'There is a great, great deal of smoke': Senate Intel Committee holds first public hearing on Trump-Russia probe by Natasha Bertrand on Mar 30, 2017, 10:26 AM Advertisement
 WASHINGTON — The Senate Intelligence Committee held its first public hearing Thursday about its investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election, in an open session focusing on Russia's hacking and disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining Hillary Clinton and boosting President Donald Trump. "As the intelligence community unanimously assessed in January of this year, Russia sought to hijack our most cherished democratic process — our presidential election," said Sen. Mark Warner, the committee's ranking Democrat, in an opening statement. "As we'll learn today, Russia's strategy and tactics are not new, but their brazenness certainly was." The hearing featured testimony from former National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander — also a former commander of US Cyber Command — and FireEye chief executive Kevin Mandia. Both answered questions about Russian internet trolls who were paid to amplify pro-Trump stories across social media. "Our witnesses today will help us understand how Russia deployed this deluge of disinformation in a broader attempt to undermine America's strength and leadership around the world," Warner said, according to prepared remarks. Warner added that "in addition to what we know" about Russia's efforts to undermine the election, "any full accounting must also find out what, if any, contacts, communications, or connections occurred between Russia and those associated with the campaigns themselves." "We are seeking to determine if there is an actual fire, but so far there is a great, great deal of smoke," Warner said. The committee's work is off to a slow start. The House Intelligence Committee said it was further along than its Senate counterpart before it reached an impasse earlier this week stemming from Rep. Devin Nunes' excursions to the White House the week before. Still, the senators have said they are trying to gather all of the appropriate information before interviewing the more high-profile witnesses, including former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page. Warner listed Manafort and Flynn as subjects of interest to the committee, describing them instead of referring to them by name. Warner also alluded to former Trump adviser Roger Stone, who he described as "an individual associated with the Trump campaign" who "accurately predicted the release of hacked emails weeks before it happened" and "admits to being in contact with Guccifer 2.0, the Russia intelligence persona responsible for those cyber operations." This is a developing story and will be updated. SEE ALSO: Report: The FBI is using the explosive Trump-Russia dossier as a 'roadmap' for its investigation
| 
0 comments:
Post a Comment