Official: FBI told Illinois GOP of possible email hacking

CHICAGO (AP) — The FBI told the Illinois Republican Party months before the presidential election that its email accounts may have been hacked, and party officials later found some of its emails on a website reportedly tied to Russia's military intelligence agency, the state GOP's executive director said Sunday.

The FBI didn't tell the state party that the possible hacking was part of a larger federal investigation into alleged Russian activity in the U.S. political system but urged officials to change passwords and take other steps to secure the email accounts.

According to a New York Times report, U.S. intelligence officials and private cybersecurity companies believe the site was created by a unit controlled by the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency.