Democratic Groups Paid Ransom Demanded by Russian Hackers to Keep Protester Funding Secret

Russian hackers demanded ransom money from over a dozen Democratic groups over protester funding information, according to a report.

The left-wing Center for American Progress was one of the organizations approached by the group, who the FBI says is the same group that organized the hacks of the Democratic National Committee in 2016, Bloomberg reports.

Bloomberg reports that some left-wing organizations paid the ransom demanded by the hackers in an attempt to hide sensitive information about their role in funding anti-Trump protesters across the country.

The report highlighted a conversation between an employee with a left-leaning nonprofit organization and an unnamed donor about using government-funded grants to protest the Trump administration.

The unnamed organizations paid ransoms ranging from $30,000 to $150,000 all through untraceable bitcoins, according to the report.

Congressional Republicans have accused George Soros of funding anti-Trump town hall protests, a claim which Soros has denied, the Hill reports.

The report did not specify whether the organizations paid for actual protesters or just funded supplies for the protest such as sign materials.