Virginia governor says Russia was helped by 'treasonous' Americans who gave 'these people a roadmap'

When former FBI Director James Comey testified before the Senate last week, he emphasized the importance of understanding that the Russian hack of the 2016 presidential election was done "with purpose ... with sophistication ... [and] with overwhelming technical efforts." Virginia's Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, has an additional suggestion to add to the list: that they did it with help on the inside.

"Treasonous" Americans aided Russia in "destabilizing our democracy," McAuliffe told Politico's "Off Message" podcast, which will be available Tuesday morning.

"Somebody had to give these people a roadmap," he went on. "So I believe somewhere in this, somebody was directing the Russians on whose names to use, what impact these certain people sending a memo would have on the American electorate. I mean, they just didn't sit over in some cubicle over there somewhere in Moscow and figure this out."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Listen to McAuliffe's theory in full on "Off Message" on Tuesday, here.