Congressman says he 'misspoke' when he said the RNC was hacked

Rep. Mike McCaul.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

A Republican congressman said he "misspoke" on CNN Wednesday evening when he said the Republican National Committee's computer systems had been hacked, possibly by Russians.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (Texas) told Wolf Blitzer that in an effort to "infuse chaos into our election system coming up in November," nefarious characters "have not only hacked into the DNC [Democratic National Committee] but also into the RNC. So they are not discriminating one party against the others. The Russians have basically hacked into both parties at the national level, and that gives us all concern about what their motivations are." He also said the RNC had been informed of the breach, and it was being investigated by the FBI.

Shortly after his appearance, McCaul released a statement saying it wasn't the RNC that was hacked, but rather "Republican political operatives." Sean Spicer, the RNC's communications director and chief strategist, also tweeted that there's been "no known breach" of the RNC's networks. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.