White House spokesman suggests Trump knew of alleged Russian hacking before the election

White House press secretary Josh Earnest. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

businessinsider  White House press secretary Josh Earnest suggested that President-elect Donald Trump had advance knowledge that Russia was suspected of interfering in the US presidential election before Election Day.

Earnest made the comments while addressing journalists on Wednesday, The Hill reported, pointing to Trump's own statements on the campaign trail.

During a press conference in July, Trump commented on the private email server Hillary Clinton used during her time as secretary of state. That server and the thousands of emails that flowed through it were the subject of a yearlong FBI investigation.

Following a line of attack he often employed at his campaign rallies, Trump questioned Clinton's motive for discarding thousands of emails that were deemed to be personal and unrelated to government business. In an unprecedented move, Trump then directly appealed to Russia, live on-air:

"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 [Clinton] emails that are missing ... I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press," Trump said. "Let's see if that happens. That'll be nice."

Here's video of Trump's appeal:

VIDEO: Trump: "Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing..." https://t.co/NEGclzLXtP

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 27, 2016

Trump and his surrogates have scoffed at the notion that Russia may have meddled in the US election. Nevertheless, there is growing bipartisan support for a full accounting of the matter.

In a CNN interview on Wednesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina accused Russian hackers of breaking into his campaign accounts while he was running in the GOP primary. He said Russia should face "crippling sanctions" as a result.

A group of electors within the Electoral College have also requested a briefing on Russia's suspected interference. The group is scheduled to meet Monday to officially certify the results of the election.