GOP Congressman Claims Russians 'Hacked' RNC, Then Says He 'Misspoke

Texas Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican Homeland Security chair, said Wednesday that the Republican National Committee's data has been hacked, then later walked back his assertion, claiming he "misspoke."

McCaul made the comments during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, in which he told "The Situation Room" host that he has been briefed on intelligence showing hackers, suspected to be Russians, targeted the RNC in the same way it hacked the Democratic National Committee, though no documents have yet proved his assertion.

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"They are not discriminating one party against another," McCaul said. "The Russians are — basically — have hacked into both parties at the national level, and that gives us all concern about what their motivations are."

The congressman went on to tell Blitzer he does not believe the hackers are "picking sides," but admitted to not knowing what the motivation for the attacks might be. Regardless, he said he does "not trust" Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions, if his country is, in fact, behind the hacks.

However, RNC spokesman Sean Spicer denied McCaul's assertion via Twitter.

Contrary to reports, there has been no known breech of @gop networks

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 14, 2016

And less than an hour after delivering the remarks, McCaul issued a statement saying he "misspoke" during the CNN interview, even though Blitzer followed up on the matter and the Texas lawmaker stood by his claim.

"I misspoke by asserting that the RNC was hacked," McCaul said in a statement. "What I had intended to say was that in addition to the DNC hack, Republican political operatives have also been hacked."

Also during the interview, McCaul said he does not believe the hackers are intending to "influence" the presidential election but are instead attempting to "undermine our political process."

Watch the representative's comments below:

Republican @RepMcCaul tells @wolfblitzer: Russians have "hacked into the Republican National Committee" https://t.co/rxigcsSrBn

— Tré Goins-Phillips (@tregp) September 14, 2016

This is a developing story.

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