Mueller Report underscores NRCC’s use of materials stolen by Russian Intelligence for political gain
Today, in light of revelations in the Mueller Report, DCCC Chairwoman Bustos sent a letter challenging the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) to formally reject the use of hacked or stolen material for electoral gains. In reaffirming this commitment, first made in 2018 by then-Chairman Ben Ray Luján, the DCCC has asked the NRCC to sign a written pledge focused on cybersecurity and the need to prevent hostile foreign powers from interfering in American political campaigns. This issue first arose after the NRCC used information stolen and released by Russian Intelligence to attack a Democratic Congressional candidate during the 2016 election cycle. Since then, the NRCC has refused to rule out using hacked or stolen material in future elections.
“As is outlined in painstaking detail in the Mueller Report, Russia attacked our democracy and we have no doubt they will attempt to do so once again. Preventing Russia or any other foreign power from interfering in our elections should not be an issue that divides Democrats and Republicans. It’s my most sincere hope that the NRCC will join the DCCC by taking meaningful and decisive action to reject the use of hacked or stolen material in our Congressional races,” said DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos.
The DCCC hereby commits to the following pledge:
- We will not participate, aid or encourage hackers or foreign actors in any attempt to influence American elections.
- We will never seek out stolen and/or hacked information for use in any operations.
- We will never use known stolen and/or hacked information, or promote or disseminate stolen and/or hacked materials to the press, regardless of the source and will report any receipt of, or offers to receive, stolen and/or hacked information to law enforcement.
- We will not support any campaign or allied groups that use known stolen and/or hacked information, or promotes or disseminates stolen and/or hacked materials to the press, regardless of the source and will encourage all campaigns to report any receipt of, or offers to receive, stolen and/or hacked information to law enforcement.
- Any foreign actors attempting to participate, operate, influence or contact the committee or any of our campaigns will be reported to appropriate law enforcement immediately.
- We call on the chief election officers in all states to ensure the most robust fortification and protection of elections systems leading up to, and during, the 2020 election.
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Below is the full text of DCCC Chairwoman Cheri Bustos’ letter to NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer. You can view a signed copy here:
Dear Chairman Emmer,
I write you today in the hope that we can reach an agreement on an issue of critical importance to our democracy. With the release of the Mueller Report last week, Americans were reminded, in great detail, about how our democracy was attacked during the 2016 Presidential Election. Regrettably, in at least two instances, this information was used by Republican campaigns for political gain.
For example, in Florida’s 18th Congressional District during the 2016 election, information was stolen from the DCCC and released by Russian Intelligence through Guccifer 2.0. Later in the year, the NRCC used that stolen information to attack the Democratic candidate.
There is no question that agents of the Russian government and other bad actors will attempt to infiltrate both the DCCC and NRCC to steal information for malicious use again in this upcoming election.
Protecting our democracy must be a priority for all Americans as we head into the 2020 election – that begins by ensuring the sanctity of our election process. As the heads of two major party organizations in our nation, we have an obligation to send a clear and unified message that Democrats and Republicans reject foreign interference in our elections.
In this spirit, I am asking the NRCC to join the DCCC in committing to the following pledge:
- We will not participate, aid or encourage hackers or foreign actors in any attempt to influence American elections.
- We will never seek out stolen and/or hacked information for use in any operations.
- We will never use known stolen and/or hacked information, or promote or disseminate stolen and/or hacked materials to the press, regardless of the source and will report any receipt of, or offers to receive, stolen and/or hacked information to law enforcement.
- We will not support any campaign or allied groups that use known stolen and/or hacked information, or promotes or disseminates stolen and/or hacked materials to the press, regardless of the source and will encourage all campaigns to report any receipt of, or offers to receive, stolen and/or hacked information to law enforcement.
- Any foreign actors attempting to participate, operate, influence or contact the committee or any of our campaigns will be reported to appropriate law enforcement immediately.
- We call on the chief election officers in all states to ensure the most robust fortification and protection of elections systems leading up to, and during, the 2020 election.
We hope you will agree to these principles for the sake of our democracy. If you have suggestions about how we could strengthen this pledge, I would welcome a dialogue with you.
Kind Personal Regards,
Cheri Bustos
DCCC Chairwoman