US senators warned on Thursday of Russia’s “unprecedented” threat to American and European democratic institutions as they opened their first public hearing into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.
With the main House probe in political disarray, the Senate Intelligence Committee took the lead investigating how Russia allegedly sought to skew the election in favor of President Donald Trump.
The hearings opened with testimony by academic experts on Russia’s history of political meddling, and will include more than 20 witnesses as the committee delves into allegations of collusion with Moscow.
On the witness list are top figures from Trump's election team suspected of communicating with Russian officials during the campaign.
“The American public, indeed, all democratic societies need to understand that malign actors are using old techniques with new platforms to undermine our democratic institutions,” said Republican committee chair Richard Burr.
“This is not innuendo or a false allegation. This is not fake news. This is what actually happened to us,” said Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the committee’s vice chairman.
Warner had on Wednesday claimed that upwards of 1,000 paid internet trolls were working out of a facility in Russia, in effect, taking over series of computers, which is then called a botnet. US senators also warned that Europe is now experiencing the same type of computer hacking and disinformation campaign that the United States did.
“Some of our close allies in Europe are experiencing exactly the same kind of interference in their political processes. Germany has said its parliament has been hacked. French presidential candidates right now have been the subjects of Russian propaganda and disinformation,” he added. Trump has branded the Russia story “fake news” and has said Democrats are trying to undermine the legitimacy of his victory in the November 8 election.
