Top intel Dem ‘disappointed’ with tech giants’ Russia testimony

by Harper Neidig and Katie Bo Williams - 11/01/17 1:33 PM ET

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Wednesday that he was not impressed with social media companies’ testimony this week on Russia’s alleged use of their platforms to influence the presidential election.

“Considering how long this hearing was in the making, I was pretty disappointed that — for example, in the case of Facebook, they seemed to not have identified much beyond their initial search,” Warner told reporters after the hearing.

{mosads}”I’ve got more questions,” he added.

Facebook revealed in September that it had discovered 470 fake accounts tied to Russia that had purchased $100,000 worth of political advertising.

Facebook, Twitter and Google all said in Wednesday’s hearing that they could not be certain that they had discovered the extent of the Kremlin’s influence campaigns on their platforms.

Warner previously lashed out at Twitter over its briefing to congressional investigators, referring to it in September as “inadequate on almost every level.”

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