really wants Russia to hack us. Alterntaivley and more likely, they want voters, to believe that because it was a great line and jab at Hilary. So this deflates the jab.

    7 years ago

    A liberal mind is too narrow to understand humor.

    7 years ago

    Nobody, 2016!!!

    chaimyhirsch
    chaimyhirsch
    7 years ago

    What’s wrong with inviting Russia to find the missing emails? There is nothing classified in them! Maybe there was…..

    Haimov
    Haimov
    7 years ago

    Everybody wants to be Trump and Trump wants to be Putin

    7 years ago

    hacked emails proved true the claims all along of bernie sanders. have tech-savy bernie supporters pulled off a good one? if yes they must be laughing their heads off

    billybob
    billybob
    7 years ago

    Since it was a private (not government) server how can the Democrats say that Trump told the Russians to hack US Government computers to find Hillary’s deleted emails?

    yaakov doe
    Member
    yaakov doe
    7 years ago

    Just an example of Trump acting Presidential as he promised

    7 years ago

    Duh. This was a no brainer (but obviously way above the average democrat’s intelligence level). Everyone except the liberal democrat idiots knew he was being sarcastic!