WASHINGTON — As Donald Trump calls on Russia to find and expose his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton's emails, congressional Republicans are pushing back and bashing Russia's leader Vladamir Putin.

In a statement, Speaker Paul Ryan's spokesman Brendan Buck said: "Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election."

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce gave a similar statement to BuzzFeed News. "The United States should not tolerate Russian meddling in November’s election. Period.”

During a press conference Wednesday morning, Trump essentially encouraged cyber espionage against Clinton. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” he said. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”



The GOP presidential nominee later doubled down on his statement.