An October heist of GOP resources in the battleground state of Wisconsin may upend the 2020 race for the White House.
Hackers stole $2.3 million from the Wisconsin GOP in the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election, according to the Wisconsin GOP.
“Cybercriminals, using a sophisticated phishing attack, stole funds intended for the reelection of President Trump, altered invoices, and committed wire fraud,” Andrew Hitt, Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman, said in a statement. “These criminals exhibited a level of familiarity with state party operations at the end of the campaign to commit this crime. While a large sum of money was stolen, our operation is running at full capacity with all the resources deployed to ensure President Donald J. Trump carries Wisconsin on November 3rd.”
The Republican National Committee is aware of the problem involving the Wisconsin GOP and is working with the state party.
“We have been in contact with the state party and are assisting them through this process,” said Michael Ahrens, RNC spokesperson, in a statement. “The RNC never left Wisconsin after 2016, and we are confident that our ground game and the millions we are spending on TV and digital will deliver us another win there in 2020.”
The FBI in Milwaukee declined to comment on the existence of any investigation, citing Justice Department policy.
The Wisconsin GOP said it is working closely with the FBI while the bureau conducts an investigation, and the state party said it has no evidence that hackers acquired any proprietary information.
President Trump, who won Wisconsin in the 2016 election, is returning to the state to campaign in Green Bay on Friday afternoon.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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