Seven members of the Senate Intelligence Committee wrote to President Obama this week asking him to declassify and make public “additional information concerning the Russian government and the U.S. election” that committee members apparently have learned about in confidential briefings. The president should take their advice. Cynics might be tempted to view their letter — which was signed only by Democrats and an independent senator who caucuses with them — as a partisan ploy designed to buttress the argument that Donald Trump’s victory was rendered illegitimate by Russian meddling on his behalf. But seeking information about possible Russian meddling in the election shouldn’t be a partisan issue.
If the Russian government indeed attempted to influence, disrupt or subvert the outcome by stealing and publicizing the emails of senior Democratic officials or promoting the dissemination on social media of “fake news” damaging to Hillary Clinton, that should outrage Americans regardless of whom they supported on Nov. 8. The public has a right to know as much about any such operation as can be made public without compromising intelligence sources and methods.
Both on and off the record, U.S. officials have made it clear for some time that they believed senior Russian officials were complicit. In October, for instance, the director of national intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security put out a statement saying they were “confident” that the Russian government directed the hacking, adding that “these thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.” If true, those charges are extremely serious and deeply troubling.
Full Article: Did Russia meddle in our presidential election? – LA Times.