Clinton campaign hacked
The US Justice Department is investigating whether the cyber attacks threatened national security.
The computer network used by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign was hacked as part of a broad cyber attack on Democratic political organisations, people familiar with the matter say.
The latest attack, which was revealed yesterday, follows reports of two other hacks – on the Democratic National Committee and the party’s fundraising committee for candidates for the United States House of Representatives.
The United States Department of Justice’s national security division was investigating whether cyber hacking attacks on Democratic political organisations threatened national security, sources familiar with the matter said.
The involvement of the division was a sign that the Obama administration had concluded that the hacking was state-sponsored, individuals with knowledge of the investigation said.
The Clinton campaign said it had no immediate comment, and referred reporters to a comment earlier this week by campaign senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan criticising Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and calling the hacking ‘‘a national security issue’’.
The Justice comment.
It was not immediately clear what information on the Clinton campaign’s computer system hackers would have been able to access.
Hackers, whom US intelligence officials have concluded were Russian, Department had no gained access to the entire network of the fundraising Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said people familiar with the matter, detailing the extent of the breach for the first time.
Access to the full DCCC network would have given the hackers access to everything from emails to strategy memos and opposition research prepared to support Democratic candidates in campaigns for the House.
Russian officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
The DCCC said yesterday that it had hired cyber security firm CrowdStrike to investigate.
‘‘We have taken and are continuing to take steps to enhance the security of our network,’’ the DCCC said. ‘‘We are cooperating with federal law enforcement with respect to their ongoing investigation.’’
Clinton hit the road yesterday for a bus tour of America’s rust belt, marking the start of a battle for the soul of the nation that threatens to be every bit as historic as becoming the Democratic Party’s first female nominee.
She sets out on the campaign trail seeking to stitch back together the Democrats’ reputation for standing up for the country’s working class.
Trump, whose own convention in Cleveland last week pushed him ahead in the polls, said the Democratic Party’s attempt to reverse that with its four-day convention left him wanting to ‘‘hit a couple of those speakers so hard . . . their heads would spin’’.
Thousands of people came to see the Democratic ticket at a gymnasium at Temple University’s McGonigle Hall, and roared with excitement when the candidate walked on to the stage with husband and former president Bill Clinton, and running mate Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton.
‘‘I don’t know about you, but I stayed up really late last night,’’ Clinton said, drawing loud laughs and cheers from the audience.
‘‘It was just hard to go to sleep!’’
Clinton and Kaine were also taking their economic vision to a factory in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, a farmer’s market in Harrisburg, and a high school in Youngstown.
She has offered a jobs programme and investment in infrastructure in the first 100 days of her presidency.
But she conceded: ‘‘Too many people haven’t had a pay raise since the crash,’’ adding: ‘‘Democrats, we are the party of working people but we haven’t done a good enough job showing that we get what you’re going through, and that we’re going to do something about it.’’