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Twitter account for Clinton aide John Podesta apparently hacked

Now-deleted tweet from the account announces a switch in political allegiance, points followers toward rival Donald Trump.

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The Twitter account belonging to John Podesta, the chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, appears to have been briefly hijacked Wednesday afternoon.

A now-deleted tweet posted to the account announced that Podesta had switched allegiance and encouraged his followers to vote instead for Donald Trump, Clinton's Republican rival in the US election. The tweet was quickly deleted but not before it was retweeted 195 times.

It wasn't clear who was behind the apparent hack. Representatives for the Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for more information on the matter.

Podesta was a frequent figure in headlines last weekend after controversial website WikiLeaks published what appeared to be emails from a private account belonging to Podesta. The emails, which have not been confirmed as authentic, contain what seem to be excerpts from paid speeches Clinton gave to Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street firms.