Intelligence officials have warned that Russia is attempting to interfere in the Democratic presidential primary to aid Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the current front-runner, according to The Washington Post.
Russia is also attempting to help President Donald Trump win reelection, according to reports in the Post and elsewhere.
Sanders said intelligence officials briefed his campaign on Russian interference a month ago, and suggested that news was intentionally leaked to the Post in an attempt to damage his campaign ahead of Nevada caucuses Saturday.
“The intelligence community is telling us Russia is interfering in this campaign right now in 2020,” Sanders told reporters in Bakersfield, California, where he was campaigning before heading to Nevada.
Sanders added, “it was not clear what role they’re going to play, we were told that Russia maybe other countries are going to get involved in this campaign.”
Asked why the month-old briefing was just being reported, Sanders suggested an intentional effort to undermine his campaign ahead of the Nevada caucus.
“I’ll let you guess about one day before the Nevada caucus, why do you think it came out? It was the Washington Post … good friends,” Sanders said, according to a transcript of the remarks posted to Twitter by CNN reporter Annie Grayer.
Trump was reportedly angered by similar reports about his own campaign, also delivered during briefings to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
