Clinton points to Russia in Powell’s email leak

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton on Thursday said she has a lot of sympathy for Colin Powell, linking his leaked emails to Russia and raising alarms that the Kremlin is trying to impact the presidential election.

“I have a great deal of respect for Colin Powell,” she said on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show.” 

{mosads}“I’m not going to start discussing someone’s private emails,” Clinton added. “I’ve already spent a lot of time talking about mine, as you know.”

Clinton said the fact that hackers are targeting Powell raises new questions about Republican nominee Donald Trump’s praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“What I think is really important about these emails is the chilling fact that the Russians are continuing to interfere with our elections,” she said.

“I have to say, I’m increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s alarming closeness with the Kremlin over the course of this campaign,” Clinton added. “It’s deeply concerning, and there’s a lot that Trump should answer for.

“Because these attempts by Russia to interfere in the election go hand-in-hand with his closeness to the Kremlin and his flattery of Putin. It’s not just me that’s noticing this. Fellow Republicans, and foreign policy [leaders] and [those with] national security experience and NATO leaders.”

The website DCLeaks.com, which has reported but unconfirmed ties to Russian intelligence, has been slowly disseminating Powell’s private emails. The former secretary of State’s candid assessment of major political figures is causing a stir across the country based on their blunt language.

In one message, for example, Powell voices exasperation with Clinton’s use of a private email server while she served as secretary of State.

“Everything [Clinton] touches she kind of screws up with hubris,” he wrote in August 2015.

In another email from July 2014,  Powell calls Clinton “greedy” and “not transformational.”