Dear Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Harry Reid, and Representative Nancy Pelosi:

We the undersigned urge the appropriate congressional committees to launch an immediate investigation into the reported Russian cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee’s computer system. While this is not the first major attack against the United States – recall the Chinese break-in to OPM’s system and North Korea’s against Sony – the hacking of a political party’s email system by Russian intelligence agencies would, if proven, constitute unprecedented foreign interference in an American presidential campaign.

This is not a partisan issue. The foreign attack was an assault on the integrity of the entire American political process. Instead of focusing on who may have benefited and who was damaged, the investigation should focus on discovering the facts concerning the role of Russian intelligence in the hacking, whether others were involved, and the role of Wikileaks in disseminating the stolen information.

Congress has a responsibility to get to the bottom of this extraordinary breach, not only to determine who was responsible but also to consider the appropriate response. Those responsible for this gross interference in our political process, and those who might contemplate similar moves in the future, need to understand that such actions will have consequences.

Sincerely,

Elliott Abrams

Max Boot

Eliot Cohen

Charles Davidson

Paula Dobriansky

Thomas Donnelly

Eric Edelman

Peter Feaver

Richard Fontaine

Reuel Marc Gerecht

Christopher J. Griffin

Michael V. Hayden

Brian Hook

Will Inboden

Jamil Jaffer