Rep. Adam Schiff said he hopes to make all the ads public "as soon as possible" and is working with Facebook "to address any privacy considerations." | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Schiff seeks to make Russia-linked Facebook ads public

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee says he intends to make public "a representative sampling" of Facebook ads purchased by Russia-linked operatives that appeared aimed at influencing American politics last year.

"The American people deserve to see the ways that the Russian intelligence services manipulated and took advantage of online platforms to stoke and amplify social and political tensions, which remains a tactic we see the Russian government rely on today," said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).


Facebook turned over a trove of 3,000 Russia-backed ads on Monday to congressional committees probing attempts by Russia to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Schiff said he expects the committee to explore how certain voters were targeted by the ads. Democrats have raised questions about whether Russian officials had American help in targeting voters likeliest to be persuaded by certain messages in the ads.

The House and Senate intelligence committees intend to call Facebook, Twitter and Google officials for public hearings later this month and in early November. Schiff said he hopes to make all the ads public "as soon as possible" and is working with Facebook "to address any privacy considerations."

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The Senate Intelligence Committee's chairman, Richard Burr (R-N.C.), said on Monday that he would not object to the social media giant disclosing the Russia-connected content that appeared on its network.

"Facebook can do whatever they want to," Burr said in an interview. But he made clear that his panel would not release the ads: "There are no documents produced for the committee that the committee would ever release publicly, period."

Burr's Democratic counterpart on the intelligence committee, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, declined to take a position on whether to make the ads public before consulting with Burr. But Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) — who sits on the Judiciary Committee, which is also set to get access to the ads — joined Schiff in calling for their public release.

The office of Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), the House intelligence panel's senior Russia investigator, declined to comment Monday on Schiff's call to release the Facebook ads.

Last week, Twitter officials huddled with House and Senate investigators to address similar attempts by Russia to influence American politics via social media. Democrats complained that the company shed little light on the extent of Russian efforts.

Last month, President Donald Trump called the focus on Facebook a continuation of the "Russia hoax" and complained that "Facebook was always anti-Trump."

Ashley Gold contributed to this report.