Collusion

Podesta: Trump ally had ‘advance warning’ of hacked emails

Clinton's campaign chairman also accused Roger Stone of colluding with WikiLeaks.

By Glenn Thrush and Annie Karni

Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta said Tuesday that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are investigating the hack of his Gmail account -- and suggested a top Trump adviser colluded with WikiLeaks and Russian intelligence to destroy Clinton's campaign.

Podesta, speaking to reporters aboard Clinton's flight back to New York after a Florida campaign swing, charged that Roger Stone, a longtime friend of Donald Trump's who has spoken to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, had "advance knowledge" of the leaks.

He described himself as a victim and said he's working with federal investigators to track down the culprits, adding that “it wasn’t any coincidence” his emails were made public shortly after a tape of Trump making lewd remarks and boasting about sexually assaulting women were released Friday.

“I was in touch with the FBI on Sunday -- they confirmed that they're investigating a criminal hack of my email and we of course are fully cooperating with that investigation. We also heard today from law enforcement authorities that that investigation is part of hacking … by Russian intelligence,” Podesta said -- confirming the accuracy of some, but not all of the thousands of emails posted on the organization’s website.

“I know that members of the press are having a good time live tweeting and live blogging what's coming out of WikiLeaks and we can't confirm the accuracy of those leaks,” he added.

A defiant Trump, who has praised WikiLeaks and questioned U.S. intelligence agencies' claims about Russia’s involvement in the hacks of U.S. political figures and institutions, struck a defiant tone during an appearance in Panama City Fla. Tuesday night, blaming the press for linking his campaign to the leaks.

“WikiLeaks also shows something I’ve been warning everybody about for a long time,” said Trump, taking time out of his ill-timed war against GOP party leaders to train his fire against the surging Clinton. “The media is simply an extension of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It’s just one more way that the system is rigged.”

But Stone, a GOP dark-arts operative who idolizes Richard Nixon, has admitted to contacting Assange and tweeted as far back as August that WikiLeaks would sink Clinton and Podesta, one of her most seasoned and influential advisers.

“Stone pointed his finger at me, and said that I could expect some treatment that would expose me and ultimately sent out a tweet that said it would be my time in the barrel,” Podesta said. “So I think it’s a reasonable assumption to — or at least a reasonable conclusion — that Mr. Stone had advance warning and the Trump campaign had advance warning about what Assange was going to do … I think there’s at least a reasonable belief that Mr. Assange may have passed this information onto Mr. Stone.”

Podesta said he didn’t know if the FBI’s investigation included a probe of Trump’s campaign – and believes that no other campaign officials' email accounts, or Clinton’s own correspondence, had been hacked.

An email to Stone Tuesday night wasn’t immediately returned.

Podesta said he wasn't happy about the invasion of his privacy -- which has provided an unprecedented view into the campaign's inner workings in real time -- but professed to be "Zen" about the ordeal, despite his reputation for having a volcanic temper.

On Friday, Assange's group released the first batch of emails, featuring excerpts from Clinton's long-sought-after Wall Street speeches -- including one that included her assertion that politicians needed to have two positions, their real opinions, and a public stance that pacifies voters who aren't equipped to deal with the "sausage-making" of American realpolitik.

Another tranche released Monday -- a rare bit of good news for the imploding Trump campaign -- revealed a ferocious internal battle at Bill Clinton's charitable foundation, with daughter Chelsea accusing foundation executive Doug Band of acting in his own financial self-interest. WikiLeaks released a third batch on Tuesday.

Podesta, the tart-tongued former Bill Clinton chief of staff and adviser to President Barack Obama, also scoffed at Trump's assertion, during Sunday's debate in St. Louis, that his campaign had no idea whether Russian intelligence services were behind the recent hacks.

Obama administration officials have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of engineering cyber-warfare breaches aimed at disrupting the democratic process and sowing doubt about the validity of the 2016 elections. And though they haven’t fingered Russia specifically for the hack of Podesta’s emails, U.S. officials said Friday that the emails posted on WikiLeaks and other sites "are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts."

Podesta refused to say what other revelations were forthcoming, telling reporters that his staff was combing his Gmail account and Wikileaks’ searchable database for details.

The Clinton campaign has declined to confirm the authenticity of specific emails, and has suggested that many of them may have been maliciously altered.

“If you are going to write about materials issued by @wikileaks, you should at least state they are product of illegal hack by a foreign govt,” Clinton’s press secretary Brian Fallon tweeted on Tuesday. “Media needs to stop treating Wikileaks like it is same as FOIA. Assange is colluding with Russian government to help Trump.”

When asked if the campaign had a message for Trump, Podesta told reporters, “It will make our victory sweeter.”