A bipartisan group of senators on Sunday sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), calling on him to set up a special committee to investigate Russian attempts to influence the 2016 election.
“Recent reports of Russian interference in our election should alarm every American,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) wrote in the letter, according to Politico. “Cybersecurity is the ultimate cross-jurisdictional challenge, and we must take a comprehensive approach to meet this challenge effectively.”
McCain had already called for a select committee, but McConnell has said he would prefer following “regular order” and letting the Senate Intelligence Committee review the Russian cyber attacks.
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, McCain said that forming a select committee would be the best way to investigate Russian attempts to influence elections in the U.S.
“The responsibilities for cyber is spread over about four different committees in the Senate, and each doing their own thing, frankly, is not going to be the most efficient way of arriving at a conclusion,” he said.
Schumer, the incoming Senate minority leader, also held a press conference on Sunday pressuring McConnell to form a special committee.
“To send it just to one committee or a multiplicity of committees will leave things out, won’t reconcile contradictory information and because the existing committees are so busy in the new administration won’t get the focus that It needs,” he said, according to the Huffington Post.
“The fact that they’re hacking our political system and trying to influence the outcome as it seems to be: That is serious, serious stuff,” Schumer added, according to the Huffington Post.
