WASHINGTON _ Top Hillary Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan met privately Tuesday with House Intelligence Committee members to discuss how the Clinton campaign came to suspect _ and then allege _ Russian meddling amid the election.
According to a panel member who attended the meeting, Sullivan at one point noted that Robby Mook, Clinton's campaign manager, had as early as July 2016 publicly raised the issue of Russian involvement in the leaking of thousands of hacked Democratic Party emails.
It took until Oct. 7 for U.S. intelligence agencies to publicly announce their "confidence" the Russian government was behind the hacks, which they described as having been directed by that country's senior-most officials.
The meeting with Sullivan was behind closed doors, as part of the panel's probe into Russia's activities during the campaign, and wasn't deemed classified, said the member, who spoke on the condition he not be identified.
