Clinton directly blames FBI, Russia for election loss in donor speech

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

published 16 December 2016

While speaking to a group of campaign donors in Manhattan on Thursday night, Hillary Clinton blamed her election loss squarely on FBI Director James Comey's letter to Congress about the ongoing investigation into her email use and the Russian hacking allegedly sanctioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Comey's letter swayed voters in swing states to "make their decisions in the final days" against her, Clinton said, while Putin's actions constituted an "attack against our country" by targeting the "integrity of our democracy and the security of our nation."

In her first public remarks since the reports this week regarding Russia's interference in the presidential race, Clinton said she sees a "direct line" between Putin's "personal beef" with her, stemming from her questions in 2011 about the integrity of Russia's parliamentary elections, and her loss to Donald Trump last month.