Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday and claimed the administration is very much interested in combatting the threat of ongoing Russian efforts to meddle in U.S. elections and undermine democracy.
“The White House is actively engaged,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told a Senate hearing, where lawmakers pressed for answers on election security. “This is a high priority for them,” he said.
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“We have not seen evidence of a robust effort yet on the part of Russia, but we know their malign activities continue to exist,” Coats told a Senate Armed Services hearing on “Worldwide Threats.”
“It’s highly likely that they will be doing something. We just don’t know how much and when and where,” Coats said.
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Coats told the hearing the Treasury Department would announce sanctions on Russia as soon as next week.
Some lawmakers pressed Coats on who was responsible for countering Russian propaganda online, noting administration officials refer to the need for a “whole of government approach.”
Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich said, “I fear a ‘whole of government approach’ has been a catch-all for ‘It’s someone else’s job.’”
“There is obviously concern about this ongoing effort by Russia to interfere in our elections,” Coats said in response to Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). “The White House is well aware of that, as we all are. Agencies have been tasked to address this.”
At the same time, he acknowledged the administration has yet to put in place a “coherent strategy” to address Russian interference.
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He said he had discussed cyber threats “personally with the president” and said Trump had indicated he would give Coats any additional authorities he needed to do his job to counter the threat.
Later, Coats clarified that he was referring to cyber threats in general, not Russia’s election targeting.
“I did not understand it to be said in the context of the Russian influence on the elections,” Coats told Shaheen when asked to expand on his earlier statements.
Russia is continuing its military and cyber aggression toward countries like neighboring Ukraine, which it has been using as a cyberweapon "testing ground" since at least 2015. Russia is also thought to be behind the massive "NotPetya" cyberattack that crippled countries and organizations across the globe last June, the hack of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, and the attempted infiltration of elections across Europe in recent years.
"Thanks to Vladimir Putin, we've gotten a wake-up call," Coats said Tuesday. "The Russian bear came out of hibernation and was hungry ... so NATO's now back in business."
During a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven Tuesday afternoon, President Trump responded to a question about Russian election interference by, once again, casting doubt on whether the Russians alone were responsible for 2016 interference.
Trump acknowledged Russia interfered in the 2016 election but insisted it did not influence the outcome and qualified his answer to suggest there may have been other actors.
“The Russians had no impact on our votes whatsoever, but certainly there was meddling and probably there was meddling from other countries and maybe other individuals,” the president said.
Trump then claimed his administration would be ready to counter any attack on the midterms, but also managed to cloud the assertion with a prediction for Republicans' political performance.
“I think you have to be really watching very closely,” Trump said. “We won’t allow that to happen. We’re doing a very, very deep study, and we’re coming out with, I think, some very strong suggestions on the ’18 election. I think we’re going to do very well in the ’18 election, although historically those in the White House have a little bit of a dip.”
Asked at a news conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven whether he worries about Russia interfering again, Trump said, “No, because we’ll counteract whatever they do.”
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“You have to be very vigilant and one of the things we’re learning is, it’s always good — it’s old-fashioned, but it’s always good — to have a paper backup system of voting,” Trump said. “It’s called paper, not highly complex computers. Paper. A lot of states are doing that.”
Top U.S. intel official insists White House engaged on election security (Reuters)
Top intel official insists White House ‘engaged’ on Russian threat to midterms (The Hill)
'The Russian bear came out of hibernation': The US's top intelligence official issues an ominous warning to Congress (Business Insider)
Trump vows to counteract any Russian interference in 2018 elections (WaPo)
Watch Dan Coats' testimony (C-SPAN)