Trump was briefed on Russian involvement in DNC attacks before debate

Intelligence officials told Donald Trump they had “high confidence” that Russia was behind the hacks of several Democratic organizations, including the Democratic National Committee (DNC), before the Republican presidential nominee said during the first presidential debate of 2016 that no one knew Moscow was involved.

After Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton said during the debate that Russia perpetrated the attacks, Trump said he was not certain. “She’s saying, 'Russia, Russia, Russia,' but I don’t know. Maybe it was. It could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It could also be someone sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds,” Trump said. It is widely believed in the intelligence community that Russia was behind the attacks. More than a year ago, officials briefed members of Congress that Russia was trying to attack Democratic groups. Later, officials warned the groups they were likely to be under attack, although they omitted crucial details to preserve active intelligence-gathering operations.