A high-ranking House Democrat says calls for a congressional investigation into Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee doesn’t mean Democrats are denying the results of the election.
New York Rep. Eliot Engel told CNN that Russian hacks of American political parties — in order to interfere in the election — should be a great concern for members of both parties.
“Nobody is saying there needs to be a redo of the election,” the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said. “The election’s been decided. What I’m worried about is not what the Russians intended to do, it’s what they actually did.”
President-elect Trump remains skeptical of the consensus view of the American intelligence community that Russia was responsible for hacks of the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s top campaign aide, John Podesta. Trump released a statement last week stating no one actually knows who is responsible for the hacks.
Members of Trump’s campaign, notably Kellyanne Conway, have characterized reports that Russia is responsible as an attack on Trump’s victory. She said earlier Monday the reports are an attempt to delegitimize Trump’s election.
Engel said that’s “ridiculous” and argued it’s instead a question of ensuring the integrity of the electoral process.
“This should not be a partisan issue,” he said. “We need to be outraged as Democrats and Republicans.”
