White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday said President Donald Trump “was joking” when he called on Russia in July 2016 to find and release Hillary Clinton’s deleted emails.

NBC News’ Kristen Welker pressed Spicer during an off-camera daily briefing on Trump’s remarks accusing former President Barack Obama of having “colluded or obstructed” in response to Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Is there an element of hypocrisy here?” Welker asked.

She cited Trump’s comment on the campaign trail last year that Russia “probably” had the emails Clinton deleted from her private server.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you can find the 33,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said during a press conference in July 2016. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”

“How can you accuse President Obama of obstructing when he was egging Russia on?” Welker asked Spicer.

“He was joking at the time. We all know that,” Spicer replied.

NBC News reporter Katy Tur pressed Trump on his comments in 2016 and asked whether he had “any qualms” about asking a foreign government to hack into a U.S. system.

“Nope,” Trump replied. “If they have them, they have them.”

Trump later said he was not being serious.

“Of course I’m being sarcastic,” he said.

The U.S. intelligence community in October 2016 accused Russia of hacking into the computer systems of “U.S. political organizations.” An intelligence report declassified in January concluded that “Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.”

The Washington Post on Friday reported that Putin personally ordered a cyber campaign intended to interfere in the election in Trump’s favor.