In the News

Representative Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) and 15 members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today requested an urgent hearing to examine reportedly deliberate attempts by foreign governments to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

In a letter sent to Ranking Member Eliot Engel, the Members wrote, “We cannot ignore these facts merely because Election Day has come and gone. The Committee must understand and be prepared to counter what constitutes a potentially unprecedented intervention by a foreign government into U.S. elections.”

Besides Connolly, the letter was signed by Reps. Brad Sherman, Gregory Meeks, Albio Sires, Ted Deutch, Brian Higgins, William R. Keating, David Cicilline, Ami Bera, Alan Lowenthal, Grace Meng, Lois Frankel, Joaquin Castro, Brendan F. Boyle, Robin Kelly, and Karen Bass.

The Members noted that, “On October 7, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Election Security released a joint statement saying ‘The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of emails from U.S. persons and institutions, including from U.S. political organizations.’ The USIC went further to explicitly state that “these thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process,’ and ‘only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.’ We cannot ignore these facts merely because Election Day has come and gone.”

The members added, “The Committee must understand and be prepared to counter what constitutes a potentially unprecedented intervention by a foreign government into U.S. elections.”

https://fairfaxnews.com/2016/11/connolly-wants-probe-foreign-influence-election/