Dems: Trump must tell voters about election threats

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders in Congress are dialing up pressure on President Donald Trump’s administration over foreign election interference, saying it’s time for officials to make a “concrete and specific statement” to inform voters ahead of the 2020 contest.

The Democrats did not detail exactly what they want the administration to say. But the call comes as the nation’s intelligence agencies, congressional intelligence committees and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden have all warned of renewed interference this year. Trump himself has been loath to discuss the subject or acknowledge that Russia tried to sow discord in the 2016 contest by hacking Democratic accounts and pushing out inflammatory content on social media.

The Democrats’ letter Friday was in response to a statement earlier in the day by William Evanina, the government’s chief counterintelligence official. The statement said adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran are seeking to compromise U.S. private communications and infrastructure in campaigns. It also warned of disinformation being pushed out on social media.

Without giving specifics, the Democrats said Evanina’s statement “does not go nearly far enough in arming the American people with the knowledge they need about how foreign powers are seeking to influence our political process” and falsely paints the three countries as equivalent in their efforts. The statement was from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence panel.