The Atlantic

What Did The Senate Hearing Reveal About Russian Hacking?

A Q&A with cybersecurity expert Michael Sulmeyer on today’s Armed Services Committee hearing and the intelligence community’s response to foreign interference
Source: Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

Did Russian hacking influence the 2016 elections? If so,what motivated it? Those two questions have sparked the biggest political debate since Donald Trump was elected president in November, and as a new session of Congress starts and Trump takes offices in just a few weeks, the questions still linger. The president-elect, intelligence agencies, high-ranking officials in both parties, and even Julian Assange have all been embroiled in the debate.

Congress hoped to take one step closer to resolving those questions on Thursday with a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Arizona Senator John McCain. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence; Admiral Mike Rogers, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command; and Marcel Lettre, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence testified before the committee. While some of their answers were revealing, most promised more details forthcoming—especially on the subject of Russian involvement—in private briefings and a public

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