Congress calls for probe of Russian hacking
WASHINGTON — Congress’ top Republicans on Monday endorsed investigations into the CIA’s belief that Russia meddled in last month’s election to help Donald Trump win, suggesting potential battles ahead with the incoming commander in chief over Moscow and U.S. intelligence.
“The Russians are not our friends,” declared Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as GOP leaders steered toward a path contrasting starkly with the president-elect’s belittling dismissal of the spy agency’s assessment and his past praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Senate’s intelligence panel, led by Richard Burr, RN.C., will conduct a bipartisan inquiry, according to McConnell, who also expressed support for a related probe by the Armed Services Committee, chaired by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Though declining to say whether he believes Russia tried tilting the election toward Trump, McConnell said, “I hope that those who are going to be in positions of responsibility in the new administration share my view” about Moscow.
Shortly afterward, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., released a statement backing an investigation the House Intelligence Committee has already started on cyber threats posed by foreign countries and extremist groups. He called any Russian intervention “especially problematic because under President Putin, Russia has been an aggressor that consistently undermines American interests.”
Underscoring the possible collisions ahead between Trump and the men leading his party in Congress, McConnell and Ryan struck tones markedly more confrontational toward Russia than he has.
Trump on Sunday called the CIA’s contention “ridiculous” and blamed the disclosures concerning its assessment on Democrats who he said were embarrassed over losing last month’s election.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., released a letter Monday to National Intelligence Director James Clapper complaining
that recent reports of the CIA’s conclusion clashed with Clapper’s prior statement that he lacked “good insight” about the connection between Russian hacking of Democratic campaign documents and their release by WikiLeaks. Nunes requested a briefing on the subject for this week.
The GOP leaders expressed their views after a weekend in which Trump also said he would not need daily intelligence briefings, a staple of presidents’ days for decades and a flouting of a convention common for presidential transitions.
Meanwhile, Trump wrote on Twitter that he would announce his choice for secretary of state Tuesday morning. Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, who has met twice with Trump during the past week, has emerged as the leading candidate.
The president-elect continued his cavalcade of meetings in his Trump Tower offices in New York on Monday with potential appointees for his new administration and other leading GOP, congressional and corporate figures. Among them was Carly Fiorina, who unsuccessfully vied with Trump this year for their party’s nomination.