Senior House Democrat Calls for Congressional Probe of Russian Meddling in 2016 Election â Mother Jones
Elijah Cummings
On Tuesday  the chief of the National Security Agency  Admiral Michael Rogers  said a ânation-stateââmeaning Russiaâhad intervened in the 2016 elections âto achieve a specific effect.â He was referring to the hacking of Democratic targets and the release of the stolen information via WikiLeaks. And on Wednesday  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called for a congressional investigation of Russian meddling in the campaign. On Thursday  the call for a Capitol Hill inquiry gathered momentum  with  Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.)   the ranking Democrat on the House government oversight committee  publicly urging the committeeâs chairman  Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)  to launch such a probe.
In a letter sent to Chaffetz and released publicly   Cummings  noted that  he  and Chaffetz had discussed opening such an investigation on Wednesday and that Chaffetz had told  him   he  was âopen to considering such an investigationâ but wanted  Cummings  to âshow the evidenceâ that Russia had tried to influence the election.  Cummings  did so in this letter  citing Rogersâ statement.  Cummings  also pointed to a statement issued on October 7 by the Office of Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security  which said  âThe U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions  including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscowâthe Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia  for example  to influence public opinion there. We believe  based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts  that only Russiaâs senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.â
 Cummings  also noted that House Speaker Paul Ryan has said  âRussia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election.â
In his letter to Chaffetz   Cummings  contended that this investigation should be a bipartisan endeavor to ensure the security of American democracy:
 Cummings  proposed that the oversight committee immediately request âa classified briefing from the Intelligence Communityâ and start âa robust investigation designed to identify specific recommendations for actions that our country can take to respond to these attacks and safeguard against similar attacks in the future.â
Here âs Cummings â full letter:
On Tuesday  the chief of the National Security Agency  Admiral Michael Rogers  said a ânation-stateââmeaning Russiaâhad intervened in the 2016 elections âto achieve a specific effect.â He was referring to the hacking of Democratic targets and the release of the stolen information via WikiLeaks. And on Wednesday  Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) called for a congressional investigation of Russian meddling in the campaign. On Thursday  the call for a Capitol Hill inquiry gathered momentum  with  [TGT] the ranking Democrat on the House government oversight committee  publicly urging the committeeâs chairman  Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)  to launch such a probe.
In a letter sent to Chaffetz and released publicly    [TGT] noted that  he  and Chaffetz had discussed opening such an investigation on Wednesday and that Chaffetz had told  him   he  was âopen to considering such an investigationâ but wanted   [TGT] to âshow the evidenceâ that Russia had tried to influence the election.   [TGT] did so in this letter  citing Rogersâ statement.   [TGT] also pointed to a statement issued on October 7 by the Office of Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security  which said  âThe U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions  including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscowâthe Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia  for example  to influence public opinion there. We believe  based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts  that only Russiaâs senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.â
 Cummings  also noted that House Speaker Paul Ryan has said  âRussia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election.â
In his letter to Chaffetz   Cummings  contended that this investigation should be a bipartisan endeavor to ensure the security of American democracy:
 Cummings  proposed that the oversight committee immediately request âa classified briefing from the Intelligence Communityâ and start âa robust investigation designed to identify specific recommendations for actions that our country can take to respond to these attacks and safeguard against similar attacks in the future.â
Here âs Cummings â full letter: