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March 28, 2024

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House Dems press for hearing with Coats on Russia as panel discusses election security

By Charlie Mitchell / July 24, 2018

Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today demanded a hearing with Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on the threat from Russia, after Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) rebuffed their request to invite Coats to today’s session on election security.

“We ask that the Committee hold a hearing with the Director of National Intelligence and other witnesses who can inform the Committee and the public about the extent of the Russian threat,” OGR ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Rep. Gerald Connelly (D-VA) said in a letter to Gowdy. “President Trump’s susceptibility to manipulation by President Putin is a matter of national security and warrants the urgent attention of this Committee.”

For the second week in a row, reaction to Trump’s summit with Putin dominated congressional discussions on any cyber-related topic. Last week, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) delayed the start of an Intelligence Committee hearing on China issues with a motion to subpoena Trump’s interpreter at the summit. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Chris Coons (D-DE) are expected to push for a vote today on a sense of the Senate resolution supporting the independent investigation by Mueller and reaffirming support for the intelligence community.

“The Oversight Committee must act swiftly to determine what would cause President Trump to capitulate to President Putin on nearly every point of contention in our bilateral relationship with Russia,” Cummings and Connolly wrote. “He publicly cast doubt on Russian interference in our election, despite overwhelming evidence and the conclusions of our intelligence and law enforcement officials. He praised as an ‘incredible offer’ a proposal from President Putin to hand over American officials for interrogation — including a former Ambassador to Russia and a former staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who currently serves as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Helsinki Commission. He also reportedly concluded agreements with President Putin on Syria and Russian aggression in Ukraine, but to date he has failed to disclose to Congress or the American people any details about these agreements.”

The Democrats noted GOP statements of concern about what happened at the Helsinki meeting and said, “In contrast to these public statements, however, you have refused our request to invite [Coats] to testify during today’s hearing on election security, instead offering a classified briefing at a later date. While we will accept any information from ODNI, a closed-door briefing is not an adequate substitute for public testimony from the nation’s top intelligence official on how Russia attacked our state election systems in 2016 and is continuing to interfere with the midterm elections in 2018.”

Committee Republicans did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Appearing before the panel today are Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Christopher Krebs, Thomas Hicks of the U.S. Election Commission, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, and Ricky Hatch, auditor for Weber County, Utah. – Charlie Mitchell (cmitchell@iwpnews.com)