Our view: Mixed messages mar election protection
For Americans to have confidence in the midterm elections three months away, and for Russia to get a blunt message that it should not interfere, the entire Trump administration needs to be on the same page — and that includes the president.
But so far, Donald Trump is the missing piece in any forceful counter to Russia’s continuing attacks on the U.S. electoral process and democracy itself. Last month in Helsinki, the president all but sided with Vladimir Putin on whether Russia had interfered in the
2016 election. After a bipartisan outcry, Trump begrudgingly backtracked.
Muddled messages won’t work to stop a dictator bent on undermining American democracy. Nor will news conferences. On Thursday at the White House, the administration trotted out top members of its national security team to say what anyone who has been paying attention already knows: that the Russian threat “is real,” and that “it is continuing” to target the next election and American democracy.
The point? To show the country that the administration — from the FBI to the intelligence agencies to the Homeland Security Department — is on the case, prepared to counter this attack with investigations, intelligence sharing and help for states with election machinery.
The sudden show of attention could signal some turning point, but it comes awfully late. This threat has been known since before Trump took office, and new evidence of the multifaceted attack mounts daily:
❚ On July 13, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said that “warning lights are blinking red” signaling Russian digital attacks. On the same day, 12 Russian military intelligence agents were indicted for brazen attempts to break into state election boards and hack Democrats’ emails in 2016.
❚ Last week, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Democrat up for re-election in a tough fight, confirmed that her computer network had been unsuccessfully targeted by the Russians. And this week, Facebook shut down 32 phony pages and accounts trying to inflame users on divisive social issues.
❚ On Wednesday, experts told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the nation has not done enough to combat social media attempts to mislead voters, and Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., proclaimed, “We’re fighting for the integrity of society. And we need to enlist every single person.”
Yet within hours, Senate Republicans missed an opportunity to enlist themselves in the fight. They rejected an amendment to provide states with
$250 million for election security. Their argument? Congress has already approved $380 million destined for the states. True, but updating old and often vulnerable voting systems requires millions more. States need to know what money is available for 2020.
To stop the attack on your votes, forceful actions are necessary. A few strong, unambiguous words from the president wouldn't hurt either.