MOSCOW - Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has warned Russia to stay out of the 2020 presidential elections after US officials had told him Moscow was trying to aid his campaign.
"The intelligence community is telling us they are interfering in this campaign, right now, in 2020. And what I say to Mr Putin, if elected president, trust me you are not going to be interfering in American elections," Sanders told reporters on Friday in Bakersfield, California.
Sanders, 78, a self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont, is considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination and is favoured to win the Nevada caucuses on Saturday.
The Washington Post on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, said US officials had told Sanders about the Russian effort and had also informed Republican President Donald Trump and US legislators.
It was not clear what form the Russian assistance took, the paper said.
Sanders said he was briefed about a month ago. His campaign noted the briefing was classified.
"We were told that Russia, maybe other countries, are going to get involved in this campaign," Sanders told reporters. "Look, here is the message: To Russia, stay out of American elections."
"What they are doing, by the way, the ugly thing that they are doing - and I've seen some of their tweets and stuff - is they try to divide us up," he said. "They are trying to cause chaos. They're trying to cause hatred in America." (Aljazeera)