NYT: Russians Hacked The RNC Too, U.S. Officials Say

The Republican National Committee was the subject to a cyber-intrusion similar to the hack that led to the release of Democratic National Committee emails during the presidential campaign, top Obama administration officials told the New York Times. Republican officials, however, continue to deny that the RNC was hacked.

The fact that the RNC was hacked but none of its documents were released is part of the findings that have led the U.S intelligence community to conclude that Russian actors sought to boost Donald Trump over his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, the New York Times reported Friday.

The Washington Post also reported Friday that lawmakers had been briefed on a secret CIA assessment that Russian interference in the presidential election favored Trump over Clinton.

On CNN Saturday morning, RNC communications director Sean Spicer denied that the RNC had been hacked and accused the New York Times of ignoring “conclusive proof” that the intrusion hadn’t happened.

“They refused to look at that. They ignored it, because it didn’t fit the narrative,” Spicer said. “The bottom line … is the intelligence is wrong, because they’re writing the conclusion they came to was based part on that the RNC was hacked. It wasn’t hacked.”

A senior RNC official had told the New York Times that it had no comment for its report, but in the past the committee has denied other claims that it had been hacked, including a comment made by House Homeland Security Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) on CNN in September that he quickly walked back.

One senior government official told the Times that the attempts to hack the RNC were unsuccessful.

However, U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded — with “high confidence,” as one official put it to the New York Times — that intrusions were in fact successful, and included the finding its briefings with the President and other officials.