Senate Dems push Obama for info on Russian election interference

Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee pressed the Obama administration Wednesday to release more information about reported Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

“We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels,” the senators wrote in a brief letter to President Obama. 

The letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Ron Wyden (Ore.), Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Mark Warner (Va.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) and ex-officio member Jack Reed (D-R.I.) along with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine).

In October, the intelligence community publicly blamed Russia for the hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and other political organizations this year, calling the thefts an intentional effort to interfere with the U.S. election process.

At the time, officials said were not ready to confirm that the probing of state election systems was the work of Russian hackers, but Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has since said Russian scanning of state election infrastructure was “curtailed” after the issuance of the statement.

Democrats have characterized the release of the DNC emails as an attempt to bolster Trump’s bid for the White House and have pointed to the real estate mogul’s past warm treatment of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Trump fiercely disputed claims that the Russian government was helping his campaign and has declined to blame Russia for the attacks.

National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers has said that he doesn’t believe the publication of stolen DNC emails affected the outcome of the presidential election, as has Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Az.).