Press Releases

Washington, DC —Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement:

"In instituting this new policy, the Department of Justice has taken a vital and necessary step to protect the integrity of our elections and deter foreign meddling, and has made an unprecedented commitment to the American people. The public has a right to know about an ongoing foreign influence operation, and disclosure of this information to state and local governments, election officials, and tech companies will also help them take important steps to protect the public.

"If this disclosure requirement had been around in 2016, I firmly believe that it would have served as a meaningful deterrent after Russia’s interference was first discovered, and would have informed voters more quickly and more forcefully that a foreign government was trying to affect their vote.

"If interference is identified, tech companies can begin to address vulnerabilities, elections officials can update software and add in backup systems, and the government can begin to take steps to thwart a foreign influence campaign. But truly, the only way we can begin to inoculate ourselves against future interference and attacks is to couple disclosure with a bipartisan commitment that whenever foreign interference is discovered it will be rejected, not encouraged, exploited, or embraced."

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed the Matthew Young Pollard Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA) for Fiscal Years 2018 and 2019, which included numerous provisions authored by Schiff that sought to bolster the nation’s ability to understand and respond to foreign attacks on democratic elections. 

The legislation requires that the IC provide briefings to key Congressional leaders and committees if the United States faces a significant foreign cyber-attack or active measures campaign directed at a federal election. One goal of these briefings is to provide transparency to the fullest extent possible, including by providing officials an opportunity to determine whether, and in what form, to provide the public with information about such a campaign or intrusion. 

The bill also requires the DNI to submit a report to Congress on the most significant Russian influence campaigns against such elections conducted in the past three years, as well as Russian campaigns that might be planned or already underway. 

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