Senate Democrats warn of Russia interference in 2020

Report slams Trump for ignoring ‘threat to national security’ and urges action

WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin has systematically attacked democratic institutions across Europe and in his own country for two decades in efforts to undermine elections and governments, Senate Democrats charged Tuesday.

Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued a 206-page report that said President Donald Trump’s failure to recognize the danger or to challenge Putin means Russia is likely to interfere in the 2020 presidential race in a repeat of 2016.

“Never before in American history has so clear a threat to national security been so clearly ignored by a U.S. president,” said the report, released Wednesday by Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the committee.

“President Trump must be clear-eyed about the Russian threat,” Cardin said, and “take action to strengthen our government’s response and our institutions.”

The House and Senate intelligence committees, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, are all investigating aspects of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, conducing multiple hearings and interviews. The Senate foreign affairs panel did not conduct a similar probe.

The report details Putin’s use of what it called his “asymmetric arsenal” to thwart fragile democratic processes in neighboring Ukraine and Georgia, both former Soviet Republics, as well as efforts to undermine elections in in England, Germany and France.

Putin has used disinformation, cyber attacks and financial support for fringe political parties and groups, the report says. He honed the strategy at home by repressing civil society, journalists and independent opposition groups, the report adds.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that a Russian intelligence operation, approved at the highest levels of the Kremlin, used hacked Democratic Party emails, phony social media accounts, disinformation and other tactics to try to help Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the 2016 race.

Russia has denied interfering in the campaign, and Trump has repeatedly denounced the allegations as a partisan hoax meant to delegitimize his election.

In addition to the congressional probes, special counsel Robert Mueller is conducting a criminal investigation.