Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., rejected calls from a bipartisan group of senators to create a select committee on cyberattacks to investigate possible Russian interference in the American election.
McConnell, in a sit-down interview with Kentucky Educational Television that aired Monday night, called the allegations of Russian hacking “a serious issue” but one that “doesn’t require” a special committee to run the inquiry. He also suggested that only one panel, the Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate, needs to focus on such an investigation.
“We have a Senate Intelligence Committee and a House Intelligence Committee, run by knowledgeable, responsible people,” he said. “There’s no question that the Russians were messing around in our election. It is a matter of genuine concern and it needs to be investigated.”
“In the Senate, we’re gonna investigate that in what we call regular order,” he said, noting that regular order means committees charged with oversight of the numerous U.S. government intelligence agencies should run the probe into Russian hacking.
“I think our Senate Intelligence Committee under Sen. [Richard] Burr and Sen. [Mark] Warner of Virginia are fully capable of handling this,” referring to the chairman and the ranking Democrat on the panel.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, R-S.C., along with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the incoming minority leader, as well as Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., signed a letter calling for a select committee to investigate the allegations of Russian hacking.
McCain, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, and Reed, its ranking member, argued that cyber-security is a “cross-jurisdictional challenge” that cuts across the turf of many congressional panels, including theirs. All four senators also warned against the investigation into the hacks becoming a partisan issue.
Only McConnell has the power to decide whether to form a new committee.
McConnell, while expressing concern about the Russia hacking, also made the point that no one has proven yet that Russia was trying to change the outcome of the election to ensure that Trump won the presidency.
“If they were trying to elect Donald Trump, my guess is they made a bad investment because look at who he is picking for his Cabinet,” McConnell said, pointing to Gen. James Mattis for secretary of defense and Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., to head the CIA.
McConnell also defended Trump’s selection of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state, suggesting his positive relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin was simply a good business decision.
“I know Rex pretty well,” he said. “He was representing his company — that was his job to be CEO of Exxon Mobil, one of the largest corporations in the world and they search for oil and gas all over the world.”
“In many of those places, the government is not ones we are particularly fond of, so I thought he did an excellent job doing what he was hired at Exxon Mobile to do.”
Tillerson, he said, will have an opportunity during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to explain how he sees his new role.
“My prediction is that Vladimir Putin will be very disappointed with the Rex Tillerson he gets as secretary of state,” McConnell said.
