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Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Statement Calls Upon House Committee Leaders to Aggressively Investigate Russian Tampering in U.S. Presidential Election Following The Trail Wherever It Leads And Taking Appropriate Punitive Actions Where Required

December 14, 2016

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PRESS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Glenn Rushing

December 14, 2016 202-225-3816

Press Statement

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee Statement Calls Upon House Committee Leaders to Aggressively Investigate Russian Tampering in U.S. Presidential Election Following The Trail Wherever It Leads And Taking Appropriate Punitive Actions Where Required

Jackson Lee: “The subject of Russian interference in U.S. elections represents such an existential threat to national security that it is essential that all of the relevant House congressional committees – Intelligence, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Government Reform – must launch investigatory hearings as soon as the 115th Congress begins, following the trail wherever it leads, and taking appropriate punitive actions to deter any repetition of such conduct.”

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, released the following statement today in response to published reports that the Central Intelligence Agency has concluded, in a secret assessment, that 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:

“With each passing day, it becomes increasingly clear that a foreign power, the Government of Russia, actively worked to subvert the 2016 presidential campaign of the Democratic candidate for the express purpose of electing the preferred choice of the Russian Government for U.S. President, Donald J. Trump.

“The subject of Russian interference in U.S. elections represents such an existential threat to national security that it is essential that all of the relevant committees of Congress – Intelligence, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Oversight and Government Reform – must launch investigatory hearings as soon as the 115th Congress begins, following the trail wherever it leads, and taking appropriate punitive actions to deter any repetition of such conduct.

“The linchpin of representative democracies such as the United States is public confidence in the political system, regime, and community. That confidence in turn rests upon the extent to which the public has faith that the system employed to select its leaders accurately reflects its preferences. At bottom, this means that the American people must be able to freely elect their leaders without interference, covert or overt, from foreign governments or entities allied with foreign powers.

“The Central Intelligence Agency has concluded, in a secret assessment, that 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. This is the gravest attack on American independence and sovereignty as great as Pearl Harbor and 9/11. It cannot be allowed to stand with impunity. The facts and actors involved in this plot must be uncovered and laid bare for the American people to see and understand. And that requires at a minimum that that all of the relevant committees of Congress – Intelligence, Judiciary, Homeland Security, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Government Reform - should launch investigatory hearings immediately upon the commencement of the 115th Congress.

“There can be no higher priority for the next Congress than ensuring that the election process, the hallmark of democratic governance, is invulnerable to foreign influence or manipulation.”

Congresswoman Jackson Lee is a Democrat from Texas’s 18th Congressional District. She is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security and is Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations.