DONALD TRUMP URGES RUSSIA TO HACK INTO HILLARY’S EMAILS

PHILADELPHIA: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump triggered a new controversy on Wednesday by publicly urging Russia to hack into his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s emails.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump told reporters in Florida. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

He was referring to the more than 30,000 emails that Clinton’s lawyers deleted from the private server she had used for official work while secretary of state.

Russian intelligence agencies have been accused of hacking into the official email account of the Democratic party’s headquarters and passing them on to WikiLeaks for release.

The emails, released on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, showed officials siding with Clinton against her rival Bernie Sanders. Trump sought to use the controversy to re-inject into public debate the controversy, but ended up bringing some mud on himself.

Critics slammed his remarks as “treasonous”. Leading conservative columnist Stephen Hayes asked in a tweet, “How can any Republican support a candidate who openly hopes for foreign cyberattacks on a political opponent?”

Republican Speaker Paul Ryan’s office issued a statement calling Russia a “global menace led by a devious thug”.