Clinton Campaign Chief Suggests Russians May Be Trying to Help Trump Win

Robby Mook cited experts saying Russians are behind DNC email leak.

ByABC News
July 24, 2016, 11:27 AM
Donald Trump speaks at the 2016 Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, July 21, 2016.
Donald Trump speaks at the 2016 Republican National Convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, July 21, 2016.
Ida Mae Astute/ABC via Getty Images

— -- Hillary Clinton's campaign manager Robby Mook said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was pushing for a “pro-Russian” platform and cited experts who say that Russian state actors were behind the recent leak of Democratic National Committee emails in an attempt to help Trump win.

"Experts are telling us that Russian state actors broke into the DNC, took all these emails, and now are leaking them out through these websites,” Mook told ABC’s "This Week" on Sunday. "It's troubling that some experts are now telling us that this was done by the Russians for the purpose of helping Donald Trump.”

Mook also suggested that the GOP nominee altered the Republican party platform to make it more attractive to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

"It was concerning last week that Donald Trump changed the Republican platform to become what some experts would regard as pro-Russian," Mook said.

Mook’s comments come in response to questions about WikiLeaks’ release of Democratic National Committee emails that appear to show DNC officials strategizing how to draw support away from Bernie Sanders in his primary campaign against Hillary Clinton.

Several of the emails released seem to indicate that the officials, including DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, grew increasingly agitated with Sanders and his campaign as the primary season advanced.

Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort responded to Mook’s allegation of collusion between the campaign and Russia, calling it absurd.

“It’s pure obfuscation on the part of the Clinton campaign,” Manafort told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “What they don’t want to talk about is what’s in those emails. And what’s in those emails shows that it was a clearly rigged system and that Bernie Sanders never had a chance.”