After a “detailed” and “forthright” intelligence briefing on Thursday, top Senate Republicans remained divided on whether to form a special committee to investigate Russian hacking that led to leaks of Democratic emails during the election.
Democrats, however, said the briefing demonstrated the need for additional information about what the FBI knew about Russian hacking into the Democratic emails, and why it chose to keep quiet about that information until after Trump’s victory.
“We want to know, what did they know and when did they know it,” Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said after the briefing. “I’m not sure the people knew the truth before they went to the polls on election day. We still have an opportunity to learn the truth.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said the four intelligence agencies have all “done a lot of work,” and he questioned what more can be investigated.
“Since we know so much, I’m just being honest, and since it is so clear, you have to wonder what else there is to do,” Corker said as he left the private briefing with top intelligence officials.
Corker remains at odds with House Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., who wants an independent probe of Russian attacks on the nation’s cybersecurity.
Lawmakers in both parties are in general agreement with the intelligence community that Russians hacked Democratic emails prior to the election. But they are divided about forming a special commission, which most Democrats are seeking.
Corker said he didn’t see the need. “I think we know exactly what happened, so having investigations about that don’t seem to me, maybe, to bear a lot of fruit,” he said.
Instead, Corker said Congress “might want to focus on, in a huge way … how we prevent these things from happening.”
McCain said he is not relenting on his push for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to form a select committee on cybersecurity. McConnell said instead that the relevant existing committees would conduct probes.
McCain said a probe would be needed to “find out what happened and what needs to be done,” and said it’s not “efficient” to have five committees looking into it.
Democrats are demanding Congress examine connections between any of the political campaigns and Russia. But neither McCain nor Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., appeared eager to pursue it.
“That’s not our role,” Burr said after the meeting. “We don’t have anything to do with political campaigns. We don’t have any authority to go to any campaign to request the information we would need to do an investigation.”
Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin,” D-Ill., said the evidence is “overwhelming” in terms of what the Russians “achieved” in influencing the U.S. election. He is leading the Democratic demand for an independent investigation.
“The question is whether this Congress and the president-elect will stand up for our democracy and the integrity of our system of elections,” Durbin said.
