Romney campaign says possible email hack is being investigated

— -- DALLAS—Has Mitt Romney's personal email been hacked?

Gawker reported Tuesday that it had been contacted by someone who claimed to have hacked into the Republican presidential nominee's personal Hotmail account. Romney's email address was disclosed in a Wall Street Journal story published Tuesday that looked at how the former Massachusetts governor lobbied for health care reform in the state. Several of Romney's emails from his Hotmail account were included in public records obtained and published by the Journal.

According to Gawker, the alleged hacker offered no evidence that he had actually broken into Romney's email. But the Romney campaign is taking the threat seriously.

"The proper authorities are investigating this crime, and we will have no further comment on it," Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho told Yahoo News in a statement. The Romney campaign is surely hoping to avoid a repeat of the 2008 election, when hackers broke into Sarah Palin's personal Yahoo email and leaked embarrassing messages during the final weeks of the campaign.

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