Senate Intelligence Committee leaders: Russia did interfere in 2016 elections

The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee largely endorsed the findings of the intelligence community that Russia sought to sway the 2016 US elections through a hacking and influence campaign, and they called for a “more aggressive, whole-of-government approach” to ensure future elections are not similarly compromised.

“There is consensus among members and staff that we trust the conclusions of the ICA,” Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-NC) said, referring to the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia was behind hackings of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign director John Podesta’s e-mail account and had attempted to exploit public opinion by sowing false information, much of it through fake social media accounts. “But we don’t close our consideration of it,” he added. Chairman Burr also said that “the issue of collusion is still open” and would not be resolved until the committee’s work was done. He said that a deadline for the committee was the looming start of the 2018 primary season.