House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that "the press were accomplices in the undermining of our election" by how it covered Russian hacks during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Host Jake Tapper asked Pelosi if former President Barack Obama handled Russian interference in the election appropriately by trying to preserve the relevant intelligence to leave evidence for government investigators. Pelosi responded that Obama handled the situation well but criticized the press for its conduct.
"I think the press were accomplices in the undermining of our election," Pelosi said.
Pelosi later added that the media should have reported that hacked emails from Hillary Clinton campaign officials came from the Russians.
"By not pointing out this stuff is worthless because it comes from an undermining of our election, or at least reminding the public where the leaking of these emails came from," Pelosi said.
Pelosi added that Moscow's cyber and disinformation campaign represents democracies being "undermined" and said countries should learn from this experience so they can prevent it from happening to them.
"But what's important to know is that it doesn't happen again and that people in others countries realize what they are going to be susceptible to when Russians come into undermine their elections," Pelosi said.
She argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin had a personal vendetta against Clinton because she spoke about democracy and elections inside Russia.
"There is no question personally that Vladimir Putin had a vendetta against her," Pelosi said.