Mueller Indictment Opens The Door To A Government Response On Russian Election Meddling
FRED WERTHEIMER’S WEEKLY NOTE | FEBRUARY 22, 2018
“By spelling out in stunning detail how the Russians carried out their attacks on our elections, the Mueller indictment has opened the door to our government responding.”
The indictment brought last week by Special Counsel Robert Mueller against Russian individuals and entities for intervening in the 2016 presidential election may at last trigger our government to fight back and prevent future cyberattacks on our elections by Russia or other foreign adversaries.
To date, the most powerful officeholders in Washington, President Trump, House Speaker Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader McConnell, have failed the American people by refusing to take any steps to respond to the Russian attacks.
But, by spelling out in stunning detail how the Russians carried out their attacks on our elections, the Mueller indictment has opened the door to our government responding.
Following the indictment, Attorney General Sessions announced he would create a Justice Department task force to develop ways to combat cyberattacks on our country, including on our elections. Democratic leaders in Congress have called for $300 million to be provided to the FBI to fight foreign efforts to intervene in the 2018 congressional elections. They also called for substantial funds to assist the states in strengthening election security.
Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are expected to try to attach provisions of their bipartisan legislation, the Secure Elections Act, to the FY18 Omnibus Appropriations Bill scheduled for consideration in March. The Act would strengthen security in the states by providing them with block grants for electronic voting machine upgrades and implementation of cybersecurity guidelines.
Despite the stubborn resistance of President Trump, there is finally an opportunity for our government to respond to Russian efforts to sabotage our elections. It is essential to the integrity of our democracy that we seize the moment.
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Fred Wertheimer is the Founder and President of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to strengthen our democracy and ensure the integrity and fairness of government decisions and elections.
