Transcripts For CSPAN3 Russian Interference In Democratic El

Good morning. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. Its a great turnout on an important issue and im heartened to see so many people here for this important conversation. Welcome. Im Laura Rosenberger director at gmf. As an organization dedicated to strengthening transatlantic cooperation on regional and global challenges and opportunities in the spirit of the marshall plan, gmf has always been at the forefront of tackling transatlantic challenges and protecting the principles of democracy, good governance, and rule of law. Thats why we launched the alliance for securing democracy here last sumner recognition for the need of a bipartisan, transatlantic effort to understand the assem metric tools that russia and potentially other states are using and to deter such activities. While the threat of foreign interference in our democracy may seem new to many americans, our European Partners and allies are familiar with these aki all. There are many lessons we can learn from others who have experienced encountering these activities. Standing together as independent sis across the atlantic will be the surest way to preserve that foundation of our strength. We also know that putin uses a range of asymmetric tools, and we need to look at them comprehensively as a tool kit and counter that range. These tools are evolving and as the u. S. Intelligence communitys assessment of the 2016 election released just over a year ago assessed, moscow will apply Lessons Learned from its putinordered campaign aimed at the u. S. President ial election to future influence efforts worldwide. Moreover, we know that russias efforts to undermine our democracy have not stopped as russian Oriented Networks on social media continue to inject and amplify vitriol in our daily discourse, trying to turn americans against one another. Its therefore essential we come together across party lines to defend our democracy. This is, i know all of us here today believe, a National Security imperative. Jamie fly and i outlined an approach to this recently, but time is not on our side and we need to take meaningful action along with our partners and allies. So it is a privilege to host key figures from across party lines who are leading efforts to counter the threat. And i cant think of a better moderator for that conversation, the former secretary of Homeland Security, michael chertoff, who we are honored to have as a member. Secretary chertoff is a leading voice on cybersecurity issues and has championed the need for more effective measures to counter russias efforts to undermine democracy in the u. S. And europe. The secretary will introduce congressman will hurd, who is a leading voice in the house. But first well hear from senator carden about the important report hes launching today highlighting these issues. I know weve all learned a great deal from it. He was elected by the people of maryland to the senate in 2006 after nearly two decades in the house. As Ranking Member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hes worked to further our National Security and protect human rights. Hes fought to ensure that anticorruption, transparency, and respect for human rights are integrated into our foreign policy, including through his championship of the mag nowitzki act and the global act. Among a number of roles hes ban commissioner on the helsinki commission. Senator cardin, it is my privilege to welcome you today. Laura, thank you for that introduction. I also want to thank karen donfreed for her work here at the German Marshall Fund. Its been an incredible asset on the transatlantic relationships and encouraging dialogue and support for Democratic Institutions. And its good to be here with mike chertoff. Hes done an Incredible Service to our country. Honor to be here with you, michael. I know you will hear from representative will hurd later, who has been one of the leading forces in the house against russias malign influence. So i hope you will understand that our concern about russias behavior is a bipartisan concern or a nonpartisan concern, one of great interest to our National Security. The alliance for security democracy that laura talked about with jamie fly is an effort to bring to the attention of the American People, the public, what russias threat is all about to our democratic institution. So its a great lead into why we did this report, which i am releasing today on behalf of the democratic numembers of the sene Foreign Relations committee, put putins assault on russia and europe, implications for u. S. National security. This is the report that we are releasing today. Its about 200 pages. Exactly 200 pages. How did we do that . Just shows you how well we plan in advance. I asked for about a 200page report. We got it. Were releasing it today, and i first want to acknowledge the incredible work of the staff that put this together over the last year. This was an effort that was a great deal of compiling information, interviewing, working with people from other country, government representatives. Dame nan m Damian Murphy led the effort on our staff, and i thank him for his professionalism and commitment to this task. He had able help. Megan barkley contributed to this report. It would not have been possible without the leadership of our staff director jessica lewis. So i just want to acknowledge my name might be on this