Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will say in prepared testimony that he met with the CEO of the Associated Press Gary Pruitt prior to Election Day during his investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
In a statement released Tuesday, Johnson says, “Prior to election day, I also personally reviewed with the CEO of the Associated Press its long-standing election-day reporting process, including the redundancies and safeguards in its systems.”
Johnson will testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday regarding Russia’s role in the presidential election.
The Associated Press, along with the five major news networks — ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Fox — make up the National Election Pool, which provides voting data on election night to the networks. It largely relies on the AP and a research firm to formulate its numbers.
On election night, the AP called the race for Donald Trump at 2:29 a.m. Nov. 9. Many had predicted the night would end early — and with a Hillary Clinton victory.
Networks use exit poll interviews, vote counts by precinct and votes by county which are calculated by the AP, to call elections, according to a Quartz report last year.
In Tuesday’s statement, Johnson also said, “In 2016 the Russian government, at the direction of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin himself, orchestrated cyberattacks on our Nation for the purpose of influencing our election – plain and simple.”
