Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Wednesday morning Russian interference into the 2016 election did not result in the changing of any actual votes.

"I know of no evidence that through cyber intrusion, votes were altered or suppressed in some way," Johnson told the House Intelligence Committee.

Johnson added that while no votes were changed, he couldn't speak to whether the DNC hacks impacted public opinion.

The former Homeland Security secretary testified before the panel on Russian meddling on the 2016 election, which the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and the FBI are investigating.

Johnson also spoke on his decision in January 2016 to designate election infrastructure as a subsector of critical infrastructure, which made election infrastructure a priority for cybersecurity assistance and protections. That decision received some pushback from people who were concerned about a federal take over of elections, which are traditionally run by states.

"Critical infrastructure receives a priority in terms of the assistance we give on cybersecurity. There's a certain level of confidentiality that goes into the communications between critical infrastructure and that department that are guaranteed.

He added, "When you're part of critical infrastructure, you get the protection of the international cyber norms—that thou shall not attack the critical infrastructure of another country."

"Those were the principal reasons for doing this. There are 16 sectors already that are considered critical infrastructure, and in my view, this is one thing that was sort of a no brainer. In fact, it probably should've been done years before."

Johnson said he voluntarily appeared before the committee.



