Congressional leaders briefed last year on Russia hacking Dems: report

Key members of Congress have known that Russian hackers were targeting the Democratic Party for more than a year, Reuters reported Thursday.

{mosads}Intelligence officials are said to have met last summer with top members of both parties, who were barred from revealing the attack to its victims for fear of compromising intelligence gathering methods. 

The meeting included the top members of both parties in the House and Senate: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); as well the top members from both parties in both chambers’ Intelligence Committees, Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Reps. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). 

Since the Democratic National Committee revealed the hack to the public and it has become clearer to the larger intelligence community that Russia was the likely actor, members of the so-called Gang of Eight have taken distinct approaches to letting on what they might know.

Schiff continued to keep his knowledge under wraps in comments Thursday, saying that “when the administration believes it has sufficient evidence of attribution, it will make that attribution public as well as consider any other steps necessary.”

While Pelosi has not let on that a meeting took place last year, she has been more than willing to point the finger at Russia.

“I know for sure it is the Russians,” she told reporters Thursday.