Arizona voter database targeted by criminals, not Russia, source tells Reuters

A source in the Trump administration said Russia did not carry out a hack on an Arizona county’s election system during the 2016 campaign, Reuters reported Sunday.

The administration official told the news outlet that criminals conducted the attack ahead of the 2016 election. That official’s comment was in response to a CBS News “60 Minutes” story on Russia’s computer hacking before the 2016 presidential election, Reuters said.

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The Department of Homeland Security in a prior analysis concluded that Russia had hacked several election systems, including the one in Arizona.

Reuters noted that in 2016 it reported on the FBI identifying Russian hacks of systems in Illinois and Arizona.

The news comes as special counsel Robert Mueller continues the probe into Russia’s election interference and any potential ties between Trump campaign staff members and Moscow.

The intelligence community in a declassified report released in January of 2017 concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin called for an influence campaign aimed at helping President Trump win the White House.

Trump has denied any collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin. He has also repeatedly slammed the conclusion of Russian meddling as an excuse used by Democrats to justify their loss in the 2016 election.