{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senators-call-for-national-intelligence-estimate-of-russian-tampering-in-us-election-request-confirmation-of-justice-dept-investigation", "SENATORS CALL FOR NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE OF RUSSIAN TAMPERING IN U.S. ELECTION, REQUEST CONFIRMATION OF JUSTICE DEPT. INVESTIGATION", "2016-12-13", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Edward Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "SENATORS CALL FOR NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE OF RUSSIAN TAMPERING IN U.S. ELECTION, REQUEST CONFIRMATION OF JUSTICE DEPT. INVESTIGATION \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTuesday, December 13, 2016\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tIn letters to Director James Clapper, Attorney General Lynch, Senators push Administration on Russian hacks\r\n\r\nWASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Al Franken (D-MN), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Gary Peters (D-MI), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tom Udall (D-NM), and Ed Markey (D-MA) today called for a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) to determine the extent of Russian intervention in the 2016 United States presidential election, accompanied by an unclassified summary of its key judgments by January 20th, 2017. An NIE is the formal, authoritative assessment of the Director of National Intelligence related to a particular national security issue, which reflects the collective judgment of the nation\u2019s sixteen intelligence agencies.\r\n\r\nThe senators also called on Attorney General Loretta Lynch to publicly confirm that nonpartisan career Justice Department officials are conducting a criminal investigation into the matter, and if not, to open one immediately. On Friday, the Washington Post\u00a0reportedthat the CIA concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the election to assist Donald Trump.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u201cDirect and deliberate interference in our election is an unprecedented breach and threat to U.S. democracy and national security\u2014it is absolutely critical that information about these matters be disclosed to the public and to Congress,\u201d the senators said. \u201cWe strongly support calls for bipartisan investigations by Congress\u2014this issue requires the full attention of the executive and legislative branches alike, and a conclusive, public national intelligence estimate will lay out the facts for the American people. The public also needs transparency and reassurance that federal law enforcement is actively investigating these matters and that, if the investigation finds evidence that Russian officials perpetrated or directed such acts, appropriate criminal charges will be announced.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\nFull text of the senators\u2019 letter to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper:\r\n\u00a0\r\nDecember 13, 2016\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe Honorable James Clapper\r\nDirector of National Intelligence\r\nWashington, D.C. 20511\r\n\u00a0\r\nDear Director Clapper:\r\n\u00a0\r\nWe request an immediate National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) regarding Russian efforts to manipulate the recent U.S. presidential election, including public release of its key judgments no later than January 20, 2017.\u00a0 Recently disclosed U.S. intelligence findings as publicly reported that Russia interfered in the U.S. presidential election and sought to undermine our democratic institutions \u2013 and the consequences thereof (including possible future such attacks on the United States) \u2013 are deeply concerning.\u00a0 They make it imperative that information be provided to the public and Congress.\u00a0 Quite simply, deliberate interference in our election to favor a particular candidate is an unprecedented breach and threat to U.S. democracy and national security.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\nOn Saturday, December 10, 2016, the\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0reported that the CIA concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 presidential election to help a particular candidate win the election.\u00a0 It further reported that U.S. intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign chair.\u00a0 Russia was also reported to have had a role in cyber intrusions in at least two U.S. state election systems.\u00a0 These were described as individuals or actors known to the intelligence community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost one candidate over the other.\u00a0 The\u00a0Post\u00a0quoted a senior U.S. official briefed at an intelligence presentation made to some U.S. senators as saying, \u201cIt is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia\u2019s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected.\u201d\u00a0 Also reported was that intelligence agency briefers told some senators as recently as last week that it was now \u201cquite clear\u201d that electing Trump was Russia\u2019s goal.\u00a0 In fact, you were quoted in early October as saying, \u201cWe believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia\u2019s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\r\nUnder President Putin, Russia has taken aggressive actions that are contrary to American interests and those of its key allies.