Pelosi: My nonexistent campaign computer was not hacked

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday refuted claims that Democratic campaign memos, leaked this week by a hacker group, originated from her personal computer. 

The story can’t be true, her office said, because Pelosi doesn’t have a personal computer at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) headquarters, which was infiltrated earlier this summer by hackers thought to be tied to Russian intelligence.

{mosads}Pelosi has long warned that the hackers, who also tapped into files held by the Democratic National Committee, were attempting to sway the outcome of November’s elections by embarrassing Democrats with a slow drip of leaked documents. It’s a warning her office amplified on Thursday.

“This attempt by Russia to influence our election has no place in our democracy,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in an email. 

“In addition, Leader Pelosi does not have a personal computer at the DCCC so no hacked, dumped or doctored documents can be attributed to her computer.”

Posted online Wednesday by the hacking group Guccifer 2.0, the documents included memos related to party fundraising, immigration reform, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and campaign staff guidelines. In a short introduction, the group claimed the documents came from “a folder from the Nancy Pelosi’s PC.”

There was also a November memo to DCCC staff advising Democratic candidates on how to approach activists affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, whose aggressive protest tactics had disrupted a number of events staged by the Democratic presidential contenders in previous months. 

Among the suggestions posed by the DCCC, Democrats were advised to “listen to their concerns” but avoid public discussions.

“Please aim for personal or small group meetings,” the memo read. 

DCCC also advised candidates not to endorse specific policy proposals.

The memo was not overlooked by Black Lives Matter leaders, who condemned the tone and accused the DCCC of adopting a “placating response to our demand to value all black life.”

“We expect that our elected officials will stop pacifying and take us seriously,” the group said in a statement.

Pelosi’s office is siding squarely with the activists, saying the Democratic leader “does not support the content or attitude of this memo.”

“On many occasions, Leader Pelosi has publicly supported the ideals embraced by the Black Lives Matter movement and continues to do so,” Hammill said.