Democratic House members call for investigation into potential Russian interference during presidential election

A coalition of Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives recently called for a comprehensive investigation into potential 2016 presidential election interference carried out by individuals working for the Russian government.

“The first duty of the United States government is to safeguard the American people and the integrity of our free society from attacks by foreign adversaries,” the group said in a joint letter. “Given the gravity of these unprecedented attacks by a foreign state, we need a congressional investigation that is truly bipartisan, that is comprehensive, that will not be restricted by jurisdictional lines, and that will give the American people a complete and full accounting of what happened consistent with safeguarding our national security.”

The House member’s statement comes in the wake of recent reports that actors within the Russian government carried out a successful phishing attack on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign chair, John Podesta, originating from an illegitimate email link infected with malware. Throughout the election cycle, the Clinton campaign was subjected to a consistent leak of Podesta’s emails, with many being published by WikiLeaks.

The group included U.S. Reps. Adam Smith (D-WA), Elijah Cummings (D-MD), John Conyers (D-MI), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS).

House Majority leadership has yet to formally respond to the request.