Trump Calls Attention Paid to Russian Hacking a ‘Witch Hunt’

Sad Donald. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Donald Trump called the attention paid to alleged Russian hacking a “political witch hunt” in an interview Friday with the New York Times. Just hours before a scheduled briefing from intelligence agencies on Russia’s role in the hacking of the DNC, Trump said that his opponents are “embarrassed” by his victory in November and have keyed in on hacking out of spite.

In the interview, Trump brought up prior instances of foreign hacking on government targets, including a Chinese breach on the federal Office of Personnel Management. “How come nobody even talks about that?” he asked. (As the Times helpfully points out, “none of the information from those intrusions was made public.”)

Trump added that he wishes U.S. entities would stop being hacked so much. “They’ve hacked the White House. They’ve hacked Congress. We’re like the hacking capital of the world,” he said.

Trump also announced on Friday afternoon his intention to ask Congress to investigate a leak of the intelligence on Russian hacking to NBC.

On Thursday, the network reported that Russians celebrated Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election and attributed the information to a “senior U.S. intelligence official.” Trump immediately responded to the report on Twitter Thursday night, by asking questions and then answering them himself.

On a normal day a politician who benefited from leaked information throwing a tantrum about leaked information would be the height of irony — but then this happened:

Trump Calls Attention Paid to Russian Hacking a ‘Witch Hunt’