DNC CONVENTION | ’Shame!’ Dems’ division roils party on Day 1

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Angry Democrats heckled outgoing party chief Debbie Wasserman Schultz with boos and cries of “shame!” on Monday as the party tried to recover from an embarrassing email hack that ripped open primary wounds just hours before they planned to mount a four-day showcase of unity.

Hours before she was to gavel in the Democratic National Convention, the Florida congresswoman was met by raucous activists who accused her of favoring Hillary Clinton over vanquished rival Bernie Sanders. Activists jeered and waved signs reading “Thanks for the ‘help,’ Debbie,” and more simply, “E-mail.” Her supporters shouted them down, as Wasserman Schultz appealed for comity.

“We have to make sure that we move together in a unified way!” she said.

For Democrats who spent last week throwing stones at Republicans’ troubled convention in Cleveland, the scene was a painful reminder of their own glass house. On the eve of the four-day spectacle, the 19,000 hacked emails published by WikiLeaks appeared to show top officials at the supposedly neutral Democratic National Committee working to tip the scales toward Clinton, even suggesting reporters should question Sanders’ faith. Wasserman Schultz denied the accusation, but was forced out as chief Sunday.

The FBI issued a statement Monday saying it is investigating the hack.

“A compromise of this nature is something we take very seriously, and the FBI will continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace,” it said.

Clinton campaign officials pointed the finger for the hack at Russian military intelligence agencies. They accused Russia of trying to meddle in the U.S. election and favoring GOP nominee Donald Trump.

“We don’t have information right now about that, but what we have is a kind of bromance going on between Vladimir Putin and Trump which is distinct from this leak,” Clinton adviser John Podesta said in an MSNBC interview.

Trump dismissed the suggestion in a tweet: “The joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC emails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me.”

It wasn’t immediately clear how WikiLeaks received copies of the internal Democratic emails. Party officials learned in late April that their systems had been attacked after they discovered malicious software on their computers.

A cybersecurity firm they employed found traces of at least two sophisticated hacking groups on their network — both of which have ties to the Russian government. Those hackers took at least a year’s worth of detailed chats, emails and research on Trump, according to a person knowledgeable of the breach who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The emails re-emphasized a rift that threatens to undermine the Democrats’ attempt to display four days of focus on putting Clinton in the White House.