It’s a busy day on Capitol Hill when it comes to discussing Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Intelligence officials have confirmed a total of 21 states have been affected by suspicious activity aimed at the election databases by Russian operatives.
At a hearing at the Senate Intelligence Committee today, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner announced the Department of Homeland Security and FBI have confirmed two intrusions into voter registration databases in Arizona and Illinois by foreign-based hackers.
“Certainly it’s good news that the attempts in 2016 did not change the results of the elections. But the bad news is this will not be their last attempts. And I’m deeply concerned about the danger posed in future interference in our elections," he said.
Officials for the intelligence committee stated there was no doubt that the Russian hackers has a primary goal of delegitimizing our country’s democracy and would no doubt make similar attempts in future elections. Here’s FBI Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Division, Bill Priestap.
“I have no doubt, I just can’t and don’t know the scale and aggressiveness, whether they will repeat that, if it will be less or it will be more. But, I have no doubt that it will continue," he said.
And in the House Intelligence Committee, Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson stated, he was not aware of of interference.
"I know of no evidence that, through cyber-intrusions, votes were altered or suppressed in some way," Johnson said.
To learn more about the specific hacks that hit Arizona and other states — and the methods behind — them, we’re joined by Jamie Winterton. She is the director of Strategy at ASU’s Global Security Initiative.
