Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, says the Russians will continue cyberattacks to interfere with U.S. elections unless something is done.
“I think the Russians respect one thing and that’s strength – if they see an open door, that’s an invitation to do more. And I think we need to begin naming and shaming them, and work with our allies around the world who also have been hacked and interfered with by the Russians,” Schiff said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”
Schiff said he has no doubt the Russians are responsible for the hacking and he doesn’t think the Obama administration has any doubt either. Schiff said it’s “not a question of evidence.”
He said the Russians can’t manipulate vote results with the cyberattacks but could create doubts about the election by meddling with voter registration databases or potentially doctoring emails and releasing them.
“The fact is that Americans already see the meddling. And I think it would be far worse if there is a problem with the election, and only after the election does the administration tell the American people – yes, the Russians were doing this and we knew it all along,” Schiff told host George Stephanopoulos.
Schiff and Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, recently said the briefings they received show that Russian intelligence services were behind the hacking.
The White House is afraid of starting a cyberwar that would cause the hacking to escalate.
“And what Trump has been doing actually has been the most tremendous gift to Russian propaganda by coming out as he did in the debates saying – ‘it could be Russia, it could be China, it could be a 400 pound man’ – that’s exact what Russia wants,” Schiff said.
About 20,000 of the emails were released in July by WikiLeaks, which provided a searchable database of correspondence of Democratic National Committee WikiLeaks also has posted DNC internal documents and voice mail.
In recent months, a computer network used by Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also have been hacked.
The White House has refused to say who is behind the attacks. Former White House counterterrorism adviser Richard Clarke suggested on the ABC show that pointing the finger at Russia could lead to calls for U.S. retaliation and the White House is afraid of starting a cyberwar that would cause the hacking to escalate.
“The United State is so vulnerable to cyberattack on our infrastructure. The White House doesn’t want to start that,” he said.
Sean Cockerham: 202-383-6016, @seancockerham