It is unclear whether Google has formally agreed to the request to appear, leaving the timing of any meeting uncertain. | Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo Senate panel to summon Google in Russia probe The Senate Intelligence Committee will call executives from the Silicon Valley giant to help understand Russian election meddling.

The Senate Intelligence Committee intends to call Google executives to Capitol Hill as part of the panel’s investigation into Russian election meddling, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

The panel is seeking Google’s cooperation as it studies how Russia’s government might have exploited American social media and Internet companies during the 2016 campaign. Federal officials have expressed concern that Kremlin-linked entities may have tried to game Google's algorithm to shape the search results of voters seeking political news and information.


It is unclear whether Google has formally agreed to the request to appear, leaving the timing of any meeting uncertain. A Google spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment.

Scrutiny from federal investigators has been an unwelcome development for Silicon Valley media companies, but the list of those cooperating with ongoing Russia investigations is growing. Facebook and Twitter are already working with the Senate panel, and Twitter executives are expected on Capitol Hill Thursday.

The focus on Russian disinformation is just one part of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s sweeping probe into the Kremlin’s unprecedented scheme to influence an American presidential campaign, which many Democrats believe may have helped President Donald Trump win the election.

Along with probing any potential contacts between Trump’s campaign associates and Moscow, the Intelligence Committee is also examining the US government’s real-time response to the covert influence campaign, and how the Kremlin exploited social media to spread fake news and propaganda to the American public.

Sign up here for POLITICO Huddle A daily play-by-play of congressional news in your inbox. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Facebook has already agreed to cooperate with the committee and is expected to begin providing it this week with political advertisements purchased by Russian accounts, apparently with the intent to influence Facebook users during the election.

Twitter has also agreed to work with the committee, and executives from the company will brief the panel tomorrow on how Russia may have used their platform to disseminate fake news and the use of phony “bot” accounts.

Josh Meyer contributed reporting