Computers hacked at Democrats' House campaign committee

Washington (AP) — The computers of the House Democratic campaign committee have been hacked in an intrusion that investigators say resembles the recent cyber breach of the Democratic National Committee, a spokeswoman for the committee said Friday.

Details were initially unclear about exactly who tapped into the computers and what information was accessed at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The organization raises money and provides other assistance for the party's House candidates.

President Barack Obama has said Russia was almost certainly responsible for the hack of the Democratic National Committee, an assertion with which cybersecurity experts have agreed. That breach led to the release by WikiLeaks on July 22 — just days before the Democratic national convention began — of 19,000 emails showing supposedly neutral party officials were favoring Hillary Clinton over Sen. Bernie Sanders during their primary contest for the presidential nomination.

As a result of that disclosure, party chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., announced her resignation this week.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokeswoman Meredith Kelly said the organization is using CrowdStrike, a forensic investigating firm, and is "cooperating with the federal law enforcement with respect to their ongoing investigation."

A House Democratic aide said late Thursday that the FBI is investigating the hack.

Computer hacking, emails and indications of Russian involvement have evolved into a political issue in the presidential campaign between Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump. This week, Trump encouraged Russia to seek and release more than 30,000 other missing emails deleted by Clinton, the former secretary of state.

Clinton deleted the emails from her private server, saying they were private, before handing other messages over to the State Department. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Clinton over her email practices, but FBI Director James Comey called her "extremely careless" in handling classified information.

The DCCC hack was first reported by Reuters.

By Alan Fram, Associated Press. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – July 29, 2016 @ 10:40 a.m.