As accusations from the intelligence community seem to suggest hackers backed by the Russian government had an impact on the 2016 presidential election, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is stressing the importance of combating foreign adversaries while also bolstering the fact President-elect Donald Trump was duly elected.
“We must condemn and push back forcefully against any state-sponsored cyberattacks on our democratic process. Throughout this Congress, Chairman Nunes and the Intelligence Committee have been working diligently on the cyber threats posed by foreign governments and terrorist organizations to the security and institutions of the United States. This important work will continue and has my support," Ryan released in a statement Monday. "As I’ve said before, any foreign intervention in our elections is entirely unacceptable. And any intervention by Russia is especially problematic because, under President Putin, Russia has been an aggressor that consistently undermines American interests. At the same time, exploiting the work of our intelligence community for partisan purposes does a grave disservice to those professionals and potentially jeopardizes our national security. As we work to protect our democracy from foreign influence, we should not cast doubt on the clear and decisive outcome of this election.”
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed support for a bipartisan investigation into the claims Monday morning, suggesting hacking from foreign entities should not be a political, partisan issue, but rather one of national security and protecting American interests.
"I agree with Senator Schumer, Chairman McCain, (Sen.) Burr and others, this simply cannot be a partisan issue," McConnell said during a press conference. "I think we ought to approach all of these issues on the assumption the Russians do not wish us well."
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