Russian Hack Followed Trump's 'Are You Listening' Speech

Was Russia listening after all? In a July 27, 2016, speech, then-candidate Donald Trump called on Russian hackers to find emails from his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, in the US presidential campaign. "Russia, if you're listening," Trump said, "I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing." Hours later, the Main Intelligence Directorate in Moscow targeted Clinton's personal office and hit more than 70 other Clinton campaign accounts, per the AP. That's according to a grand jury indictment Friday charging 12 Russian military intelligence officers with hacking into the Clinton campaign and Democratic Party as part of a sweeping conspiracy by the Kremlin to meddle in the 2016 US election.

The indictment says July 27 was the first time Clinton's personal office was targeted. The attempt to penetrate Clinton's campaign actually began March 10, 2016, and hit a significant success on March 19 when the Russian intelligence officers busted open the email account of John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman, an AP investigation last year found. The Mueller team's bombshell indictment dropped Friday just days before Trump's scheduled meeting with Putin. CNN reports the president knew about the impending indictment before he left the US as part of a multi-country tour, and the meeting is expected to go on as planned.

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