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.
They need more Republicans to push for this. McConnell clearly doesn’t want a special committee since he want’s to bury this issue as soon as possible. If they can get Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Jeff Flake and Susan Collins to join the chorus this might have a chance.
Start making phone calls to your Senators to demand a select committee.
Save for Susan Collins and, possibly, Marco Rubio, who is young and ambitious, the GOP members of the Senate Intelligence Committee is stacked with Trump fanboys. Perhaps Mitch McConnell needs some up-close-and-personal time through office sit-ins as a reminder that the American people call the plays in this country.
Intelligence: http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/about/committee-members-114th-congress-2015-2016
Foreign Relations: http://www.foreign.senate.gov/about/committee-membership
Armed Services: http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/
This is very painful. The Russian hacking issue should be such an obvious outrage that the Senate would be taking action as a matter of common sense and duty. Instead, senators are actually having to lobby to get this investigation done, and are likely not to succeed against the opposition of their own leadership(!).
It is a very common lament these days that when the state of governance has become so weak that a significant proportion of your leaders aren’t even concerned with the most basic aspects of national security something is obviously very wrong. The fact that the entire country isn’t up in arms about this is also disturbing. I’m just getting so tired of republicans who crave power but want no responsibility for governing.
Trump’s gonna regret talking so much shit inside his own party…
Mr. President-elect is about to get a quick and vicious civics lesson.
Well now … we have a pair of “tools” going up against Trump’s “full house” … and you boys know you are gonna’ lose. The commandant has already said NO and that it is not necessary.
If you are still looking for attention … take your clothes off and chase each other around the Senate chamber waving the American flag. You will have the attention you crave and that won’t get a select non-partisan committee either