Swalwell’s Statement on Reports that CIA Concluded Russia Interfered in Election to Benefit President-Elect Donald Trump

From Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15), Ranking Member of the CIA Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence:

“The Washington Post’s revelation that the CIA has concluded Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency, rather than just to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system, is deeply troubling and warrants further inquiry. If true, it’s a direct attack aimed at helping one preferred candidate over another – and we must know exactly what happened so that we can decide how to prevent it from ever happening again.

“This only underscores the need for an independent, bipartisan commission to fully investigate foreign interference in this year’s election, as I proposed Wednesday by introducing H.R. 6447, the Protecting Our Democracy Act, with Rep. Elijah Cummings. Our reaction and response must not become bogged down in partisan politics and personalities, and that requires that the investigation be conducted outside of Congress.”