Biden puts Kremlin 'on notice' as Schiff demands FBI briefing on 'foreign interference campaign'
by Jerry Dunleavy, Justice Department Reporter |
| July 20, 2020 08:12 PM
Joe Biden said he is putting Russia “on notice†about election meddling on Monday as Democrats in the House and Senate revealed that they had asked the FBI for a full congressional briefing on an alleged “foreign interference campaign†targeting Congress.
Biden, the former vice president and presumptive 2020 Democratic nominee, released a lengthy statement proclaiming that “foreign interference in the U.S. electoral process represents an assault on the American people and their constitutional right to vote.†This followed comments by the candidate on Friday when Biden said he had started getting intelligence briefings and asserted the Russians “are still engaged in trying to delegitimize our electoral process†and China “and others†are “engaged as well in activities that are designed for us to lose confidence in the outcome.â€
“Today, I am putting the Kremlin and other foreign governments on notice. If elected president, I will treat foreign interference in our election as an adversarial act that significantly affects the relationship between the United States and the interfering nation’s government,†Biden said on Monday, adding, “Russia is not the only foreign actor seeking to interfere in our democracy. Increasingly, other states have shown an interest in copying Russia’s tactics.â€
Hours earlier, congressional Democrats revealed that on July 13 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California, and Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting that the FBI “provide a defensive counterintelligence briefing to all Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate regarding foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.†The Democrats claimed, “Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign†related to the 2020 election.
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