McConnell on Intelligence Committee’s Investigation: Our Adversaries Want to Undermine Our System of Government
‘Russia, China, Iran, and other foreign actors want to influence our politics, interfere with our elections, and stoke fear and division among Americans. Our adversaries have different interests, but they share one overarching goal. They want to undermine Americans’ confidence in our institutions and our system of government.’
LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election:
“Today, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the fifth and final chapter of its major investigation into Russian interference in our 2016 election.
“For three years, our colleagues on the Committee have conducted this crucial work in the serious, thorough, and bipartisan manner it deserves. I commend my colleagues on both sides for keeping their work out of the partisan spotlight and focused on the facts.
“Their report reaffirms Special Counsel Mueller’s finding that President Trump did not collude with Russia. It confirms and sheds new light on Russia’s efforts to influence American politics. And it reminds us all yet again that the discredited Steele Dossier – itself an effort intended to influence the 2016 election – was compiled by a foreign national from dubious foreign sources, including potential disinformation.
“The Committee’s findings, along with other information recently released by the Intelligence Community, confirm what we already knew: Russia, China, Iran, and other foreign actors want to influence our politics, interfere with our elections, and stoke fear and division among Americans.
“Our adversaries have different interests, but they share one overarching goal. They want to undermine Americans’ confidence in our institutions and our system of government.
“I am proud of the major steps Congress and the Trump Administration have taken to tackle these threats. The Intelligence Community is focused like a laser on the threat. Coordination and communication between the federal government and the state and local authorities who conduct our elections is now lightyears ahead of 2016. President Trump’s foreign policy has imposed new and painful costs on Russia, China, Iran, and other adversaries. And Congress has sent more than $1 billion in money and tools to help states secure elections. We are far better prepared for this November than in 2016.
“But fighting foreign interference is not only the government’s job. Every single American must play their part in protecting our democracy. The Committee’s findings should remind all citizens of our obligation to be educated consumers of information. It is no exaggeration to say it has become an important patriotic duty to approach salacious headlines and social media posts with healthy skepticism. And politicians must take special care not to fall prey to foreign influence efforts, amplify disinformation, or politicize our adversaries’ attacks on us.
“These serious threats need to unite our nation. We can’t afford for them to just further divide us. That is exactly what our adversaries want.”
Related Issues: National Security, Russia
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