Republicans Continue to Be a Disgrace on Russia

[Content Note: Video may autoplay at link.]

At Bloomberg today, Michael Riley and Jordan Robertson have a major new report: Russian Cyber Hacks on U.S. Electoral System Far Wider Than Previously Known.

Russia's cyberattack on the U.S. electoral system before Donald Trump's election was far more widespread than has been publicly revealed, including incursions into voter databases and software systems in almost twice as many states as previously reported.

In Illinois, investigators found evidence that cyber intruders tried to delete or alter voter data. The hackers accessed software designed to be used by poll workers on Election Day, and in at least one state accessed a campaign finance database. Details of the wave of attacks, in the summer and fall of 2016, were provided by three people with direct knowledge of the U.S. investigation into the matter. In all, the Russian hackers hit systems in a total of 39 states, one of them said.

Emphasis mine.

The entire piece is well worth your time to read. This is a critically important story, hints of which we've been hearing since last year: "Suspected Russian hackers have also probed a number of state voter registration databases. But the intelligence community statement stopped short of blaming Moscow for these attacks." However, the scope was unknown, at least to the public, until now.

I am very frustrated and angry that steps were not taken to address these concerns before the election, even if that meant delaying the election. And you can guess whose fault that was:

In many states, the extent of the Russian infiltration remains unclear. The federal government had no direct authority over state election systems, and some states offered limited cooperation. When then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said last August that the department wanted to declare the systems as national critical infrastructure — a designation that gives the federal government broader powers to intervene — Republicans balked. Only after the election did the two sides eventually reach a deal to make the designation.

Fucking perfect. So, during the election in which Russia was meddling to influence the outcome in Republicans' favor, Republicans refused to agree to designate election systems as critical infrastructure, but after the election in which Russia meddled and now appears to have multiple compromised actors within the White House, possibly including the president himself, Republicans agreed to give authority of election systems to the federal government.

Got that? I hope so. Because it is extremely fucked up, and it is something that every American citizen needs to understand — since, every day, it looks more and more like one of our two national parties is just a collection of goddamned traitors.