Today the Senate Intelligence Committee released its bipartisan report on the Obama administration’s response to Russia’s unprecedented interference in our elections on behalf of Donald Trump.
Some thoughts:
warner.senate.gov/public/index.c…
Some thoughts:
warner.senate.gov/public/index.c…
There were many flaws with the U.S. response to the 2016 attack, but it’s worth noting that many of those were due to problems with our own system – problems that can and should be corrected. Our findings include:
The Committee found the U.S. government was not well-postured to counter Russian election interference activity with a full range of readily-available policy options.
The Committee found that the Obama Administration was constrained in its response by a number of factors, including the highly politicized environment, concern that public warnings would undermine confidence in the election, and a delay in definitive attribution to Russia.
We found the Obama Administration treated cyber and geopolitical aspects of Russia's active measures as separate issues. This bifurcated approach may have prevented the Administration from understanding the full extent of the Russian threat, limiting its ability to respond.
And the Committee found that the decision to limit and delay information sharing about the foreign influence threat inadvertently constrained the Obama Administration’s ability to respond.
We have also released a number of bipartisan recommendations, including greater U.S. leadership in creating international cyber norms and increased information sharing on foreign influence efforts, both within government and publicly.
Additionally, we recommend an integrated response to cyber events. Rather than treating cyber as an isolated domain separate from other geopolitical considerations, current and future Administrations should view cyber as an integral part of the foreign policy landscape.
We also list specific steps the Executive Branch should take to prepare for future attacks, including the development of standing options that can be rapidly executed in the event of a foreign influence campaign, as well as regular, apolitical threat assessments from the DNI.
All Americans, particularly those of us in government and public office, must work together to push back on foreign interference in our elections without regard for partisan advantage.
I am particularly concerned however, that a legitimate fear raised by the Obama Administration – that warning the public of the Russian attack could backfire politically – is still present in our hyper-partisan environment.
I hope that the lessons we captured in this report will resonate with lawmakers, national security experts and the American public so that we might be better able to fight off future attacks.
