Before the DNC kicks off, the party was rocked by a new scandal that may involve Russia and Trump working together.
As the Democratic National Convention gets under way in Philadelphia, the Clinton campaign has accused the Russians of trying to help Donald Trump become president.
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Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook says Russian President Vladimir Putin is behind the leak of 20,000 Democratic Party e-mails which led to the ouster of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
“What’s disturbing to us is that experts are telling us Russian state actors broke into the DNC, stole these emails, and other experts are now saying that the Russians are releasing these emails for the purpose of actually of helping Donald Trump,” Mook said on CNN Sunday. “I don’t think it’s coincidental that these emails were released on the eve of our convention.”
He added: “Experts are telling us it is, in fact, the Russians who hacked these emails.”
Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort dismissed the accusation. On This Week Sunday, he called the claim “absurd,” adding “there is no basis for it.”
He said the story was fabricated by his rivals, saying it is a “pure obfuscation on the part of the Clinton campaign.”
The Trump campaign’s senior communications advisor, Jason Miller, said in a statement: “What a joke. This shows that Hillary Clinton will do and say anything to win the election and hold onto power in the rigged system.”
Trump chimed in with a tweet calling her "highly neurotic."
The highly neurotic Debbie Wasserman Schultz is angry that, after stealing and cheating her way to a Crooked Hillary victory, she's out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2016
The emails were published on WikiLeaks Friday and showed Wasserman Schultz and other DNC members being critical of Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
Read: Sealing the Nomination With a Kiss: The Awkward Moment Trump Tried to Smooch Running Mate
Wasserman Schultz announced Sunday that she would step down as DNC chair following the Philadelphia convention.
In a statement, she said: “I look forward to serving as a surrogate for her campaign in Florida and across the country to ensure her victory... Going forward, the best way for me to accomplish those goals is to step down as party chair at the end of this convention.”
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