“One of the public's unanswered questions about Russia's attempts to break into election systems last year was which states were targeted. On Friday, states found out.
“The Department of Homeland Security said earlier this year that it had evidence of Russian activity in 21 states, but it failed to inform individual states whether they were among those targeted. Instead, DHS authorities say they told those who had ‘ownership’ of the systems -- which in some cases were private vendors or local election offices.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told the House Intelligence Committee in June: "In 2016 the Russian government, at the direction of Vladimir Putin himself, orchestrated cyberattacks on our nation for the purpose of influencing our election -- plain and simple. Now, the key question for the President and Congress is: What are we going to do to protect the American people and their democracy from this kind of thing in the future?"
But Donald Trump and Congress have done nothing about it. They are either ignoring Russia’s cyber-attack, denying it, or, at least the White House, seemingly trying to cover it up.
The President and Congress have a sworn duty to protect the United States and the Constitution. We have been attacked, folks. Trump, his administration, and Congress are failing in their most important and fundamental responsibility.
Robert Reich, as usual, on his Facebook page has a well-placed opinion:
The Trump Administration today finally got around to notifying states about Russian cyberattacks on their voting systems. According to the Department of Homeland Security, hackers targeted election databases in 21 states last year. The department didn't disclose the details of the attacks or how many systems were breached, though based on earlier reports hackers gained access to systems in at least Illinois and Arizona. For many states this was the first time the federal government had contacted them about Russian interference.
The Trump administration's lax response to these attacks is absolutely appalling. Russian interference in the 2016 election was a brazen and direct attack to our democratic system of government, but Trump and his administration have only tried to sweep it under the rug. Unless we take immediate steps to secure our election systems, the foundation of our democracy will remain at risk. We need to make this a major priority ahead of the 2018 midterms.
By Pam Fessler
