While Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was feeling the heat during a confirmation hearing for the title of attorney general, FBI Director James Comey was facing his own round of interrogations. A Senate panel questioned Comey about the 2016 election hacks and Russia’s supposed involvement.
While we know the Democratic National Committee’s email servers were breached and their contents leaked to the public, Comey noted that the Republicans were also a target of the hackers. That effort, however, wasn’t quite as successful.
He later added that "there was evidence of hacking directed at state-level organizations, state-level campaigns, and the RNC, but old domains of the RNC, meaning old emails they weren't using. None of that was released."
Comey said there was no sign "that the Trump campaign or the current RNC was successfully hacked."
The RNC had better preventative security measures, according to U.S. officials. What’s more, the DNC refused to cooperate with the FBI as it embarked on its investigation of the hack.
Asked if the FBI is investigating the connection between Russia’s role in the hack and whether they intentionally intervened to help elect Donald Trump, Comey declined to comment. One senator couldn’t help reminding him he had been anything but silent during the 2016 campaign.
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Comey: "I don't comment on pending FBI investigations." Sen Angus King, (I-ME): "The irony of your making that statement I can't avoid."
— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) January 10, 2017
The intelligence community has concluded that Russia was involved and helped Trump win. The president-elect is not so sure.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this piece suggested the RNC was successfully hacked. The committee notes that is not the case.
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