The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says he is worried that President Trump has not issued an “outright condemnation” of Russia for meddling in the 2016 election.
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who was widely viewed as a contender for Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security, told The Hill in a sit-down interview that he has told the administration the president needs to “more forcefully” stand up to Moscow.
But, nearly one year into Trump’s administration, McCaul’s appeal has gone unanswered.
“I think there is a lot of, for whatever reason, avoidance of the issue, or saying that it could have been some other country. When you look at the intelligence, it is very clear the attribution goes directly to the Kremlin,” McCaul said. “That worries me.”
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“Russia is not going to stop their bad behavior unless there are consequences to it,” McCaul said. “I haven’t seen any consequences, and I fully anticipate in 2018 and certainly the next presidential election that they’ll be trying to do the same thing. And I think we need to be prepared for that.”
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“I was very alarmed by it, the idea that a foreign adversary could be trying to influence our elections, and that was in fact the case,” McCaul said.
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“This threat is ever evolving and getting worse by the day, not better,” he said.
Last week, the House passed legislation sponsored by McCaul that would elevate Homeland Security’s cybersecurity mission by replacing the little-recognized headquarters office called the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) with an operational, stand-alone agency to handle cyber and infrastructure protection.
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“The question is how prepared are we to stop that disinformation campaign,” McCaul said, looking forward to the 2018 midterm elections. “I think it had an influence on our election last time.”
“Some of it may just be educating the American people that this is propaganda coming out of Russia,” he said.
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Top GOP chairman: Trump not condemning Russia "worries me" https://t.co/piHCRhIPLe pic.twitter.com/nwiSXdb2R8
— The Hill (@thehill) December 17, 2017
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