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When asked if he was really urging a foreign power to hack into the private emails of Hillary Clinton, he responded with “That’s up to the president.”

Trump then told the woman who asked the question to “be quiet.”

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Clinton’s campaign has said that Russia hacked computers belonging to the Democratic National Convention and released those emails on the eve of the party’s convention to benefit Trump’s candidacy. U.S. intelligence researchers have since confirmed “with a high level of certainty” that Russian intelligence services were involved with the hack. The documents were released through WikiLeaks and according to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, were timed to hit to do maximum damage to Hillary Clinton.

Assange was quoted in a June 12 interview as saying that despite the fact that he thought Trump was “completely unpredictable” he preferred him to Clinton.

Trump dismissed the assertion that Russians were behind the hack. The Republican candidate said it’s not clear who hacked those emails, but the hacking is a sign that foreign countries no longer respect the U.S.

“If it’s any foreign country it shows how little respect they have for the United States,” said Trump, who added that he was “not an email person myself because I believe it can be hacked.”

Trump added that he was ‘not an email person myself because I believe it can be hacked’

Trump also downplayed his affection for Putin and said he would treat the Russian leader “firmly,” though he said he wanted to improve relations with Russia. Security experts have said that Trump’s proposal to set conditions on NATO allies could risk Russian expansion in Eastern Europe.