\u00a0 Its military has seized land in Georgia and Ukraine and aggressively tried to sow disinformation and instability in European democracies.\u00a0 It plants false news, promotes a distorted and false narrative about threats to Russia and ethnic Russians in border states, funds political parties sympathetic to Russian interests, and reportedly conducts cyberattacks against key Western interests.\u00a0 Its proxies were recently implicated in a coup plot in Montenegro and were involved in murdering more than 300 innocent civilians in a downed commercial airline over occupied eastern Ukraine.\u00a0 Russian military forces have aggressively probed NATO-member airspace and waters, and conducted reckless intercepts of U.S. aircraft in international airspace.\u00a0 It has reportedly tried to manipulate upcoming German elections.\u00a0 Finally, Russian State TV host and Putin confidant Dmitry Kiselyov \u2013 also known as the Kremlin\u2019s Chief Propagandist \u2013 warned this year that \u201cimpudent\u201d U.S. behavior towards Russia may have \u201cnuclear\u201d consequences.\u00a0 Quite simply, Russia is determined to foster political chaos and institutional mistrust in the West and may have alarmingly succeeded in the United States.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\nGiven the serious nature of these matters, with unprecedented national security implications, we believe that our intelligence community must prioritize a conclusive, public NIE to lay out the facts of this serious matter for the American people.\u00a0 Threats to our national security and the sanctity of our democratic process must not become hostage to partisanship and narrow political interests.\u00a0 We know that Russia continues to make a concerted effort to undermine democratic institutions in the West and we fear we have fallen victim to their agenda.\u00a0 Such an attack on the United States must not go undisclosed.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\nThank you for your attention to this important issue.\r\n\u00a0\r\n--\r\n\u00a0\r\nFull text of the senators\u2019 letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch:\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\r\nDecember 13, 2016\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe Honorable Loretta Lynch\r\nAttorney General\r\nU.S. Department of Justice\r\nWashington, D.C. 20530\r\n\u00a0\r\nDear Attorney General Lynch:\r\n\u00a0\r\nWe urge the Department of Justice to publicly confirm that objective career Department professionals are conducting a criminal investigation into whether officials in the Russian government intervened in, or directed others to intervene in, the 2016 U.S. presidential election to help one candidate over the other.\u00a0 If such an investigation is not ongoing, we urge you to open one without delay.\r\n\u00a0\r\nOn September 28, 2016, Director James Comey of the Federal Bureau of Investigation testified before the House Judiciary Committee and was asked about the Department\u2019s standard for commenting on whether an investigation is underway.\u00a0 Director Comey stated that \u201c[o]ur standard is we do not confirm or deny the existence of investigations,\u201d but he cited examples of \u201cexceptional circumstances\u201d that he said justified commenting on the existence of investigations, including \u201cwhen there is a need for the public to be reassured\u201d and \u201cwhere the public needed transparency.\u201d[i]\r\n\u00a0\r\nSurely this is just such an exceptional circumstance.\u00a0 On December 9, the\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0reported that the CIA has concluded that Russia moved deliberately to help elect one candidate as president of the United States.\u00a0 The\u00a0Post\u00a0further reported that U.S. intelligence agencies have identified individuals with connections to Russia\u2019s government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails from one U.S. party\u2019s national political committee and campaign chairman.\u00a0 Deliberate hacking of national political party and campaign staff email systems in order to tilt the election results in favor of the candidate deemed more sympathetic to Russian interests is an unprecedented breach and threat to U.S. democracy and national security.\u00a0 The public needs transparency and reassurance that the Department of Justice is actively investigating these matters and that, if the investigation finds evidence that Russian officials perpetrated or directed such acts, appropriate criminal charges will be announced.\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\nThe American people need to know that threats to our national security and the sanctity of our democratic process will not go unexamined and unchallenged by the Department of Justice.\u00a0 We must ensure that a foreign government cannot undermine our democratic institutions and elections as a means to serve its own interests.\u00a0 We urge you to publicly confirm that a criminal investigation into these matters is underway or will immediately be opened.\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\nThank you for your attention to this important issue.", 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