The Kremlin on Tuesday brushed off allegations that it was involved in a hack of Democratic National Committee staffers’ emails, Reuters reported.
“We are again seeing these maniacal attempts to exploit the Russian theme in the U.S. election campaign,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign charged that Russian state actors were responsible for the hack, but Peskov told reporters such accusations are nothing new.
“This is not breaking new ground, this is an old trick which is being played again,” he said, according to Reuters. “This is not good for our bilateral relations, but we understand that we simply have to get through this unpleasant period.”
The hacked emails, published online Friday by Wikileaks, sent shockwaves through the Democratic Party. Several of the emails revealed DNC staffers’ bias toward Clinton, forcing committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) to announce she was stepping down after the convention and leading many supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to boo convention speakers on Monday in protest.