A privacy group that has dealt with a wide range of Web secrecy and other privacy issues has heard enough talking: It wants to see the evidence regarding the alleged Russian hack of the U.S. presidential election.
“The U.S. intelligence community has officially attributed the attacks [on Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee] on the Russian government, yet questions have been raised about the failure of the FBI to investigate that attacks on the political parties of the United States,” said the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
“The FBI is entrusted with protecting the cybersecurity of the public and its institutions. The American public, thus has a great interest in understanding the nature of the FBI’s response to the Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election,” the group said.
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A number of reports, including from the CIA and later from the FBI, have suggested that Russia hacked the American election through its political parties. Unanswered is whether that had any impact, but advocates for Hillary Clinton have claimed that it was Russian President Vladimir Putin himself who directed the hacks to benefit Donald Trump and hurt her.
It hasn’t been explained how it would help Russia to have Trump in office instead of Hillary Clinton, as she was part of the Obama administration that Russian analysts have called the weakest in generations. At the same time, the Russians have warned their own country that Trump will be calling the shots from a position of strength.
The eight-page request is detailed.
Addressed to the Freedom of Information Act officer at the agency, the request points out the significance: “This interference, by a foreign government in the democratic processes of the United States, is under investigation by the U.S. intelligence community and is of widespread concern to the American public.”
It notes news reports claiming that the Russians hacked the email account of John Podesta, chairman of the Clinton campaign.
Julian Assange of the WikiLeaks site that released the emails has said, however, the Russians were not involved, a position also taken by the Russians.
Putin himself, according to CNN, has told the U.S. either to put up evidence of Russian involvement or shut up.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN it was “indecent” for the U.S. to accuse Russia of being involved without having any grounds to do so.
“They should either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise it all beings to look unseemly,” he said.
FBI contacts with the political parties on the subject of hacks started in late 2015 and continued in 2016.
The Podesta emails and others were released, and “fallout from the disclosures mired congressional candidates in scandal and led to the resignation of a DNC leader.”
“The New York Times reported that the RNC’s computer systems were also attacked. The News outlets report that hackers attempted to penetrate the RNC’s computer network ‘using the same techniques that allowed them to infiltrate its Democratic counterpart.'”
Ultimately, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence claimed the intelligence community was confident the Russians directed the hack and it was “intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.”
“Investigations undertaken by private security firms, apart from the FBI, indicate that the attacks on the 2016 U.S. presidential election also threaten democratic institutions in other countries. The private cybersecurity firm hired by the DNC to investigate the hacks has published evidence pointing to the Russian military’s involvement,” EPIC said.
The demand for information already has been growing.
“We need to get to the bottom of this,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., “We need to find out exactly what was done and what the implications of the attacks were, especially if they had an effect on our election.”
And Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said: “I do believe the Russians hacked into the [DNC]. I do believe they hacked into Podesta’s email account. They hacked into my campaign account. I believe that all the information released publicly hurt Clinton and didn’t hurt Trump.
“I don’t think the outcome of the election is in doubt. What we should do is not turn on each other but work as one people to push back on Russia.”
So, to make details available to the American people, it is asking for all records including memos, reports, guidelines, procedures, summaries and emails about the FBI investigation, as well as all records of communications between the FBI and the RNC, DNC and others.
It also seeks an expedited response.
There is an “urgency to inform the public about an actual or alleged federal government activity,” it said.
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