Congress compares French presidential candidate email hack to US

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/332289-congress-compares-french-election-hack-to-us

>U.S. lawmakers are drawing a parallel between the recent hack of French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron's campaign emails to the hack that affected Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign as she ran for president in the 2016 election. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are blaming Russia for the attacks.

>A large archive of what are allegedly Macron campaign emails were leaked online Friday, just two days before the Sunday election. The Macron campaign previously claimed Russia tried to hack their emails, an allegation the Kremlin strongly denies but which has heightened allegations Russia was also behind the recent leak.

>Macron is the centrist candidate in the race, while his populist, right-wing competitor Marine Le Pen has drawn comparisons to President Trump.

>Clinton has blamed her own loss in the presidential election in part on the leaked emails, which she said "raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me." U.S. intelligence officials have indicated that the Clinton hack came from Russia.

>"Russia, again," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) tweeted, sharing the Reuters report on Macron's hack.

>Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) also denounced Russia for attempting to influence multiple elections. In a tweet, he called for allies to support one another.

>Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, which is leading the U.S.-Russia probe, noted that hackers are allegedly mixing fake documents with real ones during their public release.

>Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) implied Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's successful interference in the U.S. election "emboldened" him to try to meddle in the elections of another Western democratic state.