House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul said Wednesday that Russia also hacked into the computer systems of the Republican National Committee — as it did to the Democrats — but later walked back the remarks after committee officials disputed the claim.
"They have hacked into the Republican National Committee," the Texas Republican told Wolf Blitzer on CNN, saying that he had learned of the breach through classified intelligence briefings. "They are not picking sides here.
"They are hacking into both political parties. What they intend to do with that information, I don't know.
"I don't trust Mr. Putin," McCaul added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "Russia is not our friend here."
However, Sean Spicer, the RNC's chief strategist and communications director, posted this tweet shortly after McCaul's interview:
McCaul then issued a statement saying that "I misspoke by asserting the Republican National Committee was hacked.
"What I intended to say was that in addition to the Democratic National Committee hack, Republican political operatives have also been hacked,” he said.
Obama administration officials blame hackers guided by the Russian government for the attacks on servers of the Democratic National Committee earlier this year that led to WikiLeaks publishing nearly 20,000 private emails just before Hillary Clinton's nominating convention in July.
The documents showed attempts by party officials to undermine her primary Democratic rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and led to the resignation of DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida.
Putin earlier this month denied any role his country might have played in hacking the Democrats.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.