Russian hackers are targeting more than just the Democratic Party. Two months after a trove of internal Democratic National Committee e-mails were leaked, CNN reports that The New York Times, in addition to unnamed other publications, has also been the target of Russian cyber-attacks. The attacks are believed to be part of a broader campaign of state-sponsored espionage against U.S. institutions involved in the upcoming presidential election, including the D.N.C. e-mail hack that led to the resignation of chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in July.
The F.B.I. is reportedly investigating the latest breach. The New York Times, for its part, says the hacking attempt was unsuccessful. “We are constantly monitoring our systems with the latest available intelligence and tools,” Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Times, said. “We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised.” The Clinton campaign has previously argued that the mounting tide of cyber-attacks suggests that a foreign entity—perhaps one country under the rule of Vladimir Putin—is trying to tilt the 2016 election in favor of Donald Trump. The G.O.P. nominee, who has praised Putin in the past and has called for a foreign-policy approach more sympathetic to Russia, previously called on Russian hackers to infiltrate Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, and has long stated his displeasure with the “failing” New York Times.
Far from tinfoil-hat conspiracy territory, there’s mounting evidence of friendly ties between the Kremlin and Trump. Russia’s Putin has praised Trump, calling him "a really brilliant and talented person,". Paul Manafort, Trump’s now-ousted campaign chairman, is said to have close ties to Russia, working on behalf of Kremlin interests in Ukraine. Trump has also reportedly been reliant on Russia to fund development deals. At a real-estate conference in 2008, Donald Trump Jr. told attendees that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” adding, “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”
Trump has also been open about his distrust of the mainstream media. He has said that if elected, he plans to open up libel laws, making it easier for news publications to be sued by those unhappy with negative coverage. This week, the famously litigious presidential candidate hired Charles Harder, the lawyer whose lawsuit helped drive Gawker into bankruptcy. Whether or not the Russian government is taking its cues from Trump, its latest target is certainly one of his favorite punching bags. The candidate couldn’t have asked for more.
