Soon after the election, The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a declassified version of its report on Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 election. They highlighted the hacking of Democratic groups and individuals and leaking of information to third-party websites, like WikiLeaks. They concluded that cyber-security crimes had impacts on our election. The goals of Putin and his hackers were to influence the U.S. electorate in favor of Donald Trump, to harm Hillary Clinton’s credibility, and to undermine faith in U.S. electoral and democratic processes.
President Trump has been dismissive of the intelligence community’s conclusions. He appointed Michael Flynn, who resigned Monday night, who is close to Vladimir Putin and, in a violation of US law, held talks with the Russian Ambassador prior to Trump assuming the Presidency. Other Trump campaign officials have strong ties to the Kremlin and its allies. There is even talk of dropping the sanctions that President Obama imposed in response to Russian cybercrimes.
Although the Senate and House Intelligence committees are investigating Russian cyber crimes during the 2016 election, there has been no reported activity since January 21. They must not be mis-directed by Republican claims that undocumented immigrants voted in the 2016 election. A future Action Alert will address claims of alleged voter “fraud” and efforts at the state level to disenfranchise voters.
ACT NOW:
Call your Senators AND Representative – this is must be a bi-partisan movement and they need to know you support a thorough investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election Find your Representatives’ phone numbers here: www.callmycongress.com and see our updated recommendations on How to Make a Political Phone Call
Tell them:
- Congress must defend the integrity of US elections by rigorously investigating the Russian cyber attacks and taking steps to prevent this from happening again. We cannot allow the Russians or anyone else to sabotage and influence our elections, manipulate information, or undermine our democratic processes. Don’t drop the ball!!
- Committee hearings must be opened to the public so we can learn about Russian involvement during the 2016 election.
- To determine whether Mr. Trump, Trump campaign officials, and/or his surrogates had (or have) ties to the Kremlin and make this information public.
- To MAINTAIN sanctions against Russia for their actions during the 2016 election. Actions must have consequences!
- THE HARD ASK: “Will Senator/Representative _______ commit to supporting an independent, bi-partisan commission to investigate Russian “hacking” of the 2016 election?”