The Democratic committee that oversees House races is offering to team up with its Republican counterpart to protect against Russian interference in the 2018 midterm elections.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan sent a letter to National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers on Monday asking him to work with Democrats to “take bold steps to protect the American political system from future intrusions.”
“We must work together this cycle as proud Americans — not as Democrats or Republicans — to protect against future attacks,” Lujan said in his letter, obtained by the Washington Post on Thursday.
Lujan, D-N.M., asked Stivers, R-Ohio, to commit that the NRCC won’t use any documents or information obtained by Russian hackers against Democratic candidates. According to a letter Lujan sent then-NRCC Chairman Greg Walden last year, Republicans used information stolen from the DCCC in a digital ad attacking a Democratic candidate running in Florida’s 18th congressional district.
Lujan also called on Stivers to work with Democrats to establish a “united front against foreign governments,” and wants both parties to collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security and FBI to protect future elections from Russian meddling.
He wrote that the two committees should establish a joint plan to protect the DCCC and NRCC, and keep “foreign adversaries and criminal actors out of our elections.”
“It is our responsibility as the leaders of our respective committees to do everything in our power, collectively and individually, to prevent cyber-attacks conducted by foreign adversaries, criminal actors or otherwise from affecting the outcome of the 2018 midterm elections,” Luján wrote.
Four intelligence agencies concluded earlier this year that Russian hackers infiltrated the DCCC, Democratic National Committee, and email accounts belonging to other Democratic officials in an attempt to influence the 2016 elections.
In testimony last month, former FBI Director James Comey warned the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence it’s likely Russians would attempt to influence future elections.
“It’s not a Republican thing or a Democratic thing. It’s really an American thing,” Comey said. “They’re going to come for whatever party they choose to try and work on behalf of, and they’re not devoted to either, in my experience. They’re just about their own advantage, and they will be back.”
Ahead of the 2018 midterms, the Washington Post reported the DCCC is already taking new steps to protect against Russian meddling.
