Wyden.JPG

Sen. Ron Wyden is calling for the U.S. government to declassify information about Russia's role in the U.S. election.

(The Oregonian)

The Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a joint statement in October in which they said they were "confident" Russia was trying to both hack the U.S. election and use misinformation to undermine confidence in our democratic process. The declaration prompted little more than a shrug from most Americans.

More than a month later -- following the shock election of Republican Donald Trump, who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin -- Democratic members of Congress are returning to the intelligence community's accusation against Russia.

Last week, Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings called for a bipartisan investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Elections are the bedrock of our nation's democracy," the veteran lawmaker said. "Any attempt by a foreign power to undermine them is a direct attack on our core democratic values, and it should chill every member of Congress and American -- red or blue -- to the core."

Now seven Democratic senators -- led by Oregon's Ron Wyden, a member of the Senate's select committee on intelligence -- have sent the White House a two-sentence letter that suggests they're already aware of troubling specifics about Russia's role in the U.S. election and that they want the rest of America to be aware of them as well. The letter, which they made public, reads:

"We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian Government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public. We are conveying specifics through classified channels."

Though Russia's misinformation pros may have helped create false news that swayed some American voters -- or, more likely, simply reinforced some voters' already strongly-held beliefs -- there is no evidence Putin's computer hackers successfully penetrated our election systems and changed votes. A recount is being pursued in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, all traditional Democratic states won this year by Trump, but election experts do not expect any meaningful vote fraud to be discovered.

The effort to investigate and publicize Russia's alleged role in undermining the election has been led by Democrats, but not all Republicans are turning away from it.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's rivals during the Republican presidential primaries last winter and spring, says the U.S. must investigate "Russia's misadventures throughout the world" and, if strong evidence is discovered of those misadventures reaching our election, "Putin should be punished." He added:

"Here's what I would tell Republicans: We cannot sit on the sidelines as a party and let allegations against a foreign government interfering in our election process go unanswered because it may have been beneficial to our cause."

-- Douglas Perry