Pence: Russia faces ‘serious consequences’ if it’s behind DNC hack

by Jessie Hellmann - 07/27/16 12:07 PM ET

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence vowed Wednesday that Russia would face “serious consequences” if it is involved in the hack that stole emails from Democratic Party leaders.

{mosads}”This FBI will get to the bottom of who is behind the hacking. If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences,” Donald Trump’s running mate said in a statement.

Pence, the governor of Indiana, accused the Democrats of only focusing on who may be behind the hack while avoiding what they illuminated — that top party staffers apparently worked to undermine the insurgent presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders.

“That said, the Democrats singularly focusing on who might be behind it and not addressing the basic fact that they’ve been exposed as a party who not only rigs the government, but rigs elections while literally accepting cash for federal appointments is outrageous,” Pence said.

“The American people now have absolute and further proof of the corruption that exists around Hillary Clinton. It should disqualify her from office, if the media did their job.”

Emails released by WikiLeaks last week showed Democratic National Committee officials privately discussing attacks on someone’s faith, seemingly Sanders’s, and painting his campaign as disorganized.

U.S. officials and cybersecurity experts have suggested state-sponsored Russian hackers are behind the theft of 20,000 emails.

Pence’s statement Wednesday followed a bizarre press conference in which his running mate said he hopes Russian hackers have possession of the 33,000 emails Clinton deleted from the personal email server she used while secretary of State.

“If they hacked, they probably have her 33,000 emails. I hope they do,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday at a press conference at his Miami-area hotel.

“They probably have her 33,000 emails that she lost and deleted. You’d see some beauties, so we’ll see.”

He went on to address Russia directly: “Russia, if you are listening,” he said, “I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by the press.”

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Tags Bernie Sanders Donald Trump Hillary Clinton Mike Pence