Press Releases

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, made the following statement after the Intelligence Community released the Intelligence Community Assessment of Foreign Threats to the 2020 U.S. Elections:

“The American people deserve to know the full truth when a foreign government seeks to interfere in our elections, and today’s release of the Intelligence Community’s Assessment is an important step. The preparation of these reports should be routine and ruthlessly nonpartisan, which is why the Intelligence Committee wrote a law mandating them after every major election, no matter who is in the Oval Office.

“The Intelligence Community Assessment released today underscores what we all knew already – that Russia interfered to support former President Trump, hurt President Biden, and undermine confidence in our electoral process. Through proxies, Russia ran a successful intelligence operation that penetrated the former president’s inner circle. Individuals close to the former president were targeted by agents of Russian intelligence including Andriy Derkach and Konstantin Kilimnik, who laundered misinformation into our political system, with the intent of denigrating now-President Biden and damaging his candidacy.

“The report also describes how other nations, among them Iran and China, also took specific steps related to U.S. elections, though at a far less significant or systematic level than those undertaken by Russia. We must be clear and direct with the American people that different countries have differing intents and capabilities, and are not equal threats to our free and fair elections.

“No matter which nation seeks to influence our political system and who stands to benefit, both parties must speak with one voice and disavow all interference in our elections. We must guard against and seek to deter all attempts at foreign interference, and ensure that American voters decide American elections.”

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