Democrats were hacked by US spies, claims Putin

VLADIMIR Putin has accused US intelligence agents of trying to frame Russia by secretly meddling with the 2016 presidential election themselves.

The Russian president denies involvement in the hacking of top Democrats’ email accounts that many believe helped swing the vote in Donald Trump’s favour. And last night he insisted that American spies were behind the data heist.

‘There’s a theory that (President) Kennedy’s assassination was arranged by the United States intelligence services,’ said Mr Putin in St Petersburg.

‘So what could be easier, in this day and age, than using all the technical means at the disposal of the intelligence services to organise attacks then point the finger at Russia.’

Far from wanting Mr Trump elected, the Russian leader said he ‘doesn’t care’ who is in the White House because whoever it is, ‘the main political direction does not change’.

Asked if he has information that could blackmail Mr Trump, Mr Putin said: ‘This is another load of nonsense.’ He also said he had no knowledge of meetings between Trump campaign officials and the Russian envoy.