Secretary of Defense James Mattis, in a Q&A with Fox News' Bret Baier following the keynote address during the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley Saturday night, shared for the first time publicly that Vladimir Putin did try to interfere in the midterm elections.
MR. BAIER: Has the relationship worsened since you've been defense secretary?
SEC. MATTIS: There's no doubt the relationship has worsened. He tried again to muck around in our elections just last month, and we are seeing a continued effort along those lines.
So Russia doesn't speak with one voice. We find that Russia, on the surface tries to make certain very deceitful statements stick. They don't stick. Their actions speak louder than words, and it has worsened the relationship.
MR. BAIER: I want to bounce around the world, but following up on this, you said they tried again to muck around in our elections this past time. Why -- why did you feel like the U.S. had to go on the offense to battle Russia and China in cyber? Has the threat increased significantly?
SEC. MATTIS: I don't know that the threat has increased. It's continued efforts to try to subvert democratic processes that must be defended.
MR. BAIER: And go on the offense to do that?
SEC. MATTIS: We'll do whatever is necessary to defend it.
U.S. officials and expert observers said on midterms election night earlier this month they did not see the coordinated hack-and-leak attacks and infrastructure probing Russia is suspected to have conducted ahead of and during the 2016 presidential election.
But independent researchers and social media firms said that Russia did continue its online influence campaigns to sow distrust in American democratic institutions.
The U.S. intelligence community is reviewing data from the midterm elections for any evidence of foreign interference -- with a report on the probe due to the administration later this month.
Mattis also called out Russia during his speech for its violation of international agreements.
Concurrently we are dealing with Putin's duplicitous violation of the INF Treaty. As NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg noted, the United States is in full compliance with its obligations. There are no new U.S. missiles in Europe, but there are new Russian missiles. A treaty that is respected by only one side cannot be effective and will not keep us safe. So we will reenergize our arms control efforts, but the onus is on Russia.
This is further highlighted by Russians' brazen contempt and dismissal of their 2003 agreement with the Ukraine that allowed both Russian and Ukrainian ships free passage through the Kerch Strait, an agreement brazenly violated last weekend.
Remarks by Secretary Mattis on National Defense Strategy (DOD website)
Mattis reveals Russian government attempted to interfere in US midterm elections (ABC News)