Garry Kasparov: 'Of Course' Putin Behind the Hacks

Russian President Vladimir Putin is "of course" involved in interfering with the 2016 presidential election and GOP candidate Donald Trump should recognize how damaging it is when he makes statements praising the dictator and claiming the system is "rigged," Russian pro-democracy leader and former chess champion Garry Kasparov said Friday.

"I trust U.S. intelligence agencies, all of them, are unanimously confirming Russia was behind these hacking attacks," Kasparov told MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle Friday.

"There's no way that any Russian agency could afford to attack the United States without direct order from Vladimir Putin. Now, why he's doing that, we should listen to Trump, because Trump flip-flops along with every issue, but he's very consistent in defending Vladimir Putin."

Trump is also consistent in repeating the election is going to be rigged, confusing his supporters, said Kasparov, who has been voicing his opposition to both Putin and Trump for months.

"Though Trump is not very experienced in politics, he should recognize the damage to him while he's repeating these statements," Kasparov said. "If he's still doing that, saying the elections are rigged and Putin is not involved, that tells me that we have to connect the dots."

U.S. intelligence officials are saying that it's likely Russian hackers have provided WikiLeaks with thousands of emails from sources linked to Hillary Clinton, with the most recent trove coming from the account of her campaign manager John Podesta. That's because Putin wants "global chaos," said Kasparov.

"He needs it because as a dictator who wants to use foreign policy, his aggressive foreign policy, as a staple for domestic propaganda, he needs to weaken the European Union, NATO, and of course, the biggest prize of all is the United States," said Kasparov.

"If Putin can demonstrate to Russians and the rest of the world that elections in America are rigged, it's at least confusion, there will be riots, even violence. That's, you know, that will justify everything he did against democratic institutions in Russia"

And Trump is a "perfect agent," said Kasparov, because of his past statements on NATO, global security and more.

The former chess champion also believes Trump hasn't released his tax returns because there could be damaging information in them about his dealings with Russia.

"Money. Money," he said. "Trump faced several bankruptcies, and we knew that Russian oligarchs led by Putin were aggressive in pursuing every opportunity to infiltrate western financial and business structures, and Trump was an ideal target for these kind of recruiting."

If it can be proven that the election was rigged would also be a prize for Putin because that would prove to be a detraction that will allow him to press for more expansion, said Kasparov.

"If he wants to continue his expansion by spreading confusion and terror in the neighboring countries, he needs America to be totally isolated, and Donald Trump, even if he doesn't win, could create the atmosphere inside the country that will benefit Vladimir Putin," said Kasparov.

In addition, Russia is facing economic troubles, and "unless Putin can prove that Russia is surrounded by the global evil and he's the white knight fighting it, he cannot survive," Kasparov concluded.

"Trump, many times, repeated that you're right, Putin. He even admired Putin. And I don't think America needs someone who is always for Putin and failed, repeatedly failed, to condemn Putin's actions in Europe, in Ukraine, in Syria, that the civilized world qualified as crimes."