Several Senators penned a letter to President Obama this week, requesting the administration share with the public more information on claims that the Kremlin meddled in the recent US election.
Both in the run up to, and after the election, allegations of Russian interference have been bandied around by Democratic political operatives and various news media outlets. Federal investigators, however, have released very little evidence to actually confirm those claims.
“We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the US election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels,” the Senators’ cryptic letter, sent to the White House on Wednesday, read.
The missive was signed by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Angus King (I-Maine), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
The only documentation presented so far by the government related to Russian interference in the election was a joint statement on October 7 from the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Direction of National Intelligence. In the one-page press release, the agencies stated they were “confident” that the Russian Government was behind the hacks of US persons and political organizations, likely referring to the Democratic National Committee.
The government alleged that intrusions and subsequent disclosures were “intended to interfere with the US election process.”
“Such activity is not new to Moscow—the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there,” the statement continued.
The feds, however, did not finger the Russian government for recent intrusions into state election systems. “We are not now in a position to attribute this activity to the Russian Government,” the agencies stated.
They added that they believed “it would be extremely difficult for someone, including a nation-state actor, to alter actual ballot counts or election results by cyber-attack or intrusion.”
A week after the election, during a conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal, NSA Chief Adm. Michael Rogers did accuse a foreign actor of deliberately trying to influence the outcome.
“This was a conscious effort by a nation-state to attempt to achieve a specific effect,” Rogers said, without specifying what nation he was referring to.
