Story highlights These were Clinton's first comments since the news of Putin's involvement

Meanwhile, her campaign chairman, John Podesta, issued a scathing rebuke of the FBI

New York (CNN) Hillary Clinton blamed Vladimir Putin for the hacking of Democratic organizations during the 2016 election, telling donors that the Russian President's involvement stemmed from a "personal beef against me."

During a short speech pegged as a "thank you party" at the The Plaza Hotel, Clinton said the 2016 election hacking was enough to tip the balance in Donald Trump's favor. The comments were her first since the news of Putin's involvement.

Clinton, based on audio obtained by the New York Times and sources in the room, did not mention President-elect Donald Trump in regards to the hacking, but her comments reacting to news that the United States intelligence assessment of the 2016 hacking suggests Putin was involved was seen in the room as an implicit knock against the President-elect.

"Vladimir Putin himself directed the covert cyber attacks against our electoral system, against our democracy, apparently because he has a personal beef against," she said.

One of the sources said Clinton reacted to recent news by saying that she was proud as secretary of state to have defended democracy when confronted by the Russian president.

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