Senate to Look at Cyber Threats to Elections

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee's deep dive into Russia's election meddling, which President Donald Trump has suggested is a hoax perpetrated by the media and sore-loser Democrats, will continue next week with a hearing on the cybersecurity outlook for the next election.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and ranking member Mark Warner (D-Va.) issued a joint announcement of the hearing, scheduled for June 21. That follows this week's high-profile Intelligence Committee hearing with embattled attorney general Jeff Sessions.

The hearing will focus on cyber efforts in the 2016 election, potential threats to the 2018 and 2020 elections, and what to do about it.

The hearing will feature two panels, the first with FBI and DHS officials, the second with academics and election officials.

"You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history," the President tweeted June 15 about the ongoing investigations into Russia's impact on the election and possible connections to his campaign or Administration, "led by some very bad and conflicted people!" The President was likely responding to the June 15 story in The Washington Post that special counsel Robert Mueller is now looking into whether the President was trying to obstruct justice.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.