Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) is asking his supporters to help defeat the Russians by helping his Missouri colleague Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) win reelection.
Schumer sent a fundraising email for McCaskill on Wednesday afternoon citing a July 26 report that Russians appeared to have sent phishing attempts to members of McCaskill's staff in what she says was an unsuccessful hacking attack. Schumer's email says the reason for the attempt was because Russia knows McCaskill "fights for Missouri through and through."
"Claire is a tough candidate who fights for Missouri through and through, and the Republicans and Russians know it," Schumer writes in the email, which can be read below.
"We will not let Russian meddling corrupt Claire McCaskill's reelection," Schumer writes. "Safeguard our democracy and donate to Claire McCaskill now."
"Republicans and Russia know that Claire is more than deserving of reelection," he writes. "That's why they're throwing everything they've got at this election. And so must we. We cannot let Russia invalidate her years of public service and the core of our democracy."
"Republicans are scared. Russia is scared. But Senator McCaskill is ready to fight."
The email links to a Schumer fundraising page telling visitors their contribution will be split between his campaign and McCaskill's.
This is the first attempt to fundraise off the reported Russian attempt to hack McCaskill's Senate office. McCaskill's campaign has thus far not mentioned the attempted hack in their fundraising emails.
Neither Schumer's nor McCaskill's campaign responded to inquiries into whether they colluded with one another on the fundraising email.
The Daily Beast found that the hacking attempt on McCaskill's office was carried out in the same fashion as the successful attempt on Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, where campaign chairman John Podesta fell victim to password-stealing technology.
McCaskill has a close relationship with Schumer. Last year, McCaskill flew Schumer to Mexico for a four-day vacation to celebrate her birthday.