Facing new Russian hacking, senators appear ready to act

WASHINGTON — Faced with new evidence that Russian hackers are targeting conservative U.S. research groups and the Senate’s own web pages, key lawmakers from both parties signaled on Tuesday that they were ready to move forward with punishing new sanctions legislation capable of crippling the Russian economy.

And in three separate hearings on Capitol Hill, senators prodded the administration to do more with its existing authorities to deter Russia and protect U.S. political infrastructure.

“Congress is going to act; you might as well know that,” Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., predicted in a meeting of the Banking Committee, which oversees sanctions law. “I’d rather it act in a way that has your insights about what would be helpful, but if you fail to provide insights, then we will provide you with a law that ultimately takes place without your insights.”

Administration officials aggressively pushed back and argued that the current sanctions regime provided all the authority they need, and they dismissed concerns that Pres- ident Donald Trump’s equivocation on questions of Russian interference had harmed their efforts.

“If you look at the wide range of activities that this administration has under- taken under the direction of the president, including the very significant sanctions that we have been able to launch, including the expulsion of 60 Russians out of our country, including the closing of Rus- sian entities in the United States, what Russia sees is a United States that is very aggressively targeting malign activity,” Sigal P. Mandelker, a senior Treasury Department official, told the Senate Bank- ing Committee.

The expulsions were part of a coordinated campaign by Western allies to punish Russia for the nerve-gas poison- ing of a former Russian spy and his daughter, not for election interference. And many of the sanctions came from legislation passed with veto- proof majorities in Congress and signed reluctantly by the president.

Senators questioned the effectiveness of sanctions passed overwhelmingly last year to target Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors and tried to solicit input from the officials on how to proceed. And with the latest targets being conservative groups, concern could spread.

Congress and the Trump administration are both positioned to ratchet up pressure, said Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, the Republican chairman of the Senate Banking Commit- tee, which holds jurisdiction over sanctions law.

“It’s not often that Congress acts together in such a strong manner, as marked by such near-unanimous votes” last year, he said. “But, then, Russia is a menace on so many dif- ferent levels today that Congress can be compelled to act with a single voice to find solu- tions that will protect America and democratic values across the world.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the committee’s top Democrat, was more forceful, calling the latest denial by the Kremlin “nonsense” and insisting that Trump do the same.

“Our government — the president and Congress together — must right now send a more powerful and direct message to Putin and those within his circles: We know what you’re doing, it must stop, and if you con- tinue, you and your government will pay a dear price,” he said. He expressed optimism that the panel would work in a bipartisan way to layer on new sanctions authorities.

Microsoft Corp. revealed Monday that it had detected and seized websites that were created in recent weeks by hackers linked to the Russian military intelligence unit formerly known as the GRU. The sites appeared meant to trick people into thinking they were clicking through links managed by the conservative Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute, but were secretly redirected to web pages created by the hackers to steal passwords and other credentials.

Both institutions have taken aim at Russian corruption, and on Tuesday the Hudson Institute said in a statement that it was not the first time an authoritarian regime had targeted its work, nor did it expect it to be the last. Microsoft also found websites imitating the U.S. Senate but not specific Senate offices or political campaigns.

Given the exploratory nature of the hearing, many senators con c eded it is unlikely that such legislation could pass through the committee or the full Congress in time for Election Day.

Elsewhere in the Senate Tuesday, the Foreign Relations Committee had begun its own examination of U.S.-Russia relations, with senators grilling other State Department and Treasury Department officials. And later Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to take testimony from law enforcement and intelligence officials on cyber threats to the country’s critical infrastructure.

The hearings were combative at times, with senators venting that administration officials were dodging simple questions.

“One of the things I thought would come from this hearing is a recommendation or a set of recommendations of what Congress might consider legislatively for addi- tional sanctions,” said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. “Am I to take from your unwillingness to answer that kind of question that there is opposition by the administration to additional sanctions?”

Mandelker would not give a straight answer, repeatedly telling senators that the Treasury Department had the authority it needs.

In the Foreign Relations Committee, senators were clearly frustrated with what they said was a lack of progress in curbing Russian behavior.

“Why, given all the things we are doing are we not making better progress?” asked Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. “I think sanctions are necessary,” he continued, but “it’s obviously not working the way we’d like. What would be more effective?”