Schiff: ‘No doubt’ Russia behind hacking of state election systems

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said Sunday that Russia is behind the recent hacking attempts on the state election systems.

{mosads}”I have no doubt [this is Russia],” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“And I don’t think the administration has any doubt. It’s not a question of evidence. It is a question, I think for the administration is, do they do more than name and shame?”

Schiff said the Russians respect one thing: strength.

“If they see an open door, that’s an invitation to do more,” Schiff said.

“I think we ought to begin naming and shaming them and work with our allies around the world who also have been hacked and interfered with by the Russians.”

He said he would encourage states to reach out to the Department of Homeland Security to learn about how to protect themselves.

“They won’t be able to change the outcome,” Schiff said, regarding the Russians’ hacking attempts.

“What really worries me, what keeps me up at night is what they have done in Europe — which is the manipulation of the data.”

Schiff said manipulating data could be “election altering.”

He also said the Americans see the meddling, and he appeared to urge the administration to be up-front about what it knows regarding Russia’s hacking attempts.

“I think it’d be far worse if there is a problem with the election and only after the election does the administration tell the American people: ‘Yes, the Russians were doing this and we knew it all along,'” Schiff said.

Schiff and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last week released a statement accusing Russia of trying to influence the presidential election.

“At the least, this effort is intended to sow doubt about the security of our election and may well be intended to influence the outcomes of the election — we can see no other rationale for the behavior of the Russians,” they said in statement, citing briefings they have received.

Buzzfeed reported that the White House tried to delay the release of the statement.

“It could be Russia, but it could also be China,” Trump said during the first presidential debate of 2016. “It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.”