US officially accuses Russia of hacking DNC and interfering with election

Administration says 'only Russia's senior-most officials' could have signed off on cyber-attacks and urges states to seek federal security aid for voting systems

The US government has formally accused Russia of hacking the Democratic party's computer networks and said that Moscow was attempting to "interfere" with the US presidential election.

Hillary Clinton and US officials have blamed Russian hackers for stealing more than 19,000 emails from Democratic party officials, but Friday's announcement marked the first time that the Obama administration has pointed the finger at Moscow.