A group of House Democrats is calling on House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to help them uncover documents from the Department of Homeland Security dealing with Russia’s attempts to breach election systems in 21 states ahead of the 2016 election.
Six House Democrats, the ranking members of six different committees, told Ryan they have made several requests to the Department of Homeland Security for records related to the cyberattacks. But the Trump administration has not turned over any classified documents, the Democrats said.
“The election happened 17 months ago. It is inexcusable that Republican leaders in Congress have done so little to investigate — or address — Russian-backed attacks on our states, despite the fact that we have been asking repeatedly for congressional action on this important matter,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Ryan on Tuesday. “We must be able to evaluate the threat that Russia posed — and still poses — but we cannot do our jobs effectively without obtaining the facts.”
Democrats said they first asked DHS for “copies of notifications” it gave to 21 states, as well as documents stemming from Russia’s attempts to penetrate state election systems, in October. Lawmakers then sent the agency an additional request for documents and information in January.
DHS turned over 50 pages of documents regarding the Russian cyberattacks in February, but Democrats said those records were available to the public.
“The Trump administration’s response has been woefully inadequate,” the members wrote.
The top committee Democrats are asking for Ryan to “personally intervene to protect the integrity and authorities of the House of Representatives.”
DHS revealed during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in June 2017 that Russia had targeted voter registration databases in 21 states. In February, Jeanette Manfra, head of cybersecurity at the department, told NBC News that a small number of the states Russia targeted were “successfully penetrated.”
Special counsel Robert Mueller has been investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election for nearly a year, but the Democratic lawmakers said they weren’t trying to impede his efforts with their requests to the Trump administration.
“Our goal is to obtain the documents collected and prepared by our federal agencies about these Russian attacks in order to take concrete steps to help prevent them happening again,” they wrote to Ryan. “That is our responsibility under the Constitution.”
The six Democrats who sent the letter to Ryan are Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., of the Judiciary Committee, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., of the Intelligence Committee, Robert Brady, D-Pa., of the House Administration Committee, Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., of the Homeland Security Committee, and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
