Angus King: Russia investigation needs to focus on preventing further election hacks

Sen. Angus King said Wednesday that the focus on the Russia investigation needs to be about preventing future election tampering.

“We’ve got to try to work with the states and the localities to try and make sure the integrity of the elections is protected,” Mr. King, Maine independent, said on CNN. He is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia’s involvement in the U.S. presidential election.

The senator suggested having a hard copy as a backup for the electronic ballots.

“What do we do to protect it? I think there should always be a paper backup,” he said.

Mr. King emphasized that the Russians did not succeed in changing any ballots, but said that will not deter them from trying to in the future.

“All the intelligence, by the way, is that they didn’t succeed in changing any votes, but they didn’t do it for fun and, as James Comey said a couple of weeks ago, they’ll be back,” he said, referring to former FBI Director James B. Comey.