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When a foreign power at odds with the United States secretly interferes in a presidential election, all Americans should rise up in outrage.

Republicans and Democrats alike, whether fans or critics of President-elect Donald Trump, should demand that Congress thoroughly investigate Russia’s meddling in the November election, not necessarily to discredit the result, but to prevent such dangerous interference in the future.

Our nation’s best hope to lead the charge is Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who already has announced his Senate Armed Services Committee will launch an investigation. The Republican McCain, a war hero and honorable man, once again finds himself in a position to do his country a great service.

It is alarming (but not surprising) that Trump has rejected the unanimous view of 16 government intelligence agencies, including the CIA and the FBI, that the Russian government directed cyber attacks against U.S. political organizations. The president-elect cannot be bothered to sit through daily national intelligence briefings, but he feels free to blather that he knows better.

It is frightening to see, once again, that Trump accepts only those facts that serve his immediate self-interest. It is disheartening to be reminded, once again, that this president will always put himself first and the nation second.

That Russia tried to influence the election there can be little doubt. As early as June 14, private security firms and U.S. intelligence agencies were reporting evidence that Russian hackers, likely at the direction of the Kremlin, had broken into the servers of the Democratic National Committee. In October, WikiLeaks began to release embarrassing emails from the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta.

But last week the CIA took it a big step further, concluding that Russia not only interfered in the election but also did so with the primary aim of getting Trump elected. In a confidential briefing to members of Congress, the CIA reportedly said the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming that the Kremlin tried to tilt the election toward Trump. The CIA noted, for example, that Russian hackers had also broken into the servers of the Republican National Committee, but they leaked no embarrassing Republican emails.

Already, the most partisan Republicans are trying to make the whole issue go away. Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer, for one, told CNN there is no evidence Trump benefited from any secret Russian actions. “What proof does anyone have that they affected the outcome?” he asked.

But Spicer conveniently misses the point. Whether or not Russia’s efforts swayed a single American voter, Congress has an obligation to get to the bottom of any foreign government’s covert attempt to interfere in an American election — and there must be consequences. Fair elections, free of foreign meddling, are fundamental to a democracy. And, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday, “the Russians are not our friends.”

It’s hard to be certain of Trump’s motivation. Clearly, calls for investigations don’t fit comfortably with his overblown claim to have won the election by “a landslide.” In fact, Trump won only the Electoral College — by an unexceptional margin — and soundly lost the popular vote. But Trump also has made it clear that he greatly admires Russian President Vladimir Putin and will seek closer American ties with Russia. And there is, as well, the question of what Trump might have known all along, if anything, about Russia’s efforts to tilt the election. That is a question a good investigation would be sure to explore.

Even before Trump takes his oath of office, Republican leaders face a defining test of character. Will they be cowed by Trump, as they have been before? Or will they follow McCain’s lead and mount vigorous congressional investigations into Russia’s hacking?

McConnell appears on board, as does House Speaker Paul Ryan. Both now support investigations.

“Any intervention by Russia is especially problematic,” Ryan said in a statement Monday, “because, under President Putin, Russia has been an aggressor that consistently undermines American interests.”

If Trump would only bother to take those daily intelligence briefings, he might learn something: Ryan is exactly right.

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