Calls for Congress to create an independent, bipartisan commission tasked with investigating claims surrounding Russia’s purported interference in last year’s White House race gained support this week from a coalition of 15 noteworthy intelligence and defense experts, including former heads of the CIA, State Department and Pentagon.
Former CIA Director Mike Morell, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta joined a dozen other foreign affairs specialists in urging Congress this week to establish a new commission devoted solely to examining allegations involving the alleged Kremlin-led hacking campaign, BuzzFeed first reported Wednesday.
Citing lingering doubts regarding Russia’s alleged role in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, the stately signatories conveyed their request for an independent probe in an open letter published online hours into the 115th Congress and nearly two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office.
“Our elections should always belong to us. When foreign interference occurs, both major political parties should unite and declare they will not tolerate it,” the letter reads in part.
“To understand fully and publicly what happened, how we were so vulnerable, and what we can do to protect our democracy in future elections, we the undersigned strongly encourage the Congress to create an independent, bipartisan commission to investigate efforts by the Russian Federation to influence or interfere with the U.S. presidential election in 2016,” it continued.
Congress should convene this investigation immediately, the authors continued, both to prevent suffering from further attacks and in order to avoid “normalize future interference.”
In addition to the bulk of the U.S. intelligence community, independent security researchers widely agree as well that a hacking group tied to the Kremlin waged an offensive campaign prior to the 2016 presidential election that successfully penetrated various organizations and individuals affiliated with the Democratic Party, including the Democratic National Committee and the chairman of nominee Hillary Clinton’s failed White House bid, John Podesta.
As concerns swell surrounding Russia’s purported role, however, efforts to convene a specialized committee have not. On Tuesday this week, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he believed opposition from Republican leadership diminished the likelihood of putting a new panel together.
“Without the support of the leadership, then I would imagine it won’t [happen],” said Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican. “But we’ll move ahead in the Armed Services Committee, and I’m sure other committees will.”
Indeed, both Mr. McCain’s committee and the Senate Foreign Affairs Panel are slated to discuss Russia’s alleged hacking campaign at hearings scheduled for Thursday this week. Nonetheless, efforts aimed at creating a specialized commission have so far failed to gain traction.
The Russian government has previously denied directing the hacking campaign waged against U.S. targets.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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