report, but it represents the professionalism and dedication of our staff people. Im frequently asked why is this not a report from the full Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Let me try to explain that from the beginning. Because this is not a partisan report, and its a report i expect will be embraced by both democrats and republicans in the United States congress. We had to make a decision early in 2017 as to devoting the Staff Resources and time in order to put this together, because it is going to be a tremendous effort to get this comprehensive report done. And we recognize the important of presenting to the American People a comprehensive understanding of what russias game plan is. We knew after the 2016 elections that we were vulnerable. But the 2016 elections was just a small part of russias overall design to try to mr. Putins design to try to compromise Democratic Institutions. And we knew that we had to start. So we immediately informed the republican staff and senator corker our game plan, of what we were doing, and we kept them engaged and informed as we went through the process. So this is not an effort to exclude one party. In fact, much of what is in this report was with the assistance of republican members. So i just want that to be clear, and we expect that this report will be embraced for the seriousness that it exposes on russias behavior, russias interference in 19 countries outlined in this report. And we are prepared to move forward. This is not a partisan issue. There is a long tradition in congress of republicans and democrats working together to counter russia government aggression abroad, an abuse against its own citizens, our ally, and democr allies, and Democratic Institutions. The sanctions bill passed in 2016 was nearly with unanimous support is a reflection of that tradition. I was proud to work on that degs wi legislation that included a team with the likings of john mccain, Lindsey Graham and marco rubio as well as Democratic Senators bob menendez, jeanne shaheen, and dick durbin. The strength and durability of our own political system relies on such Bipartisan Solutions to our National Security challenges. I think those of you covering the Senate Foreign Relations Committee know that senator corker and i worked together, not this a partisan manner, in a nonpartisan manner, in order to advance the priorities of our country, and we have certainly done that in regards to the threat that russia poses to the United States. During the cold war, colonel rolf vonbreath, a longtime head of the active measures operations from the east german said a powerful adversary can only be defeated through a careful and shrewd effort to exploit even the smallest cracks between our enemies and within their elite. Now, that was during the cold war. And the colonel would have used traditional media and methods to exploit these smallest cracks. It would have indeed been methodical, careful, and slow. He could never have imagined the havoc wreaked by todays modern Technology Tools of the internet. The speed and sophistication of these weapons have allowed his likeminded brethren in moscow today to take this technique to scales and make an outsized impact on Democratic Institutions around the world. Today the government of the russian fed case eration is engn relentless assaults against Democratic Institutions, universal values, and the rule of law at home and abroad. President Vladimir Putin directs these attacks with an asymmetric arsenal, cyberattacks, disinformation, support for fringe political groups, the weaponization of energy resources, organized crime and corruption, and military aggression. Why does he use these tools . Because hes weak. Hes not ten feet tall. Nor should we make him out to be. His economy is faltering. His military remains substandard. And he has few adherents around the world. Russias economy ranks number 12 in the world. It is 7 the size of the u. S. Economy. Its smaller than countries such as italy, south korea, or canada. Hes forced to resort to such techniques because thats all he has. And due to some measure of success, especially in 2016, his attacks have grown in intensity and complexity over the last few years. With every attack, hes learning and honing his techniques. This began well before the Trump Administration, this design. This is not just something that all of a sudden started in 2017. According to the organized crime and corruption reporting project, mr. Putin has accumulated tens of billions of dollars in stolen wealth. He has an active and effective propaganda machine. He has tried to splinter the eu in key ways like internet trolls spouting a public dialogue on brexit and the uk and slowing serbias integration talks with the European Union. And hes been able to stall progress in georgia and ukraines secession into nato through aggressive military incursions and occupations. We have to acknowledge the effectiveness of these tools. It brought mr. Putin to power in russia, the use of these tools. These techniques were first developed at home against the russian people, and now mr. Putin is using them globally. Through our analysis it became clear several European Countries have stepped up to the challenge. For some in europe the 2016 u. S. Elections was a wakeup call which led to political resolve and action. For others the threat of these russian tools have been present for decades, and they have organized accordingly. You learn through this investigation that the asymmetric arsenal can be countered with the right mixture of political will, defense, and deterrence. The countries that have achieved a degree of success all have one thing in common Political Leadership who publicly said enough is enough and from there mobilized their bureaucracies to respond. This unfortunately stands in sharp contrast to our Current Situation in the United States. Following attacks like pearl harbor, 9 11, u. S. President s have rallied the world to address the challenges facing the nation, yet today the current president of the United States still barely acknowledges the threat posed by mr. Putins repeated attacks on democratic governments and institutions, let alone exercises the kind of leadership history has shown is necessary to effectively counter this kind of aggression. Never before has a u. S. President so clearly ignored such a great threat and a growing threat to u. S. National security. And we have to be careful not to confuse President Trumps inaction with the patriotism of our many honorable career and political Public Servants and government, who are cleareyed about the credible threat and doing their best to respond. They are trying to implement the sanctions laws on russia. They are trying to provide assistance that bolsters Democratic Institutions abroad. They are strengthening our military presence in europe and helping to defend our friends in nato. Intelligence, National Security, and Law Enforcement officials work day and night to protect us. I hope that this report can offer a constructive policy path forward and space to implement it for those in government who acknowledge the threat. And i draw inspiration from europe. Many valuable lessons can be traun fr drawn from our friends there. Let me highlight a few examples. France has fostered a strong cooperation between government, media and others to blunt the impact of the kremlins cyber hacking and smear campaigns. In response to what french authorities view as a russian effort to hack the political structure of campaigns, the French Network and Information Security agency warned all Political Parties about the russia cyber threat in the fall of 2016. That agency subsequently offered Cybersecurity Awareness and training seminars for all french Political Parties ahead of the French Election this past spring. All parties participated with the understandable exception of the national, and we understand why they declined. The Macron Campaign was a clear target of russias hacked emails, which leaked these emails shortly before the runoff elections. France was prepared for that attack. The uk has made a public point to chastise mr. Putin for his meddling in democracies and move to strengthen cybersecurity and e electoral procedures. They understand that russia was actively engaged in the uk with twitter accounts during the brexit referendum. The Baltic States have diversified supplies, informed their public about the activities of Russia Security Services and strengthened defenses against cyberattacks and disinformation. The nordic countries have been particularly good on focusing on their individual citizens and empowering them with the Critical Thinking skills to fight this information. For example, sweden incorporated into its primary schools a curriculum to teach digital competency including how to differentiate between reliable and unreliable sources. Even bansu, the bear, one of swedens most popular cartoon characters, has been recruited to help children learn about the dangers of fake news and the need to crosscheck sources of information. And in germany, all Political Parties in 2016 except, you guessed it, afd, agreed not to use bugs and paid trolls in their campaigning. Chancellor merkel warned in a major address of the threat of fake news and disinformation tact tactics. The interior ministry also p proposed the creation of a center of defense against misinformation, noting that russian germans and people of turkish origin are especially susceptible of disinformation and recommended intensification of political educational work with those groups. I think most of you are familiar with the lisa case that appeared in germany, a fake news created by a russian state tv that was aimed at the russiangermanspeaking population to incite them to protest against migrants. Here in the United States, we must respond with urgency to this threat. If we dont, the regime in moscow will be emboldened to undermine european civility again and the United States interfere in our midterm elections of 2018 and our president ial elections of 2020. Make no mistake about it, mr. Putin will push as far as hes allowed to push if we dont push back. Even beyond electoral interference, we also found examples of kremlinbacked efforts that impact the daily lives of americans on things they care about, for example, cheating americans out of medals at the olympic games, attacked businesses and to steal the Financial Information of millions of american consumers. So what should we do about this . What should we do about to counter russias a symmetrical arsenal . The report includes many recommendations but i would like to summarize the top six. First, mr. Trump must show unequivocal president ial leadership to mobilize our government and the American People. He should immediately declare that its a u. S. Policy to counter deter all forms of russia hybrid threat