Ryan: Russian meddling probes can help US allies

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Saturday that ongoing federal investigations into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election could help prevent similar interference in the elections of U.S. allies.

“What we’re doing through our investigation process is to figure out exactly what is it they did and how they did it so that we can help, equip and assist our allies to prevent the same kind of thing happening to them,” Ryan said at a joint news conference with Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas, according to The Associated Press.

“One thing we know for certain is that Russia meddled in our election,” he said. “This is a foreign country trying to meddle within the internal activities of a sovereign country or a democracy.”

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The House and Senate intelligence committees are conducting separate probes into Russian election meddling and possible collusion between President Trump’s campaign and Moscow. FBI Director James Comey acknowledged publicly last month that his agency was carrying out its own investigation.

In a report made public in January, the U.S. intelligence community concluded that the Kremlin sought to influence the presidential race in favor of Trump. The president has repeatedly denied any coordination with Russia.

Several European countries are set to hold elections this year, and U.S. officials have warned that Russia could attempt to interfere in those contests, as well. 

Ryan is currently leading a bipartisan delegation on a trip to meet with key NATO allies across Europe, including Estonia, which has long had frosty relations with Russia.