Response to Russia hack is alarmingly nonchalant
Toward the end of the 1996 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Bob Dole recited a list of Clinton administration controversies and memorably asked: “Where’s the outrage?”
Two decades later, the same question might be asked about the near-daily revelations about Russian interference in the 2016 in presidential election.
At a recent news conference, the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee were quick to point out that investigators looking into Russia’s role still had much work to do. But what is most amazing about the state of the Russia investigation is not what remains to be disclosed, but what is known already.
To recap, the Russians:
Took out more than 3,000 social media advertisements, and used false accounts to draw attention to real and fictitious news stories, in an apparent effort to sew chaos in the election.
Attempted to break into — or at least test — the cyber defenses of at least 19 state computer systems used to run elections.
Succeeded in breaking into the Democratic National Committee’s computers and releasing emails that fomented tensions between backers of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Followed up on their American exploits with cyberattacks elsewhere, including in France, where they released emails from the campaign of candidate — and now president — Emmanuel Macron.
With all of this to go on, you’d think that Congress and the Trump administration would have already started to push back hard by marshaling a coalition of nations willing to demand that Russia change its behavior or face consequences.
But, aside from some tit-for-tat sanctions started by the lameduck Obama administration, the actual response has been alarmingly nonchalant. The Department of Homeland Security took months to notify states that they had been targeted, and even then provided sloppy information.
The White House argues that Russia’s role in the election has been overhyped or is “fake news.” And the Republican-controlled Congress, though it passed a tough Russia sanctions measure this year, seems to have taken a vow of silence recently.
The reasons are clear. Neither Congress nor the administration wants to call more attention to President Trump’s ties to Russia, any advantage he might have gained through Russia’s election meddling, and the fact that he and his campaign are under a special counsel’s investigation related to Russia.
The Russians aren’t going away.
“Absolutely we should prepare for more” interference, Kathy Kavalec, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for Russian affairs, told a group of editorial writers this week. “Their overall goal is to undermine faith in government institutions.”
Russian actions were an attempt to influence an American election. Whether their efforts altered the outcome does not detract from the fact they were an outrageous attack on American democracy, sovereignty and self-governance.
Failure to fully understand, and act on, that interference only invites Russia to repeat its sinister activity.