{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/sen-menendez-on-russian-hacking-of-elections", "Sen. Menendez on Russian Hacking of Elections", "2016-12-12", "2016", "2016-12", "Democrat", "House", "NJ", "Robert Menendez", "M000639", "www.menendez.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sen. Menendez on Russian Hacking of Elections \n\t\t\t\n\t Sen. Menendez on Russian Hacking of Elections \n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t \n\t\n\t\n\tMonday, December 12, 2016\n\t\n\t\n\tNewark, N.J. \u2013 U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement after the CIA concluded that Russia intervened in the 2016 election.\r\n\u00a0\u201cAs our intelligence agencies have now confirmed, Russia engaged in a malicious effort to tamper with the American Presidential electoral process \u2013 to create chaos in our elections and, at the end of the day, to undermine the integrity of the results to serve its own nefarious purposes.\u00a0 There is broad, bi-partisan agreement that Putin\u2019s operatives hacked targeted email accounts and political institutions and then leaked sensitive information to influence voters and to sow distrust and misinformation. Chillingly, he aims to attack the democratic foundations of our great Republic -- to weaken our own institutions and the faith Americans put in the governance principles that have guided us since the beginning. We must thoroughly investigate these disturbing findings and wholly identify and expose the extent of Russian interference in our democratic process.\r\n\u00a0\u201cThis is a complex world and we rely on the hard work, unbiased, and non-partisan analysis of our intelligence officials. At a time when we need unified, determined leadership, it is imperative that all of our elected leaders accept their expertise and act accordingly to respond to Russia's nefarious and calculated involvement in our elections.\u00a0 Now more than ever, the Congress, joined by the American people, must demand a complete investigation into this grave matter. Encouraging, justifying or tacitly accepting hacking and government surveillance reeks of an authoritarianism that has no place in our democratic society \u2013 and threatens each and every one of us.\u201d\r\n\u00a0Earlier this year in September, Menendez spoke on the Senate floor to draw attention to the growing concerns of Russia\u2019s interventionism in our electoral process and called on every Senator to condemn any attempt by Putin to influence the American election system as well as his continued aggressions around the world.\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPress Contact\n\t\t\tJuan_Pachon@menendez.senate.gov", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/sen-menendez-on-russian-hacking-of-elections"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.976832212880254, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}