Washington, D.C. — Every senator must receive an intelligence briefing on Russian disinformation tactics before President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins, a new column from the Center for American Progress urges.
This briefing is critical because one of the two investigations that Trump sought to extort from Ukraine was into the bizarre conspiracy theory that Ukraine was responsible for election interference in 2016. There is absolutely no basis to this claim, yet it has been advanced by Russian intelligence and seems to have found a receptive audience among several conservative senators.
Rather than give the Russians more opportunities to spread this disinformation, the Senate should take steps to combat it, starting with a briefing on ongoing Russian tactics. The briefing should be unclassified, provided to all senators, and given by the office of the Director of National Intelligence to ensure it draws from the entirety of the intelligence community. Trump’s defense in his impeachment trial should not used as a tool for advancing the Kremlin’s goals.
Read the column: “Senators Must Be Briefed on Russian Disinformation Before the Impeachment Trial,” by Sam Berger and Max Bergmann.
For more information or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202-478-6327.