The FBI suspects that Russian government hackers breached the networks of the Democratic National Committee and stole emails that were posted to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks on Friday. It’s an operation that several U.S. officials now suspect was a deliberate attempt to influence the presidential election in favor of Donald Trump, according to five individuals familiar with the investigation of the breach…
Two U.S. officials told the Daily Beast that while hacking is a crime, and therefore falls under the FBI’s jurisdiction, trying to manipulate an election is not. That may limit what the FBI can investigate, the officials said said.
“Manipulation is not a crime. Some would argue that Voice of America or Fox News try to manipulate elections,” one retired FBI agent told The Daily Beast.
That doesn’t mean the FBI has to remain silent if it finds evidence of Russia’s meddling. Should the bureau release a statement after an investigation tying the Russians to the hack and subsequent release to Wikileaks, that would essentially be a public indictment, the officials said.
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