MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian presidential spokesman on Tuesday accused U.S. politicians of being paranoid after Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign blamed Russia for an email hack and suggested the goal was to help Republican Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race.

Hacked emails posted by Wikileaks Friday suggested the Democratic National Committee was favoring Clinton over her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Clinton's campaign on Monday blamed Russia for the hack. Trump has dismissed claims that it was committed by Russia for his benefit, calling them a joke.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Tuesday that the allegation is just another "paranoid" attempt by American politicians to play what he called "the Russia card" during the campaign.

"We're still witnessing attempts to use the Russian issue — in a paranoid way — during the U.S. election campaign," he told reporters on Tuesday. "There's nothing new here, it's a sort of traditional pastime of theirs. We think it's not good for bilateral ties but we realize that we have to go through this unfavorable